I have spent quality time watching the video of our National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, speaking on “Tinubu Gains.” He spoke last Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Comptroller-General of Customs Conference. I had to watch the video all over again yesterday. I was left thunderstruck by his celebrated claims that President Bola Tinubu had achieved so much for Nigerians amid so much pain, so much hunger, so much killings and so much suffering in beloved Nigeria. Ribadu was simply mocking traumatized Nigerians with his repulsive falsehood.
On raging insecurity, the NSA alleged that Boko Haram had been decimated and are on the run, “moving to neigbhouring countries.” Ribadu attributed the feat to what he called “Tinubu Gains,” noting that hundreds of bandits had been killed by security operatives. Ribadu further claimed that Nigerians “now move everywhere in our country today free of fear. Things are changing.”
His claims on Boko Haram came few days after Chad threatened to pull out of the Multinational Joint Task Force set up to tame Boko Haram because of Nigeria’s failure to decimate the terrorists on our own side. Chad is angry because Nigeria remains a haven for Boko Haram and ISWAP.
As I pen this piece, Abadam LGA on the western coast of Lake Chad remains a stronghold of terrorists. Guzamala and Kukawa LGAs in Borno State are also dominated by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
Ribadu’s claims came on the same day the National Human Rights Commission released gory figures of killings and abductions in Nigeria in the last nine months. The NHRC revealed that between January and September 2024, a total of 1,712 kidnapping cases were recorded. The commission also reported that during the period, 1,463 killings occurred in the country. Yes, 1,463 Nigerians killed by non-state actors within nine months. These are reported cases. Thousands of other killings are unreported. Conservatively, I will say that at least 5000 Nigerians were killed by terrorists in the last nine months.
In 18 months of the Tinubu government, Nigeria is still one big killing field, with terrorists roaming unhindered, slaughtering, maiming and abducting. In the South-east, IPOB and ESN are still a menace. Last Wednesday, they attacked an Army checkpoint at Imo/Abia boundary community of Ekenobizi in Umuahia South LGA and killed five soldiers. The endless cases are gory. Just on October 7, terrorists butchered nine operatives of the Zamfara State Community Protection Guards, a state-owned security outfit, in Tsafe. In Zamfara and Katsina State, terrorists rove unimpeded.
On August 30, Boko Haram invaded Faudiya Islamic Boarding School in Geidam, Yobe State, and killed three students. Over 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School at Kuriga, Kaduna State, were abducted by bandits on March 7 this year. They were released, apparently, after the payment of ransom.
We all need to remind Ribadu that Tinubu is not doing too well with one of the things he vowed to fight on assumption of office – insecurity. In the last 18 months, terrorists have been emboldened by the limited actions of our security agencies. This is the height of impunity.
Ribadu also celebrated the “gains of Tinubu’s economic reforms.” He is unaware of the economic crunch in Nigeria. In beloved Nigeria, many now go to bed without meals and wake up not sure of where breakfast will come from. Perhaps, Ribadu is living in another country. An estimated 60 percent of Nigerians are now multidimensionally-poor. Many have been forced to abandon their cars. The incomes of many have been eroded by rising fuel and electricity prices. Many families have been destabilized by Tinubu’s economic reforms. Many are now living in penury. Unfortunately, social safety nets under Tinubu are very weak.
We need to remind Ribadu that Nigeria’s inflation rate has risen to 33.88%, food inflation is now 39.16 %, and the price of petrol is at an unprecedented level. Nigerians are buying a litre of petrol for as high as N1400 in some parts of the country. The Naira continues to depreciate against the US Dollar and other global currencies. Our Naira is in shreds no thanks to Tinubu’s economic reforms. As at press time, Naira was trading at N1750/$. So, which “Tinubu Gain” is Ribadu talking about? He is clearly a joker.
