Barely few days after Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State accused President Goodluck Jonathan of aiding genocide, the governor has made a sudden volte-face, describing the President as a superb leader.
Nyako, who also professed love for the President, declared that nobody could create a barrier between Jonathan and himself, irrespective of their party affiliations.
“I love Jonathan because it is God that ordained him to be our President, and I am part of the history that put him there; my prayer is that he will have a successful tenure,” he said.
Nyako had recently sent a memo to the Northern Governors’ Forum, in which he accused Jonathan of systematically aiding the extermination of northern Muslims, but opinions immediately mounted against the memo, nationwide.
Apparently reacting to the several knocks he had received from different quarters, Nyako, yesterday, commended the way Jonathan handled his memo during the recent National Security Council meeting between the President and heads of military and para-military organisations, state governors as well as religious leaders.
Recalling the event, Nyako said Jonathan exhibited quality leadership traits, by giving the memo the necessary attention, without betraying any emotions.
He, however, refuted claims that his letter to the northern governors was condemned in totality at the Thursday meeting.
Nyako, in a chat with newsmen in the Adamawa State House yesterday, said Jonathan’s conduct during the security council meeting was perfect, as the President exhibited exemplary leadership.
“Mr. President, to me, was really superb on the way he handled the meeting; no sign of anger, no sign of getting too involved,” Nyako said.
He said what the President did during the meeting was to throw the memo open to stakeholders, and in the process, the memo was given a fair hearing, and a decision was reached on how to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country.
Nyako added that he read the letter and gave explanations where necessary, insisting that the only section of the letter that created concern to commentators from the eastern part of the country was the mention of the 1966 killing of some northern and South West leaders and the events that followed.
Nyako called for the setting up of a truth and reconciliation committee, like it was done in South Africa, on the 1966 event, so that those involved would tell one another the truth, apologise, and forgive, “so that we do not continue to pass our anger on to younger generations.”
Some governors had earlier addressed the press after the meeting, saying that Nyako was totally condemned by stakeholders “for writing an inglorious genocide letter.”
But Nyako said those governors were liars, adding that he was never condemned by anyone during the meeting.
“Mr. President allowed everybody to speak, asked for comments, and we were allowed to read the papers again and ask for comments, but nobody condemned me for writing such a letter.
“The saying that my paper was condemned is all nonsense,” Nyako insisted.
“Mr. President, to me, was really superb with the way he handled the Security Council meeting. He wore no anger, no sign of getting too involved, and allowed everybody to speak, and nobody condemned me for writing the letter. This is a democratic country, and we are free to speak,” he added.
When asked if he regretted writing such a memo, he said his comments on the security situation was informed by the fact that, despite the deployment of massive security personnel and the imposition of emergency rule, mass murder and destruction of properties, especially in the North, had continued unabated.
“Everybody knows that the security situation, especially in the North, is degenerating by the day, as mass killing and death is being recorded; the record is there. A number of people are taken into the custody of the state, and are being taken to grave yards for burial from the cells.
“Those inmates are not being fed or looked after, and it is a well-known fact in this state,” he said.
The governor said that the failure of any government agency to carry out its responsibilities to the core is usually an indictment of the institution, saying if the Nigeria Customs failed to carry out its function, people would perceive them as aiding and abetting smuggling, and insisting that the same applies to both the police and the military.
He, however, faulted the deployment of the military to curb insurgency in the three states, saying that history had shown that the involvement of the military to contain internal security always results in massive casualties, and as such, many countries have proscribed the use of the military to contain internal security challenges.
“About 80 per cent of the nations of the world have prohibited the use of the military to contain internal security issues. To set in the military in the internal security
in internal security challenges, former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, refused to send situation is prohibited by most nations in their constitutions,” he said.
He stated that, knowing the implication of military involvement the military to curtail the blood-letting during Zangon Kataf uprising and also did not involve the military during the civil crisis that rocked Taraba State.
Nyako added that the Geneva Convention and other international conventions, to which Nigeria is a signatory, have proscribed the use of the military to curtail civil strife.
The governor expressed happiness that a new resolve had been adopted by all stakeholders and with that, a new strategy to resolve the insurgency is being taken to resolve the insurgency.
Nyako also said that he was shocked to the marrow when the state Commissioner of Police informed him that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state working committee had written a petition against him, accusing him of planning to deny the PDP the use of the Ribadu Square in Yola for a rally the President was billed to attend.
“I am ready to leave the entire Government House for the President during his visit. In fact, I was saddened that the President had to be confined to a certain cubicle during his last visit to the state while the Government House was there for him to use,” Nyako added.
He further explained some political jobbers in the state wanted to create a hitch between him and President Jonathan, adding that his prayer is that Jonathan would have a successful tenure, because he was part of the team that brought him to power, and would be a most happy man if he succeeds.
“There are political jobbers that want to create artificial problems between me and the President, but my priority as the Chief Security Officer of Adamawa State is to provide an enabling environment for the President during his visit; if anything happens to him, I will be the first to give an account,” he said
Source: Daily Newswatch
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