Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, charged President Buhari to use the remaining time of his administration to bring Nigeria out of the doldrums into which it has fallen.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said information and assurance that emanated from President Buhari’s message to Nigerians to mark this year’s Eid-El-Fitri celebration “fly against the reality on ground.”
In his message released on Sunday, April 30, by the presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, to mark the end of Ramadan fast, President Buhari had disclosed that the end to terrorism acts was in sight and that Nigerians have reasons to mark the Ramadan festival with hope as the “battle waged against terrorists who falsely masquerade under the name of Islam is approaching its conclusion.”
But Ajayi stated that “rather than looking at the immediate future with hope, Nigerians are living and moving around in fear and despondence because of the insecurity they face at home, at work and even more so when travelling on highways. How then can one be hopeful in that kind of situation?”
While agreeing with the president that the fight against terrorists “has been long and hard,” Afenifere noted that government has not succeeded in convincing most Nigerians that the “final victory is within sight.”
Afenifere reminded President Buhari that the three major areas in which he raised the hopes of Nigerians when coming to power were security, fighting corruption and boosting the economy among others.
“Unfortunately, the change we have seen in any of these areas are in the reverse. In reverse in the sense that insecurity is now at an unprecedented level, corruption is an all-time high while the economy is now so down that hardly are majority of Nigerians able to eat twice in 24 hours.”
He challenged the president to immediately allow states to establish their own police forces, honour agreements his government has with various labour unions, drastically reduce the cost of governance and ensure the cost of social services and essential commodities like petrol and electricity come down considerably.
