The Presidency Sunday faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s claim that the federal government was failing in its duty to protect Nigerians.
It said the former Nigerian leader “under whom the first seeds of terrorism were allowed to sprout,” lacked the moral right to criticise the state of the nation’s security.
…What Obasanjo said
Speaking at the second edition of the Plateau State Unity Christmas Carol held at the Ten Commandments Prayer Alter, weekend, Obasanjo lamented the current state of insecurity.
“One problem we have is insecurity, and it has been with us. It did not begin with this administration, not even with the administration before it… From the kidnapping of the Chibok girls until now, Insecurity has continued to go from bad to worse….
“For anybody at any time to say that when Nigerians are being killed, the explanation is that those killed belong to this group or another nonsensical group. We are being killed. We are Nigerians, no matter the religion or where you come from, we are being killed,” the former president had said.
“If our government cannot do it, we have a right to call on the international community to do for us what our government cannot do. We should have no apology for that,” stated the ex-Nigerian leader who called on security agencies to leverage technology in tackling the challenge. .
…Presidency fires back
Condemning the former president’s stance, the Presidency pointed out that terrorism took root under Obasanjo’s administration and slammed him on his recommendation that President Tinubu should seek foreign help if unable to address the nation’s security challenges.
In a post on his verified X account, titled; “Between Tinubu’s capability and the ignobility of pseudo statesmanship,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Mr Sunday Dare, wrote: “This administration will not be distracted by selective amnesia wrapped in elder-statesmanship, nor will it allow those who mid-wifed Nigeria’s early security failures to rewrite history.
“Recent comments by a former president and a few habitual presidential aspirants attempting to paint the Tinubu administration as ‘unable to protect Nigerians’ are not merely hypocritical but ignoble. They ignore the hard truth: Nigeria is facing terrorists — all of them — by every definition, be they international, regional or local.
“Yet the very individuals who looked away when these threats first sprouted now want to sit in judgment. Nigerians know better.
“The suggestion that Nigeria should effectively subcontract its internal security to foreign governments is not statesmanship; it is capitulation. Before recommending surrender, the former president should reflect on what he failed to do when these terrorists first began organising under his watch.
“The people killing Nigerians, raiding villages, kidnapping innocents, blowing up infrastructure and challenging state authority are terrorists — whether they fly a foreign flag or none at all. Nigeria today confronts a multi-layered terrorist ecosystem that includes: Internationally designated terror organisations; ISIS-linked and al-Qaeda-linked franchises across the Sahel; Local violent extremist groups masquerading as bandits; Cross-border terrorist cells exploiting porous frontiers; Ideological insurgents and criminal-terror hybrids operating in ungoverned spaces.”
“These actors collaborate. They share money, ideology, weapons, intelligence and logistics. Their goal is the same: to break the Nigerian state and subjugate its people. Let’s call them what they all are: terrorists,” Dare said.
He alleged that terrorism took root during Obasanjo’s administration because it was not halted early.
“It is historical fact that the ideological foundations and early cells of Boko Haram were incubated during Obasanjo’s civilian presidency. While they recruited, indoctrinated, built camps and flaunted authority, the state failed to act decisively.
“For the leader under whom the first seeds of terrorism were allowed to sprout, attempting to lecture a sitting president who is confronting the consequences is the height of irony,” the Presidency added.
