- The speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has hurled a series of blame on the presidency and on northern leaders
- Dogara said that the issues of insecurity and ASUU strikes are indications of the presidency's ineffectiveness
- He alleged that the president is indifferent towards the plight of universities and teachers throughout Nigeria
Yakubu Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives, on Thursday, January 10, alleged that the presidency is nonchalant towards the menace of insecurity currently bedevilling the country.
The speaker also accused northern leader for their alleged silence on the issue of insecurity in the region, which, according to him, is contrary to what was obtainable in the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan, The Nation reports.
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Dogara made these remarks in Nasarawa during the campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He also alleged that the presidency is carefree in respect to the predicament of universities and teachers across the country.
Speaking through his special adviser on media and public affairs, Turaki Hassan, Dogara stated: “Just like my last speech to Nigerians that were gathered in a rally like this in Gombe, I said that the 2019 general elections is not about President Muhammadu Buhari, it’s not about Atiku Abubakar, but I said it is about you who are gathered here and it will be a referendum on insecurity and hunger in this land.
“On the issue of insecurity, all of us know what is happening in Borno and, unfortunately too, between Abuja and Kaduna, as well as in Zamfara, Katsina, Nassarawa, Benue, Plateau and even Sokoto States.
“Now, I cannot even mention all because it is a general problem in the county, but I was highlighting the states where the problem is more endemic as of now. The issue is this, when this thing was going on under Jonathan, we had Borno elders always speaking.
“Where are the Borno elders now? Where are the leaders of Northern Nigeria now that this problem has become endemic? What are they saying now? Are we not guilty of what we allow? Are we not responsible for the killings to say that enough is enough and demand as a matter of right that President Buhari puts an end to this or leave if he can’t?
“The truth is that if we don’t rise up to the endemic challenges now, sooner than later, if things continue this way, we are not going to have a country. So it is our responsibility to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of insecurity.
“Without security; we would not have a meaningful democracy. The sad reality in Nigeria is that by our silence we have condoned those who have been unable to effectively tackle the insecurity in the nation.
"We have have wittingly become enablers of evil. You know what enablers do? Enablers don’t build a country only courageous people do.
“What enablers do is that they instigate the worship of individuals and the office they occupy, they will confuse such an individual with accolades. You know none of us was built to receive worship, anyone who attempts to receive worship will meet destruction in his wake.
“So that is why we are witnessing destruction in Nigeria, because we have elevated some human beings to the status of God. We now need to rise up and rescue our country from the clutches of insecurity.”
Furthermore, Dogara remarked that the 2019 general polls would be a referendum on a series of pressing national issues, alleging that the president is indifferent towards the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) nationwide industrial action.
“It’s been said that if you want to destroy a community, state or nation, don’t even fire shots or bring the crisis that is being perpetrated by Boko Haram, don’t even bring nuclear bomb, all you need to do is to lower the standard of education in that Community state, or nation. Once you succeed in doing that, you’ve killed the nation.
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“So many of us may not understand what I’m implying, but right now in Nigeria, the university lecturers are on strike. If it was a decent government that is committed to the future of this country, it wouldn’t take one week to resolve this problem, but unfortunately, through ineptitude, the strike is allowed to fester.
“If we shut down education, we shut down progress, we shut down the future of our teeming youth who have gathered here, we shut down the advancement of this great country called Nigeria. So the 2019 election will be a referendum on education also,” the Speaker was quoted as saying," he added.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that ASUU had reacted to the claim by the federal government that an agreement was in place saying this was not true.
Legit.ng gathered that Professor Biodun Ogunyemi who is the president of the association said the claim by the government was not true as negotiation is still incomplete by both parties.
He said the representatives at the meeting did not have the final say on the matter as ASUU insisted the new proposal must be written down showing plans of action unlike all along since the commencement of the two-month-old strike.
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