‘Nigeria Should Prepare For The Worse, APC Govt Is Fraud’
Banker-turned-publisher, Philomina Ngozi Christopher-Oji, is the chief executive officer of Phil Chris Media Concepts, the publisher of Conerstonenews.ng.com, which has over three million followers and subscribers across the globe. In this interview, the graduate of English from Delta State University, Abraka, once again blamed former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, and his All Progressive Congress Party (APC) for bringing Nigeria to its knees, having been a failure in the past eight years. She spoke on the monumental fraud and devastating security situation in Nigeria, among other things.
Excerpt
In your last interview in the media, you accused ex-President Muhammadu Buhari of leaving the country worse than he met it, and that his legacy would only be remembered for evil, how do you see the new administration?
I told my interviewers that Buhari has failed woefully, but he should not be blamed because he was not himself. But the bigger problem was the party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). The party came with lots of propaganda against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. We all believed that they would do things better and rescue the country, but the party disappointed Nigerians. Where do I start? Is it the security issues or the fuel subsidy scam, the aviation fraud or the tribal and religious bigotry that have destroyed Nigeria? For instance, the APC-led government under Buhari failed us in security.
Eight years down the line, under Buhari, insecurity has worsened and increased in leaps and bounds, putting Nigerians in a state of inertia. Buhari’s ineptitude in fighting insecurity in the past eight years has left the mass of Nigerians in an unspeakable state of misery and near existential extinction. More Nigerians have died in Nigeria under Buhari than under any other government since 1999. Many more have been
kidnapped and their families left to look for money to pay for their ransom.
Under Buhari, insecurity increased in many dimensions, in spread, in terms of the human casualties and in the retardation of social, economic and political progress.
What about the President Bola Tinubu administration?
Well, I said it over and over again. Tinubu is not Nigeria’s President till after the tribunal and Supreme Court case have been determined. He is at the election tribunal with the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging his victory. So, until the court clears him, he is not Nigeria’s President. I warned in my last interview that Nigerians should not expect miracles from Tinubu, because he was the leader of the APC when Buhari was President. There is serious confusion: now that Tinubu claims that he is the President, who is the APC leader, is it Tinubu or Buhari? I don’t know, who will be advising who? Anyway, when Buhari was there, Tinubu, who claimed to be the party’s national leader, could not advise him. Tinubu will also fail like Buhari, because the party is a fraud. Remember that during Jonathan’s tenure, APC many times trooped to the streets to protest against the planned removal of fuel subsidy and the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls. But what is happening today? On his first day, Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy that he and his party claimed was a scam. Look at the way he announced the removal on the first day in the office, subjecting Nigerians to excruciating psychological trauma. People can’t afford to buy fuel, yet Nigeria is an oil-producing nation. With the level of poverty in the country, crime is going to skyrocket because of fuel subsidy removal. Anyway, insecurity is an APC trademark. Indeed, the eight-year tenure of Buhari witnessed the killing of over 63,111 people since he assumed office on May 29, 2015.
According to data obtained from the Nigeria Security Tracker (NST), a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa programme, the deaths arose from terrorism, banditry, herders/farmers clashes, communal crises, cult clashes and extra-judicial killings, among others.
The NST documents and maps violence in Nigeria that is motivated by political, economic or social grievances. “Different groups in Nigeria resort to violence. The militant Islamist movement Boko Haram is active in northern Nigeria. Violence among ethnic groups, farmers and herdsmen sometimes acquires religious overtones. A new generation of Niger Delta militants threatens war against the state. Government soldiers kill civilians indiscriminately. Police are notorious for extra-judicial murder,” the report said.
The 63,111 death toll is conservative because only reported cases from multiple sources were included. And many cases are under-reported or not reported at all. That is what will continue in the Tinubu administration.
Are you in support of fuel subsidy?
Not really. I am only saying that the way he just announced the removal on the first day in office was suspicious. How could he remove it when he had not put any palliative in place to alleviate the sufferings of the poor masses? He should have put certain measures in place before the outright removal. For instance, our refineries should have been working. How could an individual like Aliko Dangote build a refinery and the government is not able to fix the four refineries in the country? Our leaders behave as if they think through their anus.
Buhari’s failure started the first time he appointed the service chiefs from a particular region. From the army, navy, air force to the police, even customs and the Nigeria Immigration Service, he appointed his fellow northerners; whether they were competent or not, he appointed them. For instance, the appointment of retired Army Colonel Hameed Ali as Customs boss demoralised young and smart Customs officers who would have done better than Ali. The worst of Buhari in that regard was that when the tenure of a service chief expired, he would leave the officer there as if he had forgotten him. This happened, especially in the police and immigrations. The development kills the morale of other officers. Once the morale of officers is down, they won’t be able to fight insecurity.
“Many more people, including security agents, died in the Buhari era than under other administrations before him put together since 1999. Buhari’s administration promised to defeat insurgency within six months, but today terrorists who were confined in the North East are all over the country. Before Buhari’s administration came, we could travel by road or rail, but today terrorists and bandits would hijack vehicles on the road and trains on our railways. As his administration was not able to protect farmers, bandits and terrorists have been collecting tolls from farmers. Some who are not able to pay tolls are either killed or sacked from their farmlands. This has brought serious food security challenges to the country. As it is, bandits are still collecting tolls from farmers in Niger State and other northern parts. What other proofs do we need to show that Buhari failed woefully in the area of security?
Are you saying that Tinubu will continue like Buhari did ?
That was what I said. Except he discards people like MC Oluomo and other political thugs. I won’t be surprised if he goes ahead to legalise thuggery, because they really assisted him in the February presidential election. The election was marred by a lot of fraud, religious and ethnic profiling. The thugs made the election look as if it was war. If you watch the body language of Tinubu, he is not ready to work with Igbo people. He sees Ndigbo as his enemies because they voted for Mr. Peter Obi. This is not good for the country. When one part of the country is seen as the enemy of the President, it portends danger and doom. It is really going to be bad for Ndigbo. The experience they had in Lagos during the last general election, where they were subjected to all forms of humiliation without Tinubu condemning the despicable acts, is an indication that he is going to deal with Ndigbo.
Your advice to Nigerians?
Nigerians should prepare for the worse. The APC government is a fraud. The party promised and failed. They promised the youths jobs and social welfare,but they failed. They promised us security, but today terrorists have taken over everywhere. Before Buhari came, insecurity was restricted to the North East, but today, terrorists are everywhere. Farmers can’t go to their farms because of bandits. Food insecurity is imminent. Now, people can’t afford transportation fare because of fuel scarcity and subsidy removal without palliatives for the people. See the fraud in the aviation sector that was committed on the last day of Buhari’s administration. You can see that there is no hope for us under APC. Pray for the judiciary to do the needful and give Peter Obi victory, because he won the election and his mandate was stolen. He is the one to fix Nigeria. Whether people like it or not ,God will require Peter Obi’s mandate from those who stole it. People should strive harder and do chains of businesses to survive the harsh economy imposed on us by the APC government. May God give us the strength and the wisdom to survive the APC government.
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Posted by News Rangers
on Jun 10 2023. Filed under Interview, National.
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