Safeguard Nigerians first, 2027 election is secondary, Bishop Onuoha tells Tinubu

Pained by the alarming rate of security challenges which has seen large deaths and fleeing of homes by Nigerians, a Methodist Bishop, Dr. Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha (Ph.D), has reminded the President Bola Tinubu led federal government that the primary focus now should be on how to safeguard Nigeria and citizens from the hands of non-state actors, maintaining that who wins 2027 presidential election should be secondary and inconsequential for now.

He charged the APC led federal government to jettison winning of 2027 election and secure the country and the citizenry first, stressing that the insecurity in the country is getting out of hand and needs immediate action.

The Global Peace Award Winner 2013, who disclosed this in a statement he personally endorsed and made available to journalists on Friday, titled ” Safeguard Nigerians first. The insecurity in the land is highly alarming, Politics should be secondary”, said he is pained each time he reads stories of killings linked to bandits, Boko Haram, herdsmen among other non-state actors.

While emphasizing that security of Nigerians should be prioritized, the cleric insisted that he expects to see more urgency and action from the President regarding ending the carnage that is going on in various parts of the country, regrettably, what has taken the centre stage, is endorsements for the President and support for his re-election, maintaining that this has further portrayed Nigerian politicians as people who are insensitive to the welfare of the citizenry.

The cleric called on the federal government under President Tinubu to take the war against banditry, kidnapping and insurgency seriously, noting that if insecurity is fought to a standstill in Nigeria, the APC led administration would not need to preach to Nigerians much regarding re-electing the President come 2027.

Bishop Onuoha also expressed worry over the activities of herdsmen attacking communities in Benue, Plateau, Enugu among others, calling on the federal government to check their activities as they are preventing farmers from growing food to ensure there is food availability in Nigeria.

The cleric said, “What is important at this point for me is for the federal government to take decisive action to address the security concerns in the country before talking about politics. People are being massacred on daily basis, people flee their homes, people cannot go to their farms to grow food. These issues should take the centre stage.

“When I read stories about endorsements and people jumping ship, I feel those things are secondary considering what we are faced with. In as much as I know that politicians must talk about winning elections, a situation where all these mentioned breach security, what do you do? For me I feel what makes you a selfless leader is to focus on unraveling these issues first before preaching to people to join your party or even accepting their endorsements for second tenure.

“The federal government should also be worried that, with the way especially the herders carry out attacks on agrarian communities in Benue, Plateau, Enugu among others, it will deter farmers from going to farms and what it means is that it is going to affect food availability in Nigeria. This why the federal government should be more worried and nip insecurity in the bud.”

Recall that Nigeria has been faced with the challenge of contending the activities of bandits, kidnappers, herdsmen as well as threats posed by Boko Haram/ISWAP especially in the North.

Amid these threats, many Nigerians have faulted the administration of President Bola Tinubu and his party, the APC for prioritizing winning the 2027 election than addressing the threats posed by the non-state actors who have been unleashing mayhem from different fronts.