Abuja (WorldStage Newsonline)-- The newly appointed Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, on Wednesday discribed the former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai as a derailed or deranged politician.
He also did not spear the Vice Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 election, Pastor Tunde Bakare who he advised to stop hiding behind the pulpit.
El-Rufai recently called for the resignation of President Goodluck Jonathan if he (the President) could not solve the ongoing security challenges in the country.
But the SSA said no responsible citizen will call on the President to quit in the face of insurgency at a time when all hands should be on deck to defeat the common enemies.
He argued that it is a well known fact that issue of insurgency is a very difficult national problem. “It is not anything peculiar to Nigeria. No responsible citizen of any of those countries affected by insurgency before call on their Presidents to resign,” he said.
He also warned against the manipulation of the present security situation in the country by politicians for selfish purposes.
The SSA also faulted the former Minister's criticism of the president's reliance on citizens for information on terrorist activities.
He said, "El-Rufai is my younger brother. I have so much respect for him. But politics is more or less derailing or deranging him.
"Everybody knows that insurgency is a very difficult national problem. It is not anything peculiar to Nigeria. No responsible citizen of any of those countries affected by insurgency before call on their Presidents to resign.
"When he talks about intelligence, there is no better security in any country than by the people of the country. It is communal security that will help government and security agencies to root out insurgence. If people shielded insurgents, they make the works of security agencies more difficult. "Can President Goodluck Jonathan be in Borno and everywhere at the same time? I believe that people just want to play politics. All what you are hearing is just the manipulation of the present situation to suit their political purposes.
"I am sure that my brother, El-Rufai is hopeful to be a presidential candidate of one of the parties very soon. What I will expect him to do with the level of intellect, intelligence and the resource that has been given to his own personal education is to come out with some reasonable plans, some suggestions, and not just criticising government for criticising sake.
"If El-Rufai was President of Nigeria, what will he do? Why don’t he say that? Or is he keeping that until when he becomes the President by which time the whole country is wiped off? When tragedy befalls a country, responsible men and women of that country forget partisanship and rally round their nation and they try their best to help existing government to tackle that. Once that is over, they go back to politics.
"This is not time for politics. Every man or woman who politicises this issue of Boko haram, people should disregard and discard whatever information they hear from them. They are not serious-minded people."
On pastor Bakare, he said " Pastor Bakare also falls into that category. It is shameful. You cannot convert the pulpit to a podium.
"If you want to be a politician, please come out.”
"Pastor Bakare came into politics a few years ago and he became a vice presidential candidate of a major political party, some of us have been in politics for 30 years and we did not even become a governor and we did not say the country must come down, that is unfair. It is unacceptable."
He also accused Pastor Bakare of insincerity and obviously playing to the gallery, insisting that "Boko Haram is something that evolved suddenly in the early part of the life span of this administration. Internal insurgency is not peculiar to Nigeria, it has happened in Oman, Sri lanka, Vietnam, Great Britain, Philippines, Kenya and Iraq.
"I wish to advice that if Pastor Bakare will be fair, he should come out properly to the political Arena and stop using God's Pulpit to throw stones at Gods elect, as no leader will emerge in any praying nation like Nigeria without the blessing of God", Okupe said
Source: Nairaland.
No comments:
Post a Comment