Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state says it is shameful and embarrassing that President Muhammadu Buhari, who is retired military general, succumbed to threats from militants and cancel his proposed trip to Ogoniland.
A militant had told one of the hosts of UK-based Radio Biafra that Buhari “should sign his death warrant” before his visit to Ogoni, and the president ended up delegating Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to the landmark flag-off of the clean-up of Ogoni.
Governor Fayose, who wondered why the President was not always interested in visiting States in the country as against his inclination to take overseas trips, added that it was time that Buhari stopped acting like a foreign president.
The governor in a statement issued by his special assistant on public communications and new Media, Lere Olayinka, urged Buhari to dialogue with the Niger Delta militants, especially the Niger Delta Avengers so as to end hostilities in the oil rich region.
He said: “It is shameful and embarrassing that a retired military general could succumb to threat from militants despite what he told Nigerians that he was going to lead from the fronts,” read a statement issued on his behalf by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media.
“By not going to Ogoni today, because of threat from the NDA, our president has shown that he is actually afraid of the militants and the best thing to do in a situation like this is to dialogue with the militants so as to save Nigeria economy from imminent collapse.
“It also shows that the president’s ability to secure Nigeria and its people is doubtful, because if the president could succumb to threat from militants and abandon his official function for his deputy, ordinary Nigerians should seek help elsewhere.
“The president should therefore save Nigeria the agony of military misadventure in the Niger Delta by holding dialogue with the militants with a view to resolving their grievances. He should emulate late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by having a roundtable talks with the Niger Delta militants.”