“Their concern, commendable as it were, ended up exposing
their ignorance at understanding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, the very instrument which gave them the legitimacy and the authority
to be Governors.
“If the Governors had traveled to the US to engage on how to
boost agriculture or health issues or any other pressing local problems listed
on the Concurrent List of our Constitution, this could be quite understandable.
“But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive
Legislative List such as security says a lot about the substance they are made
of.
“Security is a very wide subject which their Excellencies
must have capacity to grasp. Most urban towns in their states lack portable
drinking water, and refuse dumps have taken over some streets.
“Our children attend primary schools under the trees and
where there are classes, they take their lessons sitting on the floor, yet the
security implications of this cannot be discerned by their Excellencies.
“Deliberate and harshly induced poverty by unplanned
government policies have made citizens lose their esteem, honour and self worth
by lining up scrambling to collect palliatives from patronizing and
condescending leaders yet the Insecurity of this is of no worry or concern to
them.
“You have governors with no human empathy or respect for
dignity or decency in an open show of shame throwing money like confetti from
an open Jeep and people scrambling to pick it like the Governor of Niger State.
Yet they fail to see the security implications of all these.
“If the governors were serious and wanted to have a lecture
on security, they need not have embarked on such a wasteful journey with the
accompanying expenditure of flight tickets, hotels with all their aides and
above all the valuable time wasted at the expense of running their states.
“Certainly, they could have gotten more than they wanted
from our resourceful institutions such as NIPSS in Kuru Jos or ASCON in Badagry
or even NIA.
“These three institutions have more than enough materials,
essays and templates on the problems on security in Nigeria more than the far
fetched American Institute”
The former Governor however blamed the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the NIA for failing to properly guide the governors.
“I blame the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the NIA for
failing to properly guide the governors for this folly.
“The governors could not have traveled without the
facilitation of the Ministry or our Embassy in Washington.
“Nigeria and Nigerians now carry the image of ‘advancing our
shame and embarrassment beyond our frontiers’ caused by their Excellencies!”
“One is inclined to believe Rufai Oseni of Arise TV when he
recently said ‘Nigerian madness has no bound or limits’.
“So in Nigeria today, one’s biggest challenge is how one
remains sane in this insane country,” Lamido stated.
