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Buhari’s ‘Only God Can Police Nigeria’ Comment Draws Heavy Criticisms
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum and the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, on Tuesday took a swipe at President, Muhammadu Buhari over his comment that only God could effectively supervise Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic.
The groups, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, said the President’s statement was not only an indication that he had failed, but also that he had been overwhelmed by insecurity and other problems in the country.
Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday said only God could effectively “supervise” Nigeria’s border with the Republic of Niger.
The President spoke while receiving in audience former Vice President Namadi Sambo, who heads ECOWAS Election Mission to the Republic of Niger.
The President spoke amid concerns about insecurity and influx of bandits into the country from Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries. Recall that two weeks ago, bandits kidnapped schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State.
But on Tuesday Buhari explained why Nigeria’s border with Niger Republic was difficult to man.
In the statement by Adesina titled, ‘President Buhari pledges support for polls in Republic of Niger, describes outgoing President as ‘very decent man,’ Buhari said, “I come from Daura, few kilometres to the Republic of Niger, so I should know a bit about that country.
“The President is quite decent, and we are regularly in touch. He is sticking to the maximum term prescribed by the constitution of his country.
“Also, we share more than 1,400 kilometres of border with that country, which can only be effectively supervised by God.
“I will speak with the President, and offer his country our support. We need to do all we can to help stabilise the Sahel region, which is also in our own interest.”
He was also said to have applauded President Mahamadou Issoufou for not attempting to tamper with the constitution of his country, and elongate his stay in power, after serving for the maximum two terms.
The statement quoted Sambo as congratulating Buhari on the successful return of abducted schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and also his 78th birthday, last week.
He pledged that ECOWAS would ensure peaceful and fair elections in the Republic of Niger, despite current political, legal and security issues.
He added that meetings were already being held with the relevant stakeholders.
Berating the President, the PDP said his declaration was an admission of failure.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said this in a telephone interview with The PUNCH in Abuja on Monday.
He explained that it was obvious that the President was deceiving Nigerians when “he claimed to have closed Nigeria’s land borders.”
Statement from Buhari, a commander-in-chief, is shocking – PDP
Ologbondiyan said, “Mr President has just confirmed what we knew all along that he had failed. How were our borders protected before he took power in 2015? It is shocking and appalling that the President, a retired general, who in his life time has been a military head of state and now a civilian president, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, will speak so loosely about a responsibility he was elected to discharge but has failed to. It has vindicated our position that no one is in charge of this regime.”
Comment signifies loss of control – Ohanaeze
On its part, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, described the Buhari’s comment as a total loss of control of the country.
Ohanaeze’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Chief Chuks Ibegbu, asked the President not to shift the mandate Nigerians gave to him to protect them to God.
He added that God had given him the knowledge and will to check what was going on.
He said “It’s not God that controls borders. Why are they disturbing God who has given us brain to organise ourselves?
“How can Buhari leave his responsibility to God. Men should not abdicate their responsibilities to God. His statement signified loss of control and perhaps he should resign.”
Buhari’s comment on Nigeria’s border with Niger, unacceptable, says PANDEF
Also, PANDEF described the statement by the President as completely unacceptable from a commander-in-chief.
PANDEF spokesman, Ken Robinson, said this while speaking to one of our correspondents in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
“PANDEF and a lot of well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians have repeatedly said the security architecture of the country has been overwhelmed by the various issues of insecurity across the country.
“So the President’s statement validates that opinion that the security system/architecture of the country has been overwhelmed. It is admission of failure, incapacity and ineffectiveness of the security architecture and structure. So, the President should do the needful.
“God does not come down to secure borders. God provides security through people and that is why we have the military and the police.
“If the President says only God can secure the border, that means he has lost faith and hope in the security set-up of the country and what he needs to do is clear. We have repeatedly said there is the need to re-jig the security configuration and bring people based on expertise and experience; not based on religion or the section of the country where they come from. Those are the issues!”
It’s height of waywardness in leadership – Afenifere
The spokesman for the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, also berated the President.
He said, “It’s so clear that these people don’t reflect on what they say to Nigerians anymore.
“How can a President who shut Benin and other borders for over a year without any just cause but lacks the will to shut Niger border because of cultural kinship utter this statement? It is the height of irresponsible and waywardness in leadership.”
President using God as a cover-up for his failure – Northern CAN
The Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria Chairman and Vice-Chairman (19 Northern States and Abuja), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, said the President was using God as a cover-up for his failure.
