Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu have called on Nigerians to exercise patience with the Bola Tinubu administration, stressing that the crises inherited from the previous government will not disappear overnight.
Ribadu pointed out President Tinubu inherited serious active security challenges capable of bringing the country to its knees, citing the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, militancy and oil theft in the Niger Delta region, insecurity in the South-East and banditry in the North-West.
The NSA made this assertion on Thursday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, while speaking at the ongoing 19th Annual Nigerian Editors Conference.
The conference had the theme, ‘Stimulating economic growth, technological advancement, role of the media.’
The former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission chairman, however, pointed out that there had been a lot of improvement in the security challenges confronting the country and appealed to Nigerians to cooperate with the Federal Government in its effort to eliminate all forms of insecurity in the country.
Ribadu’s latest complaint about the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari is coming a few days after he lamented that Tinubu’s government inherited a bankrupt country.
The NSA had told participants at the Chief of Defence Intelligence Annual Conference 2023 in Abuja on Monday that the revenue generated by the current administration was being used to repay “what was taken from the country.’’
Ribadu in his presentation at Uyo, stated, ‘By June 1, 2023, when we took over the country we have serious active security challenges, serious ones Even one alone will undermine seriously management of the country.
‘We have Boko Haram which is 15 years now ongoing. Militancy in the Niger Delta has been on for many years, banditry and kidnapping, especially within northern Nigeria in the North-West.
‘And unfortunately, that is still a little going on in the South-East. These four massive problems, each one is capable of bringing us to our own knees. All of them are very active. At the time we took over, like last year, we used to have a minimum of 1,200 or more violent deaths as a result of criminal activities.’
Read Also: Tinubu Inherited A Bankrupt Country, Ribadu Declares
Speaking further, the top official argued that the security situation had improved under the Tinubu administration, stressing that he was not condemning the previous administration but was simply stating the truth.
He noted, ‘We are all in this together, as a National Security Adviser, you want to hear about national security. We have been there about five months, a few days into office. We have given Nigeria to President Bola Tinubu to manage it for us.
‘In the last five months, I have been there by his side and have seen how things were when we started and how things are now and hopefully the direction we are going is okay.
‘We inherited a tough period. We appeal for patience and understanding. It’s tough times and that is the reality. We are not condemning anyone but that is the truth. Those who are in charge must say the truth, say it as it is, and then hopefully things will be better for you.
‘Like I said, my coming (here) is to identify with you. I also appeal to you for support. We are going through tough times. It requires all of us to come together. We are all in it together. It is not going to be for too long. Is a matter of time, it will be better.’
Trumpeting the ‘achievements’ of his principal, he added, “Let me start with the Niger Delta; at the time we took over, the production of crude oil was 1.1 million barrels per day. Today, crude oil production is over 1.7 mbd.
‘We have witnessed three weeks without any incidence of security challenges in the Niger Delta. This is the first time since 1993, that we don’t talk.
‘In the South-East, we had 46 police stations attacked. We had people who were not indigenous to the country attacked, and killed. Today, we don’t have a single one.
‘In the last two months, not a single person has been killed through the violent attack in the South-East. We don’t talk. The leadership we have in our country understands things a bit better. Work more, talk less.’
Highlighting further the positive developments in the national security architecture, the NSA noted that the stay-at-home restrictions and the bloodshed in the South-East had ceased.
He affirmed that collective effort was required to tame the insecurity scarring the northern part of the country.