A former Minister of Information and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Prof. Jerry Gana has expressed dismay at the level of impatience already being displayed by Nigerians with President Muhammadu Buhari, just 30 days into the administration, calling for caution.
This is even as he has called on Buhari to carry out to the latter his decision to fight corruption, saying corruption can’t take the country forward but only fairness, equity and justice that can do that.
He made the call on Tuesday at the Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade’s public presentation of his books ‘Issues in the Mobilisation of Public Support for Military Operations’ and ‘The Battles and Voice of the Nigerian Military’, at the Nigerian Airforce Conference Centre & Suites, Kado, Abuja.
Gana, who was the guest speaker at the occasion, said the task of transforming visions to realities depends on leaders that are sensitive.
He urged Nigerians to pray for President Buhari and other leaders elected to govern for God to give them the wisdom to select their priorities, especially in a nation like Nigeria.
According to him, “Although we are very intelligent, patriotic but one of the things ruining Nigeria is that we are not patient at all. We are very impatient and anybody who is impatient will not get solid things. Even if you are looking for a wife if you are impatient you will get any how wife. But when you are looking for a great lady you have to wait because the best takes time to form.
“Nigerians you are too impatient. Already you know just about 30 days I want to plead that we allow him to study the situation, let him choose his priorities, allow him to govern; he has four years. Although we are opposition and we are watching even if he is making a mistake we will say go on. But Nigerians we want to criticise every move, no you don’t do that. So I pray God will grant him the wisdom.
“In addition to that, I have seen him already this spirit of resilience, I think that is good, the ability to bounce back after failure. He tried three times we defeated him it was when he came the fourth time that he defeated us.
“Dear friends, I’m taking opportunity of this remarks to say if you want to really succeed in life there must be the spirit of resilience, don’t give up too easily, tomorrow is greater”, he said
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He said the Nigerian constitution stressed that the security of life and property is the business of government.
“If government doesn’t secure life and property you have not done anything at all, that is the first duty of government. In doing so, we must therefore realise that the federal government being the government at the centre, must through its armed forces be given the monopoly of legitimate violence.
“There must be only one institution in the nation that should have that, it can’t be everywhere but this monopoly is now being shared with armed robbers, Boko Haram, the youths in Niger Delta and with all sorts of people.
“My friends if we do not we do not have a central authority that has the monopoly of violence you will not survive as a nation. If you are in doubt go to Somalia, you cannot have democracy without security. You can’t play politics with security. Therefore I appeal that we please give support to the Nigerian Armed Forces because we have yielded to them the monopoly ot legitimate violence so that they can ensure the rule of law and order.
“Support them psychologically, financially, morally and by giving information because intelligence is extremely important, when the population give information our military will be able to win the war”, he said.
A former Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Olasaheed Ibrahim, said Amnesty International coloured the truth in their recent report on human rights violation, saying is only the boys on the field who have lost colleagues, help in burying them and facing the trauma of the fight against insurgency in the North East that can truly really tell the truth.
He said the Amnesty International has violated the security act of the country and commended Nigerians for rising up to challenge the report.
He also commended Olukolade for documenting his experience in the books, saying it would help correct the wrong impression being portrayed by the media especially the international media.
Olukolade said he has always visualised a people’s military right from his early days as a young officer, even has he is occasionally challenged by some reports in the media by those he called “media militia”.
“I think they misrepresent our stories occasionally but not out of sheer mischief, occasionally it is out of dis-orientation or lack of misunderstanding. I also think that with due assistance they can do better.
“I always sought not just to reduce the instances of misrepresentation of military action but also the total elimination of the public apathy towards the use of military power when the need arises. Since we live in an age when both the people and the Nigerian military forces are threatened by one common enemy, there should then be a meeting point for the hearts and the minds of the two groups in order that we might form a formidable force against the unprovoked aggression
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