A former Minister of Aviation,
Femi Fani-Kayode, has berated the Minister of Information and Culture, Ahaji
Lai Mohammed, for saying that Boko Haram terrorism had been technically
defeated.
Fani-Kayode said this in an open
letter to President Muhammadu Buhari which was posted on his official Facebook
page.
He said the statement by the
Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that Boko Haram had been
technically defeated was misleading as terror attacks had worsened in recent
times.
The former minister, who insisted
that he was a ‘loyal subject’ of Buhari, asked the President to return to his
‘gallant ways’ as this was the only way to defeat insurgents.
He said it was unfortunate that
Cameroonian soldiers invaded Gwoza Local Government in Borno State recently and
killed over 70 civilians but that the military failed to repel the insurgents.
Fani-Kayode said, “And yet you
(Buhari) did nothing to avenge this affront or to defend our honour. What
happened to the gallant and brave General Buhari that courageously led our
troops into victory in Chad in the early 1980s?
“What happened to the honest and
forthright man that we all admired and looked up to because of his military
exploits in Chad? What happened to the war hero that gave the Chadians a
‘bloody nose’ for daring to attack a Nigerian village and that almost took
Ndjamena, the Chadian capital?
“What happened to the man that
proved to the Libyans and their Chadian proxies that Nigerians knew how to
fight? It appears that you have changed and that you are no longer the man that
you used to be.”
He urged the President to face
the fight against insurgency instead of persecuting his perceived enemies.
He said the United States, the
United Kingdom and other western countries refused to sell weapons to Nigeria
because they probably wanted Boko Haram to take over Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port
Harcourt and other commercial centers in Nigeria.
He claimed that when the British
Secretary of State for Defense, Mr. Michael Fallon, visited Buhari, the
President told Fallon that former President Good luck Jonathan bought arms with
raw cash.
Fani-Kayode, however, slammed
Buhari for not berating Fallon whose country refused to sell weapons to Nigeria
which ultimately led to loss of lives and property.
The former minister claimed that
Jonathan’s government bought arms with cash because of the refusal of western
nations to sell weapons to Nigeria.
He said, “You (Buhari) forgot to
tell him (Fallon) that his nation was one of the countries that not only
refused to sell weapons to us during the course of this bitter conflict but
that also helped to impose and enforce the international arms embargo on our
country even though we are at war.
“Your guest’s country insisted on
towing the American line and doing this to us even though we were fighting a
war against a relentless, well-motivated, well-funded and well-armed fighting
force that Global Terrorism Index has described as the ‘deadliest terrorist organization
in the world’. One is forced to ask: with friends like this who needs enemies?
“Given the fact that the embargo
was in place, one wonders how we were supposed to procure arms unless we did so
with raw cash in the black market.
“The alternative was to buy none
at all, to do nothing and to allow Boko Haram to take Abuja, Port Harcourt,
Enugu and Lagos. Perhaps that is precisely what your western friends and allies
wanted but thankfully it never came to pass.”
Fani-Kayode also berated Buhari
for not taking any decisive action against the soldiers that killed Shiite
members in Kaduna State two weeks ago
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