….one of the rising reason of insecurity in the state
On their cover story of 24th November,2020, Desert Herald with a leading front page story accusing the Governor of Adamawa state,Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of ineptitude and bringing nemesis to himself of pocketing the security vote amounting to N700M.
In their headline,the reporter wrote that “Adamawa’s 3-Day Siege: How Ineptitude Plays Out.
“….After failing to secure lives, properties of Adamawa people, Fintiri shifts blame to opposition.”
Read their report in full:
“In a rather unbecoming move to free himself and his government from blame in the sordid handling of the invasion and annexation of Adamawa State by criminals and hoodlums, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri was reported to have shamelessly resorted to buck passing, accusing opposition politicians of sponsoring the thugs that wreak havoc on the state penultimate Sunday.
“The highly temperamental Governor, who threatened to kill an opposition during a telephone call, had probably forgotten that his unpopular policies and general lack of accountability have during the last one year worsen the crisis of poverty and hunger in the state, which pundits believe was the reason why government’s storage facilities were invaded.
“In a rather strange development, Adamawa State, which has gained prominence as the bastion of peace, was completely annexed by hoodlums who rode the state roughshod for nearly 74 hours.
“During the period, the first of its kind in the history of the state and under Mr. Fintiri, there was total breakdown of law and order across the length and breadth of the state as anarchy loomed large, leading to the death of many residents while properties worth billions of naira were either vandalized or looted.
“In a scenario which portrays Governor Fintiri’s lack of capacity to lead, especially in a period of crisis, residents believe that his government failed to contain a mere civil stripe until it spiraled out of hand and transformed to a Frankenstein monster that nearly consumed the state.
“During the period of madness, Fintiri watched helplessly as hoodlums and vandals nearly obliterated the state into oblivion.
“The most disturbing issue about the whole development, pundits observe, is that Fintiri failed to use his executive muscle to rally security operatives to enforce a 24 hour curfew he imposed on the state at the beginning of the crisis.
“The scenario, according to pundits, only revealed that the governor is either not on the same page with the security chiefs in the state or is completely not in control of the security architecture which is to say the least, most disheartening and a sign that the future of the state is pregnant with uncertainties.
“For a long time, security has been a major issue confronting the people of the state as residents faced threats from both Shilla Boys and kidnappers who have been unleashing a reign of terror never seen before.
“While the governor reportedly pockets a monthly security vote of about N700 million, security of lives and properties is at its lowest ebb, questioning whether such huge security expenditure is being utilized for the purpose of securing the populace.
“But while the governor corners such hefty allocation in the name of security votes, the welfare of the people of the state who have been badly affected by the triple effect of Boko Haram insurgency, COVID-19 pandemic and worsening poverty was relegated to the background.
“A number of security analysts have posited that as a result of the lackluster attitude of Nigerian leaders to the welfare of the masses at a time the country is passing through a wave of debilitating and crushing poverty amidst a high level of inflation, signposts a bleak future for the country.
“The criminal neglect of the welfare of the people of the state, whose concerns were relegated to the back seat by the state government in the wake of the biting poverty, is one of the factors that led to the bizarre looting spree that nearly consumed the state in those frightening moments, a security analyst, Sani Shehu opined.
“To place such crass neglect of the people into perspective, it is pertinent to note that in his 11 point agenda, the governor has failed to factor that in a state ravaged by Boko Haram, COVID-19 and poverty, what is needed is a robust welfare package that will ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
“According to Shehu, “one wonders how a government, which claims as its major priority the emancipation of the human being, will fail to institute human empowerment packages in its stride.”
“With the relegation of this very important package, the Adamawa Government ostensibly failed to carry along a large chunk of the population which mainly consists of youth that have the energy to wreak havoc on the state as manifested during the three-day siege.
“Experts have variously posited that what a state like Adamawa with one of the worst developmental indices like high rate of child morbidity and mortality ratio, worsening poverty index etc needed is a robust welfare package that will revamp incomes of families, similar to the model adopted by Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.
“The reason why we did not see such uprising in Borno State despite being the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgency with its domino effect is that the governor since his coming has busied himself with the welfare of the people.
“The people have no reason to vandalize or loot peoples properties because they know the governor did not hoard food items supplied to them and has been consciously giving the welfare of the most vulnerable people, the priority it deserves.
“We have seen how the governor even at the risk of losing his own life goes to flash points to assist his people with food and cash to ensure that they are fully protected.
“If Governor Fintiri has been treating the people of the state, including his own Madagali brethren who are worst hit by Boko Haram insurgency, I believe such looting bazaar would have been prevented.
“But the governor chose to play otherwise and instead preoccupy himself with citing projects that have no or little impact on the lives of the people instead of taking charge of the people’s welfare.
“How a government of a poor state like Adamawa earmarks close to N9 billion to construct flyovers in the state capital at a time when majority of the residents are going hungry and did not even have cars to fly the flyovers is what beats the imagination.
““The recent happening is a wakeup call to the governor that the people are hungry and angry and the only way such anger could be doused is through addressing the people’s critical welfare concerns,” ” Shehu said.
“Desert Herald, however, observed that instead of the governor to understand and digest the hard lessons and security implications embedded in the looting spree and breakdown of law and order, he was busy trying to indict the opposition politicians for the uprising.
“I believe such attitude will only further fuel the crisis. Instead of the governor to engage all the stakeholders, including the opposition towards finding a lasting solution, he has unfortunately politicised the issue which largely centered on the failure of the government to carry along the people in its strides
““Such will only compound things for the governor and worsens the plight of the common man, who is always at the receiving end of such ungodly politics,”” Shehu added.
The analyst noted that for making such a very flimsy and awkward remark, Fintiri has only made the office of the governor which he occupied to look impotent that cannot meet the security demands of the people.
“I believe it is the most irresponsible thing for a governor who is the chief security officer of the state to come out to say that opposition politicians were responsible for such mayhem.
“With such admittance, the governor has simply accepted that he cannot secure the state. In very sane climes, the legislators should have commenced impeachment proceedings against the governor for incompetence, dereliction of duty and failure to fulfill one of his core mandates of securing the lives of the people.
““If a governor with the constitutional powers vested in him, with the enormous security votes at his beck and call cannot arrest and bring to book politicians who wreak monumental security havoc, then he has lost the moral authority to govern the state. I call on the state House of Assembly to wake up from their slumber and do the needful by sacking this incompetent administration,”” Shehu said.”
“From the way things are going for Mr. Fintiri and his glaring incapacity to accommodate and tolerate the legitimate concerns of the good, the bad and even the ugly in the state, coupled with the politics of ideology Adamawa state is known for, it is almost certain that only magic can bring back the incumbent Governor in 2023.
“Even though Mr. Fintiri has advantage of time to correct the avoidable scandals and controversies he created, pundits believe it is highly unlikely that things will change for the better for the embattled Governor and he has become a nemesis for himself.”
Link below
https://desertherald.com/adamawas-3-day-siege-how-ineptitude-plays-out-after-failing-to-secure-lives-properties-of-adamawa-people-fintiri-shifts-blame-to-opposition/
