Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
The Archbishop of Enugu Province and Bishop of Enugu Anglican Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, has said the feud between the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd), and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Abba Kyari, portends a bad omen for the country.
Chukwuma stated this yesterday in Enugu in his reaction to the alleged crisis in the Presidency. He said President Buhari’s silence over the feud between two top Presidency staff was a clear indication that he had lost control of the administration.
The cleric said he saw the hand of God in what was happening in the Presidency, saying when a government becomes insensitive to the plight of the people, God would arise and cause confusion in the ruling house.
“Nigeria is on gunpowder, there is frustration in every atmosphere because of bad governance, injustice and insincerity in relationship. Whatever is happening in Aso Rock is a tussle for power, struggle for who is who, because the President himself is not in charge. The President has left his duties in the hands of the Chief of Staff, who seems to be controlling everything, and that is bringing clash between him and the security people.
“And you find that they themselves feel that they cannot take authority from the Chief of Staff, and if that is the case, there is confusion in the camp and these are the things God will use initially to begin to scatter where you have a set of people who are not sensitive about people’s welfare.
“A country where the government is not sensitive to the needs of the people and not sensitive about the security of the people will definitely have insecurity in-house. Right now, what is happening is lack of control of the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief,” Chukwuma said.
The cleric said he sensed great danger ahead and questioned the silence of President Buhari on a sensitive matter as a feud concerning two important aides.
“Why is he keeping mute? Is it because he knows that he has no mouth to talk to the Chief of Staff who helps him to control most of things in the government? This is the time he should say who is who, but he seems to be keeping quiet until the whole thing collapses on his head. It is unfortunate that these things are happening and they are probably what God is going to use to destroy the forces that be in not taking the bull by the horn to see to the security of this country,” he said.
The cleric stated that Nigeria’s security, at present, was in a shambles, and he was yet to see anything practicable and serious done to tackle insecurity in the country.
He alleged that there were some persons benefitting from the war against Boko Haram and other insurgents in the North, wondering why it took 30 months to end the civil war, and, for seven years it has ben difficult to defeat Boko Haram.
“The security in the North is very porous, one is ashamed that, with all the military equipment and all the personality of people in government, Boko Haram could have a very easy way passing through the checkpoints to come and bomb places and kill people, it is a shame. One is very much skeptical about why the service chiefs are still there in all these failures, why are they still there? The barracks are boiling and if that is the reason why they leave them so that they could control the barracks boiling it cannot work because you are retiring junior officers, and senior officers are being kept there as stooges to help achieve useless aims of siphoning and laundering money through military equipment, it will not work.
“This deceit will come back and will backfire one day. And I say, unless Buhari decides to know that the security chiefs and all those who are leading the war have failed, and that they are compromising with Boko Haram and then decide to deal with Boko Haram decisively with absolute commitment of military might, it is going to destroy the whole of Northern Nigeria and is also moving down to the East and West.”