[BREAKING] Terror Alert: Insecurity, not threat to 2023 polls — Umohinyang

On the issue of travel advisory to the citizens of the countries in question, I think it is nothing new, and I do not think it requires us as Nigerians to panic. The American government has been coming up with such an advisory even before the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. 

It is just a routine advisory, the same way Nigerian embassies in other countries issue advisories to Nigerians telling them not to go to certain places based on intelligence at their disposal. The Americans were not referring to Nigerians; they directed it to their citizens.

Those advisories are persuasive, I don’t think it is within their power to enforce it, it is mainly to persuade. Even the US Head of Mission who issued that advisory, where is she now? I am sure she is in Abuja. Has she not stepped out of her office since that advisory was issued? It is just like a father asking the child to be cautious, not Nigerians.

The issue of intelligence is not something you speculate on because if you don’t manage it well, it can trigger other issues. It is like blowing a siren in your quest to arrest a criminal.

With what we are seeing, don’t you think the incoming administration may inherit the challenge of insecurity?

I do not think so. That is why I am hoping that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu becomes our next President. He is an expert in human capital development. 

Perhaps, one of the greatest challenges of President Buhari is that he relied heavily on people to nominate people for positions in his administration and that has its drawbacks. This is because the President did not relate with people since he left office as Military Head of State. 

Tinubu is a man who has already tested soldiers. He knows where to put people for optimum performance. I have even told the President that Asiwaju will do better than him and he said that is his prayer.

It goes to show the kind of father that he is because every good father wants his child to be greater than he is. A typical Nigerian politician does not want his successor to be better than him; he would rather find a way of sabotaging him.

Is insecurity not a threat to the coming elections?

This President has shown that the elections will be free and fair, even with off-season elections. His party lost elections in Osun State and even Anambra. This man is called Muhammadu Buhari, I can tell you his likes and his dislikes. Take Buhari out of any dishonesty. If APC members do not go out and solicit votes, expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to use the police to rig for them, they are finished.

This President was a victim of rigged elections on three consecutive occasions before the advent of the card reader when he won. This President embraces technology. He appreciates INEC for what they are doing. The president has never picked up his phone to call the INEC chairman to direct him on what to do.

He is a man who gives you an assignment and allows you a free hand to do it. Security is not going to be a problem. Nigeria is relatively secure. We have not gotten there yet, it is a work in progress.

As we speak, the police are strategizing in preparation for the general elections in Owerri. This Inspector-General of police is preparing his men for the task ahead, which I think is very commendable. Every administration should always expect that there will be unforeseen situations, so you make projections.

How do you rate the leading presidential candidates?

I rate Tinubu as the best. He is a man of unquestionable capacity. He is a man who sees the stars, even if everywhere is dark. That is the kind of man we are talking about. In the area of human capital development, he is an expert in sourcing the best to take charge of all places.

I must admit that one of the challenges of the Buhari administration is that it relies on referrals from those who know those who can work in certain places, so it does not have that vast view of Nigerians.

The President hardly socialises. When Asiwaju took over Lagos, it was like a heap of refuse. Most of the roads you see today were not in existence. Robbery was at its peak.

Tinubu must be credited with the unprecedented development Lagos has achieved. Many Lagosians have lost count of his legacy projects.

The good thing is that other leading candidates were once in government, but none comes close to Tinubu.