Prof. Daniel Saror, former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, on Sunday advised the Federal Government to come up with concrete plans to address the threat posed by some herdsmen to national security.
Saror, a former senator, made the appeal while reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s Democracy Day broadcast.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the speech had not addressed the serious security threat posed by some herdsmen across the country.
“I congratulate President Buhari on the attainment of one year in office and I have a great deal of praise and appreciation for his performance so far, including war against corruption and impunity in governance.
“I didn’t see any plan in the speech aimed at addressing the serious security problems being cause by armed herdsmen across the country.”
According to him, the situation needs to be addressed, bearing in mind that the herdsmen are causing “havoc in parts of the country with Benue State as one of its major target.”
He alleged that the herdsmen had left many dead, burnt residential houses, schools and places of worship, adding that government must stop them.
Saror said it was not safe to allow some herdsmen roam around the country with arms, stressing that the administration should develop mechanisms that would allow herdsmen and farmers to live peacefully side by side.
On the recent fuel increase, Saror said the government had done well in ending the “era of deceit and monumental corruption” by those fleecing the country under the guise of fuel subsidy.
” I am particularly happy that he has had the courage to remove fuel subsidy which has been a source of drain of our resources and veritable avenue of monumental corruption that benefit only a few.
“In all the years when fuel subsidy has been in place, less than 50 per cent of Nigerians got fuel at the so called controlled price.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC) has commended President Buhari on the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and noted that at least,’’ Nigerians can now sleep with their eyes closed’’.
The National Chairman of the party, Rev. Olusegun Peters, however, told NAN in Abuja that it was time for the administration to end the slide in the economy and further suffering by the masses.
“It is time to fulfil campaign promises and implement programmes that will alleviate the sufferings of the masses who voted him to power.
“It is time to provide solution to the myriad of problems facing the nation,’’ he said.
In her comment, Ms Idayat Hassan, Director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), said that the government had succeeded in curtailing the Boko haram insurgency.
“Government is winning the war against Boko Haram insurgency. We salute our gallant soldiers and urge them to flush out the remaining insurgents in Sambisa forest.
“They have been further decimated in their ability to undertake attacks and thousands have been rescued from the insurgents,’’she said.
Idayat said that the administration had also shown the political will to combat corruption, with many high profiles arrests and recovery of huge sums of looted funds.
She further commended Buhari for the bilateral agreements signed with some countries to ensure the repatriation of Nigeria’s stolen funds.
“ However the administration has been bedevilled with other monumental challenges.
“At the moment the country is battling with armed pastoralists’ conflicts, militancy, Biafra separationists, kidnapping and armed robbery.
“The most alarming challenge is however the state of the economy, the economy is not faring well, asides the indices of inflation, rising unemployment.
“The most visible is the way Nigerians are grappling under the weight of the economy,’’ she noted. (NAN)