Former Deputy-Governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari’s name can’t work any magic for APC in 2019.
Making the declaration in an interview with TUNDE THOMAS, Bucknor-Akerele,a leading chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and executive member, Nigerian Elders Forum said PDP will defeat APC in 2019 notwithstanding the candidature of President Buhari. She also said Nigeria maybe no more before the election comes if the spate of killings by herdsmen continue in parts of the country.
We, as elders are sad. As leaders, we are not happy that these killings by the herdsmen have not only continued, but have reached an alarming proportion. We are all worried. We are worried that these killings have turned Nigeria into another Somalia of Africa where human lives are not only endangered but have become very cheap.
Nigerian elders are seriously concerned, and our concern is that if these killings continue unchecked that it may just be a matter of time before Nigeria is plunged into another civil war. Today, the situation in Nigeria is like sitting on a keg of gunpowder which can explode anytime, and sadly, the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has not been able to stop these killings by the herdsmen. Imagine over a 100 lives murdered in cold blood within two days, what kind of country are we living in. It is sad that Fulani herdsmen have turned Nigeria into a jungle; through their atrocious activities they have turned Nigeria into a killing field, and yet those who are supposed to check them or bring the situation under control are fiddling. Our leaders, Buhari and his party APC are busy politicking and seems only to be concerned about 2019 rather than taking steps to protect Nigerians who are being murdered in cold blood everyday by the herdsmen.
What kind of justification can anybody have for killing human beings because they stole their cows? I was reading in the dailies where these herdsmen’ leaders are trying to justify the killings of innocent Nigerians. Are these people God-fearing at all? How can you value lives of cows more than that of human beings? This is very strange.
Again, it is sad that rather than bringing the herdsmen to book for their crimes, our leaders are always defending them, providing useless and senseless justifications for the killings by the herdsmen.
Whether Buhari wants to accept it or not, today he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and it is his duty to protect all Nigerians; he should not be seen to protect one ethnic group at the expense of others.
Looking at the killings by the herdsmen all over the country, especially in the North since January this year, it is alarming and frightening. It is sad and unacceptable that Buhari as the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces has not been able to do anything about it.
It has now become a tradition and practice by the Federal Government that anytime the herdsmen strike and kill innocent Nigerians, instead of taking concrete action, the Federal Government will only offer condolences to the families of those who lost their dear ones, and also again attempt to justify the killings by the herdsmen. To me this is an insult to Nigerians and also to the memory of those killed by the herdsmen in their prime.
The situation has never been so bad like what we are witnessing under Buhari. The President should rise above ethnic affiliation, and should rather act like a statesman by regarding all Nigerians as his children who he must protect at all times. When Nigerians were voting for Buhari, they didn’t vote for him as Fulani or herdsmen President, they voted for him as President of Nigeria.
Nigerian elders from all over the country met recently in Abuja where at the end of our meeting, we prevailed on President Buhari to stop these killings by the herdsmen. We expressed our worries to him that Nigeria is gradually descending into a state of anarchy. But with the recent outrageous killings in Adamawa and Plateau States, we are going to meet again, and it is likely we may send a delegation to President Buhari to express our worries, feelings and sadness about these killings.
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