From the look of things, it appears that President Muhammadu Buhari does not appreciate the enormity of the work in his hands, or that he deliberately wants to trivialize what in a real sense, is a very serious and grave situation.
How can our President be only interested in the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, “losing weight” when a more serious issue is on hand?
Responding to an interviewer who had accosted him on the deteriorating security situation in the country upon his return to Nigeria after his ten-day “private visit” overseas, President Buhari’s responded by saying that because the Inspector General of Police was “losing weight”, therefore ‘I think he is doing well”.
What a trivial way to respond to an issue of grave concern! It is either that the President does not take the deteriorating security situation in the country very serious, or that he does not have anything more to offer the country.
What does “losing weight” got to do with the daily kidnappings and killings by criminal elements? Either that the men in charge of our security architecture are competent or they are not. It has no relationship with “losing weight”. If they like, let them be as dry as stockfish.
Incidentally, all those in charge of our security agencies are from one particular section of the country. But they will not admit that they have failed in the face of daily killings by either the Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, bandits, armed robbers, ritualists or cultists.
From President Buhari’s response, he does not seem to be very much concerned about the daily loss of lives of innocent Nigerians who had entrusted the security of their lives and property into his hands when they voted for him as their President. It also does not appear that the President has any definite plan to tackle these security challenges.
Now, the President’s concern appears to be in the Inspector General of Police losing weight and nothing more. It is being insensitive to what is happening in the country. This confirms the saying by some people that our President is only interested in the wellbeing of his appointees, and not in the works they were appointed to do.
It is claimed that the best person to work with is President Muhammadu Buhari because once he gives you job, he closes his eyes and forgets about whatever you are doing. He does not bother himself to know how you are doing the job, whether you are doing it well or not, is not his concern.
That is why since 2015 when he came on board, our President has not thought it necessary to reshuffle his cabinet or to change any of those in charge of our security services. Yet, everything is going haywire.
Every true Nigerian is deeply worried about the deteriorating security situation, where scores of people are either kidnapped or killed almost on a daily basis by terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
Every now and then you hear that so so and so person had been kidnapped or that so so and so village had been attacked and that such number of people had been killed and the entire village completely razed down.
You are disturbed or troubled because you do not know where and when they would strike or who would be the next victim. You look up to the security agencies to rise to the occasion, but they are overwhelmed or are incapable of doing anything.
You also look up to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who must have been getting daily briefings about how the country is almost turning into an animal kingdom, to rise to the challenge and issue stern orders to stop the barbaric acts going on, but the man was trivializing the issue. He would not take it serious.
You then give up on government, and start making your own security arrangements, while ultimately trusting yourself into the hands of God, who alone can give you protection.