Emmanuel Umohinyang, political analyst and social commentator was until recently, convener, Re-elect Buhari Movement (RBM), a foremost political support group that worked for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election. He speaks on contemporary issues, including the upsurge in crime rate and recent criticisms of the President by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
What are your thoughts on the upsurge in post-election violence in the country?
I think you must understand that before the last election, we were more or less like a country that was domesticated in Rome. The crime rate was so low. The farmers-herders crisis subsided drastically, but what we have seen now is that the insecurity we are experiencing is man-made. They are artificial in nature, induced from some quarters and we cannot divorce this from politicians, the reason being that these politicians arm thugs with all manner of weapons just to secure electoral victory. But the question now is, are they able to retrieve these arms, from these boys? The answer is no. So, the upsurge in terms of banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery is not unexpected. We have always seen politics from the angle of winner-takes-all and you know the Nigerian politicians, they don’t think about the country. Their interest is the election. As soon as they get what they want, they don’t care about the people. All they care about is their interest, how to line their pockets with available resources meant for the development of the country. I am not surprised that there is an upsurge in crime. I am not surprised at all. You know we did not experience this before the election because they were all busy trying to fix themselves in their political platforms. Elections are over, those who lost and those who won, all armed their thugs, and now they cannot retrieve the arms from them. You know an idle hand is the devil’s workshop, so these people have ventured into crime with the available material in their hands. I think we must blame the political actors in the last election for the upsurge in crime in our country.
Do you agree with critics and the opposition that the scenario could be attributed to governance failure?
Each time you mention the opposition, I want to believe you are making direct reference to the People’s Democratic Party, and when you look at our constitution, section 14(2) makes provision for the security of our people and general wellbeing of Nigerians. Maybe, the opposition is speaking from experience because they were there before. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, we have a different perspective on the issues of security and wellbeing. Right from his ascension of the throne in 2015, the president has done his best. We know how things used to be before the 2015 general election. Even we had to suspend election for six weeks so that some mercenaries can be brought to clear the remnants of the Boko Haram in the North-East. When this President came, you saw that his first step was to get our neighbours to key into his ideas to tackle this menace and today we can beat our chest and say not an inch of our country is in the hands of these rag-tag fellows. When you now look at these fellows who had been in government for sixteen years pointing fingers at a party that has just been there for less than four years, it’s funny.
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When you look at the record of the President in the areas of security, you cannot but give him a pass mark. He has done very well. He has been able to galvanise the little resources at his disposal to put these things together and ensure that our brothers and sisters, whether in the North or the South are safe. Drawing reference from the PDP is like just trying to draw them into the media space. They do not deserve the attention of Nigerians. They were there for sixteen years and places like Abuja were not places you could go, there were threats of Boko Haram even in the Southern part of Nigeria, so the opposition lacks the moral right to talk about insecurity. Coming from where we were four years ago, we know there is meaningful progress. The security agencies are not sleeping as they are continually strategising. Even the acting Inspector-General of Police recently launched ‘Operation puff Ada” and they are doing excellently well in the Kaduna-Abuja axis. We, the citizens also have the responsibility to ensure we give them the necessary information for optimum performance.
How do you react to the view that the President should have called off his private visit to the UK to attend to the issue of wanton killings in the country?
Mr President just finished campaigns for the 2019 elections which took him to the thirty-six states of the Federation and Abuja. Even the candidate of the PDP could not attempt what he did, and, normally, the President takes a rest. Remember that the President does not have to go to the battlefront, though he is the Commander-In-Chief. It is not for the President to take up arms, and go after the bandits. He has military chiefs who are directly under his command. Even while in the UK, the President was receiving reports and giving directives. So, when they talk about coming back to the country and taking charge of the incident, it does not make sense to an average Nigerian. I don’t see any sense in the noise that the President should come back home. Don’t forget that we have a Vice President, an active one at that; so, there is no vacuum.
Do you agree that kidnapping has taken a giant leap under this administration?
I don’t think so. It will be correct to say that kidnapping and its twin brother – armed robbery- have been with us, as long as I could remember and so it would not be right to say it is under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I would rather say some new ideas have been brought into kidnapping and the government is also rising to that challenge and I think that is as the major reason the acting Inspector – General of Police launched the ‘Operation Puff Ada’.Today, you can see the Abuja – Kaduna road, famous for kidnapping. Recently, you also heard of the arrest of several kidnappers. I think it will be very difficult to say a particular crime has increased under a particular administration. We need to be very clear about the statistics that have been put forward. I listened to the figures on Nigerians that have been killed recently in Kaduna by the acting Inspector-General of Police. When you put those figures side by side with what we used to have, you will come to the understanding that it has even reduced compared to what used to be our lot. If I were a member of PDP, I would advise the party to come together and assist the government. Just like what we had in Rivers, where the governor waved the olive branch, calling the opposition to join him to stop the crime bedevilling the state, you saw how the APC responded. The country is our country; we have no other as the President has always said. Whatsoever we need to do to curb this menace, we just have to come together to do it. It’s not time to play politics with human lives. It’s not time to score political points. We should all rise and ensure that those bandits do not disintegrate our country.
The scenario has increased calls for the sack of service chief, are you in support?
Well, I know that it is only in Nigeria people take delight in having somebody removed from office, not because the person is incompetent, but just because of the person’s downfall. Calling for the removal of service chiefs is as old as the administration itself. None of them has been able to give a cogent reason on the call for the removal of service chiefs. The question we should ask is: have these service chiefs fared better? Have we seen relative improvement under their watch? I can tell you that the answer is yes. The call is not because they have underperformed. It’s just because some of them want to use it to massage their ego. I do not think we should change a winning team, so I do not buy the idea that service chiefs should be removed. I will rather call on Nigerians to support our armed forces, Police, Immigration, Civil Defense, etc. Their success is the success of all Nigerians, so we should give them all the necessary support.
There are different perspectives on the performance of the Acting IGP, what is your assessment?
Acting IGP Mohammed Adamu was appointed in January to succeed the former IGP, Ibrahim Idris. I will say so far, so good. He has introduced some very beautiful policies in an attempt to re-define the Police Force. He has also introduced elaborate reforms, mostly into the operations of the Commander of the Police Mobile Force to the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police. One would only expect that with somebody of the rank of ACP, the higher the responsibility of the person. He also recently launched ‘Operation Puff Ada’, which has also recorded a very commendable report across the country. My take is that Nigerians must learn to appreciate what they have, so they don’t lose it. The acting IGP has been one of the best Nigeria can boast of, just like his predecessor, Idris, who is also an UN-trained policeman. He believes less in talking and more in action. Under him, you have a very quick response to citizen’s complaints against the police. Some policemen who crossed the red line have been disciplined. In one word, I will say acting IGP Mohammed Adamu is discipline-personified.
