BAYO AGBOOLA from Ibadan examines Afenifere’s last minutes agenda set for President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration which are preconditions for forgiveness which the outgoing President solicited from Nigerians
Hope of last minute redemption
With less than a month for the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to go, and the birth of a new civilian administration under the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere still hopes that Buhari’s administration can still redeem itself in some areas, at least as a parting package, to among others, ease the prolonged tension and anger in the land.
As far as Afenifere is concerned, it is not over until it is over as the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration can still restore the dying hopes of Nigerians within its remaining few days in office, especially, in the areas of addressing what it described as the upsurge in terrorism acts following the completion of the 2023 general elections, among many other issues.
Return of insecurity after 2023 general polls
Afenifere in its latest response to the state of the nation through a statement by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, stressed that the series of attacks on the defenceless people and the subversion of economic activities in various parts of the country “give us a lot of concern especially as we move towards the handing over of power on May 29, 2023 by the grace of God.”
To the pan Yoruba socio political organisation, kidnapping and banditry that reduced or to say the least, stopped during the general elections in February and March this year resumed shortly after the conclusion of the elections and reared its ugly head.
The group said there was still the opportunity for the authorities to ensure that the situation was quickly brought under control.
It named instances of such kidnapping, killings and other forms of banditry in places like Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Niger, Edo, Ebonyi, Nasarwa, Kaduna, Zamfara states and a host of others”.
According to Afenifere, apart from kidnapping people on highways, “bandits now even have the effrontery to go and abduct people from their homes as happened to one Adebukola in Ondo state, to a former deputy governor of Nasarawa state, Prof Onje Gye-Wado, to the driver of the incumbent Nasarawa state deputy governor, to one Muhammadu Jibril in Ago Igbira, Osun state and to over 100 students of Federal Government College, Yauri, Kebbi state, who were abducted from their hostels – to mention a few”.
Due to the resurgence of these societal vices, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, while speaking in Katsina recently stated that the federal government would soon “be deploying electronic digital technology to ensure 24/7 inch by inch surveillance of the 4,500 kilometres borderline from the eastern part to the western part including the coastlines” of the country.
Many Nigerians have wondered why the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is just thinking of taking such a step when it has about one month to go.
IDPs and President’s plea for forgiveness
Also, Afenifere while frowning that the fate of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in some parts of the country, is still hanging in the balance, stressed that the recent plea by President Buhari for those he might have hurt to pardon him would have been much better if the President had “listened to various pieces of advice and pleas being made to him over the years regarding the unfriendly, if not retrogressive, steps his administration had been taken”
While recognising the maxim that says ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine.’ Afenifere said, “without deceiving ourselves, the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari certainly ‘hurt’ a lot of people (to use his own word). Some of them are even no longer alive. Some who are alive have wounds that can hardly ever heal. Both physical and psycho-social wounds.
“Because the almighty created many humans to have large hearts, many whom the President had hurt may forgive him. That is for those who are alive. But then, what about thousands who have died as a result of avoidable acts that can easily be traced to the government such as non-provision of security and welfare as clearly enshrined in the Constitution?
“Many more people may be inclined to forgive Mr. President and change their notions of him if, within the remaining days he has left in the office, he could effect dramatic changes in policies that are making life difficult for Nigerians. This is possible to do if the President really wants the negative perception of his administration to ameliorate.”
Remedies
As for the pan Yoruba socio political organisation, among the necessary and immediate steps needed to be taken by the President Buhari led administration “were the immediate payment of the eight months salaries of University dons, decisive action that will permanently halt banditry, kidnapping and sundry terrorism activities in the country.
Other remedies according to Afenifere, are allowing those who desire to import fuel to do so for the price of the commodity to come down to less than N100 per litre just as prices of other energies like electricity, gas, kerosene and diesel should come down to about the same N100 per measure instead of about N750 that a litre of diesel now costs.
“To ensure that this is permanent, government can license Nigerians who are into modular refineries to start producing even with tax moratorium while serious efforts are made to bring the four refineries in the country back into production line”.
