….Why I chose Ahmed Buhari as my running mate
PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, has bemoaned the rising waves of insecurity in the country, saying Nigeria is “in a state of war and we are in trouble.”
Kachikwu, who spoke while unveiling Mr Ahmed Buhari as his running mate after his earlier choice, Dr. Mani Ibrahim, the registrar of Baze University, withdrew, saying he would be unable to combine his job and the rigours of a vice president, said all hands must be on deck to curtain the deadly menace.
He lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari has been unable to address insecurity, saying “he no longer has the capacity to run the affairs of this nation and rather than resign honourably he watches as Nigerians die daily.”
His words: This morning (yesterday), the headline of a major newspaper in Nigeria reads; ‘ISWAP plots massive attacks on Lagos, Kaduna and other locations. ’This is eliciting panic as those of us who didn’t understand our country was in a state of war and those who had been deceived by this government that all was well now realise, we are in trouble.
“Many of us have seen the gory images of eight of our heroic soldiers drawn from the Presidential Guards Brigade killed by terrorists in the Bwari area of Abuja. Bwari is a 30 mins drive from the residence of our President. We are told that they planned to attack the Nigerian Law School. The Kuje Prison that was attacked a few weeks ago and terrorists released is also a thirty minutes drive from President Buhari’s residence.
“Just in case we are forgetting his advance team was attacked in Katsina on the same day the prison was attacked, and some policemen killed. Nigeria has become the killing field of the world. Our military are being slaughtered, our citizens are being slaughtered and our dear President went to Liberia to make a speech on security. This same President left the country for Senegal a few hours after the Kuje prison attack.
“We now begin to wonder if there is a connection between his trips and the attacks. Is he running? This question has to be asked because he swore an oath to defend the lives and property of Nigerians, but he is now presiding over our funerals. He has run out of excuses for the abysmal failure of his government, so he just takes off. Many people have rumoured that this is a carefully orchestrated plan by this government to extend their stay in office by ensuring the country won’t be able to hold elections while some also say they want to hand over the country to terrorists similar to what we saw in Afghanistan, but I believe that it is a simple case of a man who can’t give what he doesn’t have.
“He no longer has the capacity to run the affairs of this nation and rather than resign honourably he watches as Nigerians die daily. This is not why we are here today, but I can’t just be silent in the face of this carnage.
“President Buhari you rode into office several years ago in a blaze of glory. You had unprecedented goodwill. The masses especially those from the North believed that you were coming to save them from war and poverty. Those in the South were hoodwinked into believing that you were a reformed dictator. You even wore a tuxedo and shed tears. The people bought it and today the North is finished.
“Your home state of Katsina has fallen to bandits. Thousands have died under your watch, tens of thousands displaced, thousands in captivity and tens of thousands in IDP camps. Our economy has been decimated under your watch. In a time of war, you continue to polarise our country along religious and tribal lines. As a retired General you inherited N100b annual internal security budget from President Jonathan and still continue with that same budget and expect that our troops won’t be killed?
“How does this make sense? What was the exchange rate under President Jonathan? What was the price of petrol, diesel and food under President Jonathan? What was the scale of conflict under President Jonathan? How can our military perform magic when they are underfunded? It is not by changing Service Chiefs. Even if you brought in British Generals they would fail under these conditions
“Why are you letting people deceive you when Nigerians are dying? Our troops are being fed on credit. They are underfunded. Nigerians need to know the truth today. Our country spends billions of naira on expensive armaments and won’t provide adequate money for operations and maintenance. Military planes are falling out of the sky. The Nigerian Airforce is dealing with increase in cost of aviation fuel, but their budget stays the same so what else will they do but reduce the number of missions. If the number of aerial patrols is reduced, you have terrorists moving about freely without being seen. This is not rocket science. You can buy the best generator in your house but if you don’t put diesel or fuel in it, you will be in darkness.
This is what is happening with our military. They are dying needlessly, and it seems we don’t care. Our country operates an old-fashioned bureaucratic military structure. Our military are supervised by a Minister of Defence who is the middleman between the military and the Presidency. If they request for N100 today he approves N30 in three weeks’ time before he sends it to the President who is actually fast in approving Mr President what happens to the N70 shortfall?”
“As a former General do you think the Generals who prepared that budget didn’t know what they were doing? If you let your Minister consistently cut military budgets then you are saying you don’t trust your Service Chiefs. We cannot continue to operate like this while our troops are being killed. They have families.
“Mr. President this is what you must do immediately if you want to save Nigeria. 1. In a time of war military budgets should go straight to you without passing through a Minister of Defence. 2. In the short term the police and civil defence should contribute 100,000 men and women who will be trained in the next one month by the military to join the war effort. They already bear arms. 3. In the medium term one million conscripts should join the army. It takes a minimum of six to nine months to train a civilian into a soldier and another 3 years for them to specialise in weapons use. We can’t run away from this. If the terrorists and bandits are recruiting people daily, we must also recruit massively. If you are able to implement the first two options immediately our roads, farms and cities will be free of bandits and terrorists.
“Our people can go back to their farms and communities and small businesses can thrive again. If you fail to do this, you might be actively fuelling the rumours that you want the terrorists to take over our nation.”
Ahead of the 2023 general polls, Kachikwu urged Nigerians not to repeat past mistakes.
His words: “As we then approach the next elections it becomes important that we do not make the mistakes of the past. Several years ago, Nigerians were deceived into voting in the APC Government.
“They didn’t question the antecedents of those who were behind the party and who were selling the product. We have collectively paid a huge price and can never regain the years we have lost under this government. As we approach the 2023 general elections, it is disheartening to see the usual suspects present themselves again to the electorate. The same people who have destroyed our nation.
“Let me be clear on this, anyone who has held office as a Governor, Vice President or President ought not to present himself or herself for office. They are all a part of the mess. Ministers, parliamentarians, etc are also included. It is their constitutional right to aspire or run for office, but it is a moral obligation for them not to run. 2015 is about to repeat itself again. Those who have performed woefully in government are telling us the miracles they performed in office. Those who stole our nation blind are using our money to market themselves and buy your votes. Can we afford to make the same mistake again? No. We cannot.
“The next elections will be about capacity and not lies or vote buying. It will be about charting a new course for our people. It will be about redefining our collective charter as Nigerians. It will be about kicking out mediocrity and enthroning meritocracy. It will be about building strong institutions with strong processes that defy corruption, nepotism and tribalism. We must rescue Nigeria from all those who have destroyed our nation. We must rescue our people who are still being held captive by the spell of politicians. We must rebuild our economy from the ground up. We must support the poor, weak, young and elderly.”
Promising to do these, if elected, Kachikwu said he has chosen Mr Ahmed Buhari, who hails from Kontagora, Niger State as his running mate.
Ahmed Buhari, a geologist with a master’s degree in Geographical Information Systems and Spatial Analysis, has over 18 years experience as a scientist and public relations professional. He is married with three children.
