Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has said that reactions to the bandit attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna further showed that Nigeria is “filled with haters of government”.
Adesina said that Nigerians were “ungrateful, unthankful and ungracious” towards the current administration despite many successes recorded in tackling the nation’s security challenges.
He stated this in the latest installment of his weekly column, “From The Inside…Fridays With Femi Adesina”.
Recall that bandits attacked the military university on Tuesday, killing Lieutenant Commander Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Okoronkwo while Major Datong remains missing.
Many prominent Nigerians and groups decried the incident, saying it further proved the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s inability to secure the country.
In the wake of the incident, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State described President Buhari’s as the worst administration in terms of security and a retired Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi touted the attack as an “aberration”.
Reacting to the flurry of criticisms, Adesina wrote, “The news headlines, the slant of the stories, the analyses and discussions, all tended to paint a narrative of the humiliation of our military, the failure of government, and the fact that anarchy had been unleashed on the land. Watching, listening to and reading all the deliberate obfuscation of the matter reinforces the conviction once again that our country is filled with haters of government, of humanity, of good, and even of God. They deliberately muddy the waters, rejoice at evil and all forms of iniquity.”
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The presidential aide noted that the security challenges pre-2015 helped bring his principal to power.
“Nigerians simply got rid of an inefficient, ineffective government, and voted in Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). The man had done it before, showing strength as a military leader, and he could do it again.
“And truly, Buhari took the battle to the insurgents, directing on Inauguration Day that the command centre of the Boko Haram war be moved to the Northeast, where the issue was domiciled. And since 2015, the man has not relented, recording series of successes, and some reversals, which are typical of all human endeavors.”
He stated that the Buhari administration effectively tackled the the security challenges which had “mutated, becoming hydra-headed”, and Nigeria got out of the situation “when bombs went off like firecrackers in major cities of the country, killing and maiming people in their scores”.
As at recently, Adresina wrote, insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, evildoers were on the back-foot, being killed daily in their hundreds, and surrendering in droves.
“What should we have in a less hateful polity at such a time? Cooperation with government, encouragement of our military and security forces. But what did we get? Complaints. Grumblings. Wailings. They should have done it this way. They didn’t put this leg right. They should have faced that direction. And all sorts. What a people! What a country!
“And when there is a reversal in fortunes, no matter how temporary, as happened with the NDA attack this week, you see the predilections and propensities of the evil-hearts. They actually gloat, pretending to be concerned, while actually rejoicing that the house rat had urinated in the pot of soup. Miserable comforters!
“What kind of people are we, really? Instead of rallying our military, encouraging them and spurring the government further into action, they say the foulest things that can come from the nether region. Government is incompetent. The military is no good. They’ve been humiliated, and they only stop short of doing a jig on television, spewing expletives and concocting conspiracy theories. They simply forget where we were coming from, and where we now are. Ungrateful. Unthankful. Ungracious.”