Afenifere added that “efforts should also be made to ensure that those in IDP camps are resettled in their ancestral homes with adequate steps taken to ensure that they are no longer worried by bandits again forever. Finally, the stranglehold on the economy, especially through unfriendly fiscal policies, be relaxed so that economic activities can quickly bounce back”, and that “these things are possible to be done successfully before May 29, 2023 “if President Buhari and his team really desire to do them”.
It is a known fact that the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere in the recent years leave no one in doubt of its being one of the major defender of Nigeria democracy as it clearly demonstrated before and after the last general elections when it among others warned against any step that can jeopardize the handing over of the rein of power to elected officers come May 29, 2023 amidst reports of steps being taken that may be prejudicial to the swearing-in of winners of the just concluded elections come May 29th, saying steps including attempts to rubbish the outcome of the elections especially the presidential election of February 25th, the resuscitation of the calls for the formation of an Interim Government and protests or rallies being conducted especially in Abuja and the United States of America against the result of the said election stands condemnable.
Afenifere specifically reminded those who are fanning embers of non-inauguration to beware of the monster being courted would affect not only the Presidency to be headed by the winner of the election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu but that “the disruption will affect all other tiers of government as well, governors at the state level, the legislatures at the national and state levels and perhaps the local government areas”.
The group add, “there is therefore the need to exercise a lot of caution. The laws of the land created avenues to seek redress when we are aggrieved. We enjoin those who may not be satisfied with the outcome of the concluded elections to seek redress through the established channels and not through any other means.
“It is also important to let members of the public realise that anything short of following due process, particularly, in the swearing-in of winners of the just concluded elections, constitutes grave dangers for the country. This must not be accepted or encouraged at all because of its dire consequences”
It stressed that the nation judiciary should not entertain cases that may be brought to derail the hard-earned civil rule and thus scuttle our democracy pointing out that “the successful conclusion of a general election this year has provided the country another opportunity to re-invent itself”, adding, “we believe that the government that will be formed at the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari administration on May 29 this year will open new (positive) vistas for the country. The new government, a product of the process created by the Nigerian Constitution i.e. electoral process, elicits hope of a new lease because of the acrimonious air and near despondence in the the land.”
A call against interim govt
Afenifere said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) the President-elect. Presently, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party, first and second runners-up in the presidential election are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the court.
“But going by the law of the land and experiences in the past, the fact that such cases are in the court cannot stop the inauguration. This means that a new government should take over in Nigeria come May 29. Changes can come later if the courts so decided.
“But for 2015 when the then President Goodluck Jonathan decided not to contest his defeat in the court, virtually all the presidential elections we have been having since the present civil dispensation in 1999 have been contested in the courts.
“At no time did the filing of such cases stopped inauguration. In the case of some governors whose elections were later overturned by the courts, they were initially sworn-in and were governing. They vacated their offices only after the court process had been exhausted. The situation can not be different this time around.
“As for those who are pushing for an Interim Government, this should not be allowed to happen first because it is alien to our law books and also because we have had an experience of it in the past. Not only was the experience unpleasant, it was retrogressive. It is a path we should not tread again for any reason. Especially since there is no basis for it whatsoever.
“In view of the setbacks, the contraption of interim government always brings, it is important to let its advocates know that it is an ill-wind that blows no-one any good. Those of them who, simply because they were uncomfortable with the result of February 25, Presidential election, want the baby to be thrown away with the bath-water.
“Ordinarily, it could be said that the allegation of steps capable of jeopardizing the handing over to the President-elect on May 29th is unreal. Doing so, however, would be playing the ostrich going by the confirmation by the DSS, opinions expressed against it by such groups and individual like Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Barrister Olisa Agbakoba, SAN APC Governors’ Forum etc.”
The big question however is whether all these suggestions and call put before the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration by the pan Yoruba socio political organisation are really feasible and possible to any achieve for any administration in this Nigeria within a period of less than two solid years not to talk of less than two months.
The fact is that having such done in this present Nigeria would be another landmark record. The fact remains that May 29 is much more around the corner and see what becomes of the suggestions by Afenifere to the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
