Bafarawa lashes Wamakko, others for snubbing Sultan

FORMER Governor Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa on Thursday berated
his successor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko and the All Progressives
Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto for not
honouring a peace meeting summoned by Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad.

Bafarawa spoke at the state PDP rally for the reelection of
Governor Amninu Waziri Tambuwal in Wamakko town.

According to the former governor, the revered leader organised
to meet with all candidates and chieftains of political parties
with a view to advise them to ensure peaceful political rallies and
conduct of elections but the APC contingents snubbed the
meeting.

“I recall the Sultan called for a peace meeting to ensure
violent- free polls in the state. The reason was that we are all
indigenes and should be up to the task of achieving peace.

“But to our dismay, the absence of the APC gubernatorial
candidate only portrayed that he is working on the instructions of
his boss (Wamakko).”

Bafarawa noted the state needed peace not violence, pointing out
“Everything has time. My time and Wamakko’s had passed and we ought
to know that by coming together to build the state.”

He assured the people of Wamakko town that Tambuwal’s government
was set to bring succour to all in the state” he will do better the
way I did in my days as governor.”

The former governor assured that youths would be considered in
the scheme of things if Tambuwal was reelected, saying “the youths
need to be supported and empowered to lead.”

He commended Tambuwal for the relative peace enjoyed in the
state, noting the ban on youths bearing arms during political
rallies was commendable.

“Tambuwal will prioritise peace, security, employment and
infrastructural development of the state,” he assured.

Governor Tambuwal, who thanked supporters for consistently
standing by him and the party, promised to reposition the state and
reward all by ensuring the spread of dividends of democracy and
good governance.

Counter Insurgency: Campaigns in Support of
Military

Recall that on January 8th 2019, we announced that we would soon
launch a campaign to seek the support of the citizens for our
troops, especially in the fight against insurgency.

Today marks the fulfillment of that promise as we are here to
formally launch the NATIONAL CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF THE MILITARY.
It is a follow-up to the hugely-successful National Campaign
Against Insecurity which we launched on Feb. 16th, 2016, with the
punchline: ”If you see something, say something.”

Why are we launching this NATIONAL CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF THE
MILITARY? Because we believe that the men and women in uniform who
are risking all, including making the supreme sacrifice, to keep us
safe deserve the support and prayers of all Nigerians, not
vilification, insults and other acts that are capable of dampening
their morale.

And why are we launching the campaign now? Because, as our
gallant men and women in uniform clear the remnants of the
home-grown insurgency called Boko Haram, they are confronting a
fresh crisis, a global insurgency.

A faction of Boko Haram has aligned with the global terror
group, ISIS, to form ISWAP, the Islamic State’s West African
Province. In other words, ISIS now has a strong foothold in
West
Africa – with Nigeria in the forefront of the battle against
them.

With ISIS largely dislodged from Iraq and Syria, there is
undoubtedly a flush of fresh fighters and weapons to ISWAP.

Therefore, our military is fighting a global insurgency, without
the kind of global coalition, including the United States, that
battled ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Those who do not understand the fresh threat facing our nation,
nor appreciate the sacrifice of our troops, have now made it their
past-time to wage a campaign of disinformation against the
military, especially in the social media. Doctored videos and
pictures purporting to show massive military casualties are
willfully circulated online. Such unpatriotic acts are discouraging
and demoralizing our troops, and must stop forthwith.

Let me state that those who engage in this act of disinformation
are few, and do not represent the majority of Nigerians who
appreciate the patriotism and the sacrifice of our gallant troops.
That’s why we are launching this campaign, to mobilize the majority
of the good people of Nigerians, irrespective of their political,
religious or ethnic leanings, to show support for our military.

It is high time that everybody joined in supporting this global
war (against insurgency). It’s not unusual, as a matter of fact
it’s usually the practice, that when a country is faced with this
kind of challenge, people will sink their differences and work
together.

The NATIONAL CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF THE MILITARY will be
multi-faceted. It will include the production and airing of special
jingles on radio and television, social media intervention and
advocacy. In fact, the jingles are ready, and will be airing on
radio and television starting this week. Also, the materials for
newspaper and social media are also ready.

We also want to enlist the support of the media for this
campaign. The media should indeed play the lead role in the
campaign.

We are happy to note that some television stations have already
started airing their self-produced TVCs in support of the military.
We thank them for this and we urge others to join them.

We also want to appeal to the media to show utmost
professionalism in reporting the insurgency. They must seek
official clarification before reporting casualty figures, and must
realize that the military will not release the identities of
soldiers who have paid the ultimate price without first notifying
their families. They must also not reveal national security as well
as military plans, since such acts can put our troops in harm’s
way.

Lai Mohammed
Minister of Information