He said, “It is good for our President to recognise the sovereignty of God in the affairs of his governance but it is equally sad for our President to use God as a cover for his failure of leadership.
“God will not come down from heaven to do what He has provided us with wisdom and grace to be able to carry out those things.
“Leadership is about responsibility not just making rhetoric. Our leaders have turned governance into making speeches and press statements without taking concrete actions.
“Nigerians do know that God is our sovereign watchman, but we have elected Buhari as our commander-in-chief and he should be seen playing his role to secure us and secure our borders.”
Pope Francis showed further improvement on Wednesday, the Vatican said, although it cautioned that “the prognosis remains reserved” for the 88-year-old fighting pneumonia.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father in the last 24 hours have shown a further, slight improvement,” said the Vatican in its nightly bulletin on the health of the pontiff, who has been in hospital since February 14.
“Although a slight improvement is being recorded, the prognosis remains reserved,” it said.
The Argentine pope was originally admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital with breathing difficulties and bronchitis, but his condition subsequently deteriorated, sparking widespread concern among Catholics.
Respiratory attacks he suffered at the weekend that required high levels of oxygen and blood transfusions have not been repeated, according to the Vatican, although he continues to receive oxygen and do breathing exercises.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said a CT scan performed Tuesday showed “normal progression of the pulmonary inflammatory condition” while blood tests on Wednesday confirmed the improvement.
It also said that a mild renal insufficiency detected at the weekend “had resolved.”
As Catholics across the globe pray for Francis, doctors have warned the path to recovery could be long, with the Jesuit pontiff likely staying in hospital beyond this week.
Despite his critical condition, the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has kept up with Church matters from his hospital suite, according to the Vatican.
Now on his 13th day in the hospital, the Pope Wednesday was “sitting in a chair, and continuing with the treatment as normal”, a Vatican source said.
The Vatican said he received the Eucharist in the morning and spent his afternoon working.The current hospitalisation is Francis’s fourth and longest.
The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.
He is prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain, which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.
Pilgrims and faithful have been flocking to the Vatican and the Gemelli to pray for Francis, with a fresh round of prayers held in St Peter’s Square later Wednesday evening.
US President, Donald Trump, has unveiled plans to sell new “gold card” residency permits for a price of $5 million each, saying Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
Trump said sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said.
“It’ll be people with money.”Sales of the cards would start in about two weeks, Trump added.
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump added.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon said that all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.
But asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it is a possibility.
“Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said.
“They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can. I think they can afford $5 million.”
A number of Russian oligarchs have been hit by western sanctions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump has caused shock in European capitals by suddenly opening negotiations with Russia to end the war, amid fears that he could be willing to sell Ukraine short.
The US president told reporters that lifting sanctions on Russia was possible “at some point” but was not currently on the table.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing at Trump’s side in the Oval Office, said of the gold cards that “we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”
Trump, who has branded a series of hotels and casinos in a long business career, even suggested the new cards could also be named after him.
“Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said, ‘If it helps, use the name Trump,’” he said.
AFP
The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a reduction in the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from N890 to N825 per litre, effective from February 27, 2025.
The slash in price by N65.00 was announced in a statement on Wednesday by the refinery.
According to the statement, buyers in Lagos would purchase fuel at N860 per litre at MRS outlets under the new arrangement.
“For MRS Holdings stations, it will sell for N860 per litre in Lagos, N870 per litre in the South-West, N880 per litre in the North, and N890 per litre in the South-South and South-East respectively,” the management said.
“The same product will also be available at the following prices in AP (Ardova Petroleum) and Heyden stations: ₦865 per litre in Lagos, ₦875 per litre in the South-West, ₦885 per litre in the North, and ₦895 per litre in the South-South and South-East.”
The company assured the public of a consistent supply of petroleum products, with sufficient reserves to meet domestic demand, as well as a surplus for export to enhance the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
It urged marketers to support this initiative, ensuring that Nigerians remain the primary beneficiaries of this effort.
To the refinery, the price adjustment is designed to provide essential relief to Nigerians in anticipation of the upcoming Ramadan season and also support the economic recovery policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by alleviating the financial burden on the Nigerian populace.
Africa’s richest man Dangote has severally reduced the prices of petrol and other refined petroleum products.
The latest move is the second price reduction of PMS in February 2025, following a previous decrease of N60.00 earlier in the month.
In December 2024, during the yuletide period, the refinery reduced the price of PMS by N70.50, from N970 to N899.50 per litre, as part of its commitment to easing the cost of living and providing relief to Nigerians during the holiday season.
