REVIEW: Beyond the noise, here are five indices showing Buhari has failed to make Nigeria safer

When President Muhammadu Buhari ascended the Presidency on May 29, 2015, with the reputation of a retired no nonsense Army General, hopes were high that Nigeria’s nagging security challenges would soon be history.

His predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, saw his administration troubled with intense insurgency by the Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East region. The troubles posed by the terrorists climaxed to the kidnap of 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on the night of 14-15 April 2014. Sadly, the incident which gained international attention became the biggest kidnapping incident in Nigeria’s history.

With incessant bomb attacks, kidnapping, and displacement of hundreds of innocent Nigerians becoming a new normal, coupled with other administrative lapses, the Jonathan administration lost much political capital, and got kicked out of the Aso Rock Villa in 2015. As Jonathan handed the baton of power to Buhari, the expectation was that he would deploy his wealth of military experience to root out the security challenges dragging the country backwards.

In what, however, could be described as a harsh disappointment to many, the security challenges grew. It has been tough, and rough for Buhari to fulfil his promise of restoring peace to the country. And, he had remained consistent in condemning attacks by criminal elements, while reassuring Nigerians that his administration was on top of the situation. As the efforts of Nigeria’s security chiefs have not been enough to deal with the challenges, Buhari, and his spin-doctors at the Presidency are still relentless in promising Nigerians that the challenges would be resolved before he retires to his home town, Daura, in 2023.

Amidst Buhari’s continuous promises to uphold his primary constitutional responsibility of protecting lives, and property, attacks on Nigerians have persisted. Following, are five indices showing Buhari has failed in securing the country.

1.Boko Haram insurgency still rages

Contrary to the claims of his administration that the Boko Haram terrorists had been yanked off its hold in North-East Nigeria, the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, while speaking with newsmen on December 10, refuted the claims, saying that the insurgents are in control of two Local Government Areas (LGAs), of the state. “What we are saying is that two local government headquarters – Gudumbali and Kukawa towns are no-go areas for civic activities because Boko Haram is in control. And this should worry the Federal Government,” Lawan said.

2.Ongoing banditry in North-West

Bandits – mostly operating in North-Western states of Sokoto, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Katsina – have not relented in killing, raping, and displacing innocent Nigerians. On December 3, a notorious terrorist, and bandit leader, Bello Turji Kachalla, who operates majorly in Zamfara, Niger, and Sokoto States, said the Buhari administration was not interested in ending banditry in the North. He added that some government officials were beneficiaries of activities of the criminals which have made life nightmarish, and hellish for the people.

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3.Incessant attacks on INEC facilities

Lately, facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Osun, Enugu, Ogun, and Imo states have come under attacks with electoral materials such as ballot boxes, Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), among others, destroyed. Tales from the attacks have been interpreted as a move to sabotage the forthcoming elections which Buhari had also repeatedly promised to make free, and fair.

4.Reign of gunmen in South-East

The so-called gunmen, sometimes addressed as unknown gunmen, in the South-East region are not giving up in their determination to make the once peaceful region a theatre of death, and destruction. Their reign has been largely influenced by the agitation of the secessionist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The sit-at-home orders of the IPOB are mostly enforced by gunmen who kill, harass, and destroy the property of alleged defaulters. Also, the constant battle between the militia arm of the group: Eastern Security Network (ESN), and the Nigerian Army has equally fuelled unrest in the region.

5.Killer herders still on the prowl

Farmers-herders conflict exploded with hundreds of casualties in the South-West, and North-Central states – with people of Benue State, arguably, the most affected. The Buhari administration had exploited different programmes, and strategies to stop the continuous bloodletting from the clashes. They all failed.

A political analyst, and social critic, Daniel Ezeigwe, described Buhari’s promise to end the insecurity before he leaves power as a “tall dream that cannot be achieved.” “What does he want to do in less than six months; that he has? Nothing. There is nothing that he can do about it. The issue should be left over for someone that would take over from him. Someone that would be elected as the President of this country.”

However, there have been intense calls for the President to rejig the country’s security architecture, as a way to bring in fresh inputs into the fight. McHarry Confidence of the SBM intelligence – a Lagos based risk analysis firm, thinks otherwise. Confidence said that such a move may not really make much impact, especially as it has been tried in the past with no meaningful result.

Many wonder what kind of magic wand Buhari would pull to do what he could not do in seven, and a-half years in less than six months. His Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on October 9, while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja boldly said that he (Buhari) has given security forces a December deadline to restore order, and stability in all parts of the country.

From what is on ground, this deadline may not be met. Nevertheless, all eyes are still fixed on him. Ifeanyi Ezeorah, a Public Relations expert, said: “President Buhari, and his team, they don’t have the face again to say they are tackling insecurity in Nigeria. No one believes them apart from those in their party (APC), or those that want to benefit something from them.”

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