A recent political storm erupted on Sunday after Sunday Dare, Particular Adviser on Media and Public Communication to President Bola Tinubu, delivered a scathing response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s current feedback on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
Obasanjo, talking at an occasion in Jos on Friday, had accused the Federal Authorities of failing in its most elementary duty, defending residents and argued that Nigerians have the correct to hunt worldwide intervention if killings persist. He mentioned the wave of assaults throughout the nation had left communities weak, including that “our authorities appears to be incapable of defending us.”
His remarks drew a pointy rebuttal from Dare, who issued a press release titled “Between Tinubu’s Functionality and the Ignobility of Pseudo Statesmanship”. Posting through his X deal with, the presidential aide accused Obasanjo and what he referred to as “routine presidential aspirants” of constructing feedback that undermine ongoing counter-terrorism operations.
Based on Dare, such criticisms quantity to give up and disrespect the complicated nature of the threats dealing with Nigeria. He mentioned it was “hypocritical and ignoble” for Obasanjo to demand overseas intervention when, in accordance with him, the extremist motion that later turned Boko Haram started taking form throughout Obasanjo’s civilian presidency.
“It’s a historic proven fact that the ideological foundations and early cells of Boko Haram had been incubated throughout Obasanjo’s presidency,” Dare said. “They recruited overtly, constructed camps, indoctrinated followers and examined the boundaries of state authority. But the federal government didn’t act decisively.”
He argued that what might have been a containable extremist sect ultimately developed right into a violent insurgency and worldwide terror franchise, partly as a result of early alternatives to quash it had been missed.
“For the chief below whom the primary seeds of terrorism had been allowed to germinate to now challenge public lectures is not only ironic, it’s reckless,” he added.
Dare defended President Tinubu’s safety technique, insisting that the administration is tackling terrorism by means of sustained army stress, intelligence-driven missions, group engagement, and deradicalisation initiatives. He warned that public feedback questioning the federal government’s capacity might embolden violent {groups}.
“When former leaders disparage the nation’s capability, they hand psychological victories to the terrorists kidnapping and killing Nigerians,” Dare mentioned. “If Obasanjo needs to assist, he ought to acknowledge previous failures and assist ongoing efforts, not undermine them.”
He urged residents to shut ranks behind the federal government’s strategy, saying Tinubu stays dedicated to securing “each inch of the nation” by means of a whole-of-government technique.
“This administration is not going to be distracted by selective amnesia wrapped in elder-statesmanship,” Dare concluded. “Nor will it enable those that midwifed Nigeria’s early safety failures to rewrite historical past.”