There is no doubt that the Boko Haram insurgency is advancing in recent months in Nigeria, with the Governors from the North-East region gathered on Thursday in Damaturu, Yobe State, for the 11th meeting of the North-East Governors’ Forum, with a focus on tackling the resurgence of Boko Haram insurgency, widespread poverty, and the region’s infrastructure deficit, which Reno Omokri, former Presidential Spokesperson on New Media to ex President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had in a post in recent time shared his observations and experiences he had while working in the Presidency, explaining how the successes gained in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency during the Presidency led by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and how the successes started dwindling under the Presidency of retired military General Muhammadu Buhari.
Punch Newspaper reported that the meeting of the Northeast Governors, “which opened Thursday at the Yobe State Government House, brought together leaders from the six states in the region, including the host governor, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, and the Chairman of the Forum, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State.
Governor Zulum, in his opening remarks, expressed deep concern over the recent resurgence of insurgent attacks, which he said threatened to undo the significant progress made in the fight against Boko Haram.
“The recent re-emergence of attacks by insurgents is a matter of serious concern capable of undermining the successes already recorded in the theatre of war,” he said. “Although we commend members of the armed forces for their efforts in fighting insurgency, we must collectively work to bring this war to a successful end.”
The governors agreed that combating the insurgency would require not only military efforts but also urgent socio-economic measures to address the root causes of the conflict.
Zulum highlighted the alarming levels of poverty in the region, calling it both an economic and humanitarian crisis.
He emphasised the need for short and medium-term strategies focused on revitalising the region’s agricultural sector, including supporting farmers, investing in irrigation systems, and promoting climate-resilient agricultural practices.
However, Zulum acknowledged that agriculture alone could not lift the region out of poverty.
He urged his fellow governors to focus on creating an enabling environment for the growth of small and medium-scale industries and to encourage private-sector investment and innovation in the region.
“The era of lamentation has gone. We come together not to lament our problems but to provide solutions,” he said. “We have the duty to provide our people with basic necessities of life and to create opportunities for them to thrive in a peaceful and secure environment.”
In his welcome address, Governor Buni of Yobe stressed the need for government action to create employment opportunities for the region’s youth, who remain vulnerable to recruitment by insurgent groups and criminal organisations.
“We have a moral obligation to make agriculture attractive, affordable, and profitable,” Buni said, adding that the region must harness its vast arable lands and large population to ensure food sufficiency and economic prosperity.
The governors also used the occasion to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his leadership during this challenging period, offering their support for the national policies aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s unity and prosperity.
Additionally, the governors paid tribute to the bravery of security forces, including the military, the Civilian JTF, vigilante, and hunter groups, many of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against insurgency.
They pledged renewed support for security efforts to safeguard the region.
The meeting, which is expected to culminate in a communiqué outlining key resolutions and commitments, marks a significant step in the North-East’s ongoing efforts to address both the security and socio-economic challenges facing the region”.
Reno Omokri in a post published on his social media accounts recently, said; “They Did It To Jonathan, And We Suffered Under Buhari. We Must Not Let History Repeat Itself!
Nigeria hit rock bottom under Buhari in every aspect. On Sunday, July 24, 2022, terrorists attacked the Brigade of Guards in Bwari, Abuja. That was unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. Please note that the Brigade of Guards are the Presidential Guards.
On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, five hundred terrorists in motorcycles attacked Kuje Prison and freed 900 of their colleagues.
On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, terrorists invaded the Nigerian Defence Academy and killed two soldiers and abducted one, while injuring many others. Not long afterwards, these sets of non state actors were taking photos with their arms along with influential clerics.
We had never heard of anything like ‘bandits’ in Nigeria until Buhari came along. At no time in our journey as a nation had a Governor ever boasted of paying killer herdsmen, until Nasir el-Rufai became a Governor.
According to the Global Terror Index, Nigeria under Buhari was the third most insecure nation on Earth. Only Somalia and Afghanistan were worse. War torn Syria was more secure than Nigeria. Please fact-check me.
In finance, we owed our highest debt ever under Buhari. If you take all the monies borrowed by Tafawa-Balewa, Ironsi, Gowon, Murtala, Obasanjo military government, Shagari, Buhari military regime, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo civilian administration, Yar’adua, and Jonathan, and combine it, it is not up to what Buhari borrowed in eight years.
In 2015, Buhari met a total foreign debt of $10.7 billion, of which the Federal Government owed only $7.35 billion and states owed the rest. By the time Buhari left in 2023, our foreign debt had ballooned to $42 billion.
What did Buhari do with the money? He used it to pay fuel subsidies and to defend the Naira, amongst other things.
Then, after borrowing more than any other government, the Buhari junta future-sold our oil and gas using future contracts and collected the money upfront, meaning that the Tinubu administration was not even receiving funds for the first six months or thereabouts after being sworn in.
Then, to further sabotage the incoming TInubu government, they borrowed an additional ₦30 trillion through the Central Bank of Nigeria via Ways and Means. Basically, they just printed money without production, gold, or anything tangible to back it up.
What they did was illegal. It contravened the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
According to Transparency International, Nigeria under Buhari was more corrupt than it was under the previous administration, having moved 13 places backwards in the CPI, from 136 in 2014 (our best outing ever), to 149 in 2021 (our worst performance ever).
If not for respect, Buhari ought to be answering questions today!
These reckless financial dealings had consequences for the welfare of the Nigerian people.
According to the Global Hunger Index released annually by the International Food Policy Research Institute, hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria reached its highest level under Buhari after steadily reducing under Jonathan.
Per the IFPRI, “The proportion of the population affected by undernutrition rose from 11.5% in 2015 to 18.7% in 2020”.
In terms of human rights, the Buhari administration massacred 347 Shia men, women, children, and infants on Saturday, 12 December 2015.
No other government before or after has ever perpetrated a mass killing like that.
But that was not all. We also had the hundreds of Nigerian youths allegedly killed by the FSARS under Buhari.
And then we had the Southern Kaduna Genocide under el-Rufai, in which over 10,000 people are suspected to have been killed.
So, if you did not sing or rap against Buhari, what is your rationale and justification for doing that now under Tinubu when things are gradually improving?
Tinubu has been abroad for only two weeks, and Pastor Tunde Bakare is giving a sermon making it look like the President is derelict in his responsibilities? Two weeks?
What did Tunde Bakare, who told us that God ordained him as Nigeria’s sixteenth President, preach when Buhari was in London for six months?
Don’t tell me that gaslighting story that we have never had it this bad before. That is a big lie. Things are better in Nigeria now than under Buhari.
Their strategy is being driven by the Machiavellian Nasir el-Rufai, and is based on their belief that Nigerians are emotional people with short memories and low attention spans; who can be gaslit to turn against a performing government by desperate politicians who cannot exist outside power.
I am a veteran of this. They did it to my former boss, President Goodluck Jonathan, and I will not sit idly by while they do it to Asiwaju.
We must not repeat history then claim that history repeated itself.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!”, Reno Omokri stated.
We had reported that the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai-El-Kanemi have raised alarms over rising cases of Boko Harama and Iswap attacks in the state in recent years since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over as Nigeria President, this, as the Borno State Governor ordered the arrest and prosecution of a man caught on camera allegedly molesting a minor, said to be one of the children sheltering in one of the Internally Displaced Peoples Camps, IDP, since the kid’s father was assassinated by the Boko Haram insurgents.