Daniel Kanu

 

At last, the embattled Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general election and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, has resigned his appointment with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, Plateau State.

Until his resignation, Mailafia was a director at the National Institute, Nigeria’s think-tank institution.

For many, the real reason behind his resignation may not be unconnected with the developments after the controversial interview he granted Nigeria Info FM on some security issues in the country and the killings in Southern Kaduna.

Perhaps, of grave disclosure was his revelation that some ‘repentant’ Boko Haram fighters confided in him that a governor of a Northern state was a Boko Haram commander.

A member of his legal team and the Jos branch chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Yakubu Bawa, who confirmed the resignation during the week, also corroborated the fact.

Said Bawa:“It is true that he has resigned from NIPSS as a directing staff. It appears that the powers-that-be are not happy with him since his public condemnation of the killings going on in Southern Kaduna and other parts of the country.

“So, he has to resign, but we are not bothered because they need him more than he needs them.”

Knowing the nature of the fire-brand statesman, he did not want Nigerians to rely only on the disclosure of his lawyer. He opened up thus: “I decided that I cannot continue working, with all my good conscience, when my people are continually being killed and genocide is being committed against my people ”.

After his controversial interview, Mailafia has been a guest of the DSS, Jos office twice with his latest invitation coming from the Nigeria Police Force to Force Headquarters, Abuja, which he declined to honour.

Describing the police letter of invitation as strange and alien to the country’s laws, he approached the High Court of Plateau State to declare the invitation to Force Headquarters, Abuja as unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, and ultra vires, with no legal effect whatsoever.

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Those who knew him well saw it coming as they predicted that it was only a matter of time for Mailafia to quit NIPSS after his brush with the DSS.

Activist and rights crusader, Dr Joshua Ikomla has expressed worry at the rate of intolerance by the Muhammadu Buhari regime, urging the government to tread with caution, to avoid trampling on the democratic rights of Nigerians.

Ikomla told Sunday Sun: “When I saw the viral video in the social media I knew it will just be a matter of time, a short period for that matter for him to either resign honourably or they will booth him out. Of course, if you know the trend of operation of this government, I mean this Buhari management, the leadership is intolerant to criticism either mild or acerbic. And I ask, is it not this president that also carried out vitriolic criticisms and hurtful attacks on former President Goodluck Jonathan and initiated protests? Who invited him then?

“It is as if this government prepared for all-out war on critics and I can tell you that we have not seen enough of the shenanigans of this government in power. My worry is that those who know how to deceive every government in power are still telling our president that all is well, giving him kudos. Let somebody tell Buhari to watch it before his government soon degenerates into unmitigated disaster and monumental nuisance”.

Mailafia tragedy again brought to the fore the persistent disquiet over security challenge and the need for government to step up measures, especially the Southern Kaduna mindless killings.

Observers who spoke to Sunday Sun are in agreement that the issues, which Mailafia raised, concerning Southern Kaduna killings should be taken seriously rather than discarded by the federal authorities.

A disturbed Nigerian who preferred anonymity said: “Thousands of citizens have been massacred in their sleep by herdsmen heavily armed with sophisticated weapons in Southern Kaduna. All efforts to get the attention of the Federal Government to take decisive action to stop the genocide have fallen on deaf ears as the government merely folds its hands and watch as these defenseless and hapless residents are attacked night after night and brutally massacred in their sleep.

“It is time for the world to wake up from its slumber and come to the rescue of the defenseless citizens of Southern Kaduna who face genocide unless something drastic is done on their behalf”.

In the first four years of the Buhari-led APC government, it was easy to place all the blame for the failure of the past on the previous ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

However, more than a year into the second coming of the government, critics say this government is, perhaps, yet to perform any better as some would even contend that Nigerians have fared even worse, especially when one considers the goodwill and sheer weight of expectations that trailed the Buhari government when it came to power.

Mailafia was born on  December 24, 1956. He is a development economist, international polymath and statesman.