The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, called for a declaration of a state of emergency on insecurity.
The All Progressives Youth Forum, APYF, warned that it would no longer watch what it called “lethargy in governance”.
The PDP and the youth forum in the All Progressives Congress, APC, spoke against the backdrop of the kidnap of over 333 pupils of the Government Science Secondary School, GSSS, Kankara, Katsina State by bandits at the weekend.
Uche Secondus, the PDP national chairman, who spoke in Bauchi State during the launch of “renewal projects”, said Nigeria was not only undergoing serious distress but was in a confused state.
He said: “Nigeria is in crisis. Nigeria is confused. The only way out is for the PDP to get back to power and rescue Nigeria when the time comes.
“The economy is bad. Security is bad. Virtually every facet of life has collapsed. Let the President release our boys. If we were to be in power, we would have declared a state of emergency.”
While flagging off the projects, Secondus praised Governor Bala Mohammed for making the party proud.
APYF expressed fears that the gains the government made in pushing back the terrorists, particularly in the Northeast, is now been reversed.
A statement by the spokesman, Muhammad Abdullahi, reads in part: “While the government may be certain that efforts are ongoing to address all identified security challenges confronting the nation, some actions on the part of principal government actors, especially Mr President, are showing a debilitating lack of enthusiasm and not very reassuring to the generality of citizens.
“As foot soldiers of the party who on daily basis defend the actions of the Buhari government both online and offline, it has become difficult and frustrating for us to defend some certain dispositions of President Buhari, especially towards victims of insecurity.
“We do not, for instance, find it agreeable that Mr President who traversed the whole of Nigeria to ask for votes just last year could not spare time to visit Kankara in his native Katsina State, where a yet to be ascertained number of students have been abducted by suspected terrorists; even at a time he was readily available in the state.
“We, indeed, understand that Mr President is in Katsina on a private visit, but a father of a nation should know that private moments pale into insignificance when the safety and well-being of his people are threatened.
“The APYF especially would love the President to be more empathic towards those who are in the receiving end of the security problems confronting our nation, because it’s by so doing that he would have displayed the genuineness of intention that would enlist the patriotic support of the entire citizenry to queue behind the government and offer their support.
“At the moment, the lethargic attitude of Mr President towards particularly the issue of security is leading many to conclude that ours is a ‘leaderless’ administration where ‘nobody seems to be in charge.’
“We appeal for targeted, deliberate, and relatable actions toward addressing the growing and varied cases of insecurity.”
Source: The Nation
