Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, has said that the President has done his best in tackling Nigeria’s multifarious security challenges since he assumed office in May 2015 and he is leaving the country “far better” than he met it.
Adesina said this when he appeared on Channels TV on Monday night, April 10. Confronted with verifiable data that between May 2015 and May 2022, over 55,000 Nigerians were killed by terrorists, bandits and armed gangs, Adesina said the President has left the security situation of the country better than he met them in 2015.
“The figure has been coming down progressively over the years and it’s a fact of history. Nobody can change it,” he said.
Asked whether the situation has improved, he said, “far better. In 2015, we knew where Nigeria was. Minimum of 17 local governments in this country were under the control of insurgents. Talking of control, I mean they were sitting in emir palaces, they sitting in the seats of the local government chairmen. NYSC could not even do orientation; they could not even post people to those places.
Is that what happens today? No. The emirs are back in their palaces. The local government chairmen are back in their offices. NYSC orientation are opening in those states and corpers are being posted to those states. Are you now telling me there have been no improvement? No, let’s be factual''
Adesina also stated that the appointment of service chiefs during the Buhari administration was never subject to ethnic balancing and the federal character principle, adding that the President has the prerogative to choose those he feels can secure the country.
“Don’t subject security to ethnic balancing, don’t subject security to federal character. In fact, the constitution that prescribes federal character even gives the President some prerogatives that he can appoint on his own,” he said.