Founder of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Boniface Aniebonam, has urged Nigerians to stop the blame game about insecurity plaguing President Bola Tinubu’s administration and cooperate with the government to fight the monster that is troubling the country.
Aniebonam, who is also the founder and pioneer president of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), advised that Nigerians should ot see security as strictly the responsibility of only the Federal Government.
He charged Nigerians to play their roles by supporting the government and the security agencies in whatever way they can to fight insecurity in the country.
He made the call when the executive members of the Crime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (CRAN) visited him at his office in the Apapa area of Lagos. He also expressed optimism that there is light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria.
He emphasised that tackling Nigeria’s security challenges, including kidnapping and banditry, demands more than just the government’s action.
He described security as a general thing requiring the active involvement of every citizen.
“This is not the time to apportion blame on anybody. If we want to be honest with ourselves, those who have not been involved in administration do not always see the enormity of the problems from the outside. When you come in and open the cupboard, you will see the scale of the challenges,” he said.
He also pointed to the root causes of criminality, questioning the mindset that drives individuals to commit violent acts for meagre sums and highlighting the complicating factor of drug addiction, which he termed a “self-inflicted path” that hampers enforcement efforts.
Defending the President’s predicament, Aniebonam noted that powerful “entrenched interests” often make policy implementation difficult.
He used the long-standing issues in the power sector as an example of how inherited failures can stall even the most determined administrations.
“The President may have his faults, but he is dealing with deep-seated issues. This is a time for Nigerians to be patient and rally round the leadership to overcome these avoidable travails,” he stated.
He also commended the president for allowing due process to prevail in the now- sentenced Nnamdo Kanu’s case for terrorism.
He said: “The President kept quiet to allow due process to prevail. Now that the legal matters are concluded, he has the constitutional power to invoke the ‘prerogative of mercy’ to give direction for the peace of the country.”
He further suggested that dialogue remains a priority, asking, “What stops the government from sitting down with stakeholders like Kanu to understand the root of the problem?”
He concluded by expressing faith in the judiciary to resolve the ongoing legal battle following the crisis within the NNPP.
