By INNOCENT Igwe
The main stream opposition to the ruling party,the African Democratic Congress,(ADC),has urged the United States President Donald Trump, to translate the America’s concerns for the insecurities in Nigeria into supporting the Country to grow her democracy and develop local capacity to solve its own problems as mobilizing armed troops,or even a threat of doing so, would do more harm than good and ultimately prove counterproductive to Nigeria’s democratic aspiration,long-term unity and national stability.
In a statement issued by the Party’s National Publicity Secretary,Bolaji Abdullahi,made available to Daily Nigerian Horn,ADC recommended Six Action Plans, that will enable the Tinubu Administration to avert the looming danger.
The recommendations include:A full overhaul of the national security apparatus, including an independent audit of operations, leadership and strategy, Immediate appointment of qualified ambassadors, to restore Nigeria’s diplomatic presence and strategic influence,A reset of foreign policy, grounded in national interest with renewed engagement across ECOWAS,the AU, and the UN, Urgent economic reforms,focused on price stability,a credible plan to ease inflation, and a verifiable social welfare system to ease the suffering of the poor masses across the country, as well as An end to the personalization of public institutions and a return to accountable citizen focused governance.
The statement said that if the present government had been less obsessed with politics, propaganda and self-centered celebration, it would have taken every single violent attack seriously and would have documented them such that it would have demonstrated to Nigerians and to the world, what it was doing to bring perpetrators to justice.
According to the statement,these would have enabled it to acknowledge its weaknesses, asked for help, rallied Nigerians for the great challenge and would have shown the world that it truly cared about every Nigerian life,to avert the present situation.
It stated that under the Tinubu Administration, Nigeria has declined both as a continental and a regional leader stressing that nothing underlines this decline more than the fracturing of ECOWAS under the Tinubu Presidency, as a region that once looked up to Nigeria for direction and leadership on issues of democratization and security, now doesn’t think the country matters anymore.
It said such resulted in smaller countries watch Nigeria fumble aimlessly with its own problems and domestic crises pointing out that these failures are not isolated but are all connected, pointing to a government that is incompetent, narrow minded yet blindly arrogant.
The statement said though the problem of insecurity in Nigeria didn’t start with President Tinubu, but he refused to acknowledge that the crisis has got worse under his watch and refused to accept responsibility, rather Nigerians have been met with excuses,cruel silence, indifference, and political posturing that mocks the tragedy of victims and their families.
It said that the insecurity in Nigeria is an existential crises that imperils all Nigerians and about every individual’s right to life.”Life and death are absolutes, and they must never be reduced to statistics.” it stated,as one life lost that could have been saved is one death too many.
The statement further said that President Trump’s statement is a reminder of the greater global concern about the sanctity of human life and the cardinal responsibility of national governments to protect the lives of people who live within their borders and regretted that it is in this most sacred mandate of government that the Tinubu administration has failed most.
It said that the ADC is guided by the painful reality that what is really at stake on the issue are the thousands of human lives that have been lost to insecurity in Nigeria, irrespective of their tribe, religion or region, and used the opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of all the victims and expressed deepest sympathies to their families.
