by Alex O. Onukwue

 

The duty of the President and the Executive, by extension, is to ensure the safety and security of all citizens in Nigeria. But, no, this is not about sending the Directorate of State Security (DSS) after Prof. Ango Abdullahi.

In a week where Boko Haram invaded Maiduguri again, the shenanigans of the Kaduna Declaration have taken attention away from the horrors of those attacks. Moreso, the defiance of the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo in proceeding with his scheduled visit to the troubled state has also not been fully appreciated, lost in the noise of the back-and-forth reactions to the Arewa group.

The words of Prof Abdullahi, in backing the threats of the Youth group, would not have escaped the attention of the staffers at the Villa and the Acting President. Depending on the schedule allowed by President Buhari’s doctors, this news may have also got there too, somehow making its way to him through the yellow headline screens of Sky and the red ones of the BBC.

Rightly, the Presidency has waited for the appropriate chain of responses to the Kaduna Declaration to take its natural course, beginning from Kaduna State and through to the Northern Governors Forum. Actually, the NGF’s response was related to the public by Kashim Shettima, the Governor of Borno State. That would have sufficed, marginally, but for the amplification provided by Prof Ango Abdullahi.

For such a matter of National security, it cannot be too long before the Presidency makes its own statement. Perhaps a direct patch to the Prof would be necessary to call him to order, reminding him of his commitment to the Nigerian state in conscience, as a former Minister. One could argue that this would have been the duty of some of the Northern members of the Villa, in a very ‘calm’ environment.

But if that would take too long, Acting President Osinbajo may want to exercise his creative nous in getting firm word across, and re-assure everyone that his ‘Biafra at 50’ speech was far from just an invitation honored.