These suicide bombings must stop, Mr President!

Adeola Oredola

Topmost on the wish list of many who supported this new government of President Mohammadu Buhari is the belief and confidence nursed that he has the capacity  to nip in the bud the spate of insurgency in the country. Upon his inauguration in May 29, many had thought that he would hit the ground running having promised to immediately address all the issues and challenges facing the nation, upon his resumption of office.

Contrary to the expectation of the people, PMB had called for patience attributing the delay to the many issues surrounding transition and the poor handling of the economy by the immediate past administration.

Ironically, while Nigerians are waiting for the President to hit the ground running, the Boko-Haram group has been playing a fast one on him as their explosives have continued to hit the ground running. The morale of our troop has gone down, the vibrancy and aggressiveness needed to crush the insurgents have gone  down also. The gains made in the twilight of the last administration are being eroded with the lack of commitment to stop the criminals.

The cancer called Boko Haram has continued to  spread in leaps and bound , as it has reached areas hitherto untouched like Zaria, where more than  30 people were killed.

The body language of the President within the last 30 days of being in the power has shown that he is truly not willing to fight those whom he called his ‘Misguided brothers’. Little wonder he was quoted to have said in some years back that, ‘Attack against the Boko Haram is an attack against the North’.

One thing is sure; we are back to the usual presidential statement which  is characterized by evasiveness and equivocation , neither here nor there on the issue of the insurgency. What we need now is increased intelligence on their activities, modus operandi and plans. The DMI, DSS and other intelligence arms of the Armed Forces and the police must share intelligence, act proactively to checkmate these vandals who are masquerading as religious purists when you and me know that they are psychopaths  in need of blood.

Rather than waiting to be told what to do, PMB must realize the activities of the sect must be nipped in the bud. The fight against them must be a collective fight involving all Nigerians of different political leaning and religious persuasion.

It is becoming obvious that your government is not really prepared for the victory given the fact that in spite of the relocation of Command to the theatre of war, rather than abate, the spate of bombing and suicide acts has increased.

Nigerians are worried, it is high time you did something spectacular in the war against these vandals, other wise , the people may move from dashed hope to total despondency, and it will affect the bond Nigerians have established with you.