Oby Ezekwesili, a
co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girl’s movement and former education
minister, on Saturday, August 20, 2016 said President Muhammadu Buhari
doesn’t deserve to be president.
An ardent campaigner for the All
Progressives Congress, APC and General Buhari and during the 2015
presidential elections campaign, Ezekwesili made this remark while
reacting to the president’s “lackadaisical attitude” to the plight of
the 2,000 Nigeria Immigration Service recruits, who slept at the
entrance of Aso Villa in Abuja from Friday till Saturday morning.
But the Nigerian presidency in its
reaction challenged the former minister to run for presidency and take
over from President Buhari.
We recall that NIS recruits were trained
on weapons handling and dispersed on August 20, 2015 from their various
camps, following a circular, which emanated from the NIS headquarters
in Abuja, directing them to go on two weeks break. Since then, they have
not been recalled to their respective camps.
Ezekwesili, while appealing to the
protesters to maintain decorum, also challenged President Buhari to come
out and publicly address the alleged illegal recruitment which has
permeated his administration in the last couple of months, saying “that
was not the change Nigerians voted for.”
According to her, “You are great
Nigerians. So, you slept here, Oh my God! Inside this cold of Abuja.
Somebody holds you a better explanation, and if President Muhammadu
Buhari says he doesn’t know that you slept here since yesterday, it
means he doesn’t deserve to be there.
“This government should not punish those
who did not deserve to be punished. Nothing should be done secretly.
This is not the change Nigerians voted for. President Buhari should come
out and address the allegation of illegal recruitment going on in the
civil service,” she added.
She further alleged that the Federal
Government was employing those who did not have knowledge, skills and
required literacy through the backdoor into civil service without
minding the consequence, while promising to join the recruits until
their demands were acceded to by President Buhari.
Ezekwesili stated that the impunity
Nigerians fought during the immediate past administration has resurfaced
in the present administration of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
She frowned on the situation in which
the underprivileged were being subjected to hardship before they could
be employed into the civil service, pointing out that only the children
of members of the National Assembly, Federal Executive Council and
bigwigs in the country were gainfully employed, even without merit.
Also speaking, another convener, Mrs
Aisha Yesufu said the immediate past administration deserved to be
commended for redeeming its image by employing the recruits, wondering
why President Buhari, who promised ‘change’ had subjected the youth who
had undergone rigorous trainings, especially in weapons handling, to
such humiliation.
Some of the other protesters, Godwin
Ladi Mercy, Adeleye Adejoke, Salomi Yohanna and Usman Ugbede Yusuf,
condemned government action, saying the Federal Government should not
refer to the 2,000 youths as applicants, because they have been given
provisional offer of appointments, NIS uniforms, identification cards
and posted to various commands nationwide.
As of the time of filing this report,
the protesters, who slept at the entrance of the Villa till Saturday,
have vowed to remain there, until the president or any of his aides
comes out to address them.
While reacting, the Senior Special
Assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, advised
Ezekwesili to form a political party to run for presidency if she felt
Buhari was not doing well.
He told our reporter in Abuja that if she did so and won the election, Buhari would hand over to her.
Asked to react to Ezekwesili’s claims,
Shehu said: “Did I hear you say that Madam Ezekwesili said President
Muhammadu Buhari is not fit to be in that office?
“That is a political statement. What I
will advise her to do is to come out of the shadow of the grieving
Chibok parents, register a political party and go into the election
against the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If she thinks she is a better person to
be in that office, let her present herself to the Nigerian people in an
election. She has the right to do so under our constitution.”
“The issue of democracy is that there is
a right to vote and be voted for. If anybody thinks that they can do a
better job than President Muhammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria, let
them go and run for the office to win election and take over.”
via Nigerian Tribune
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