Jonathan Vatsa, a former Publicity Secretary of the party in Niger State, also described the increasing rate of insecurity; armed banditry, assassins, armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of criminalities as a ‘bad advertisement’ for not only the President but the ruling party.
Vatsa who turned 60 on Monday spoke shortly after visiting the Minna orphanage and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp and appealed to President Buhari to change his body language to give EVERY Nigerian a sense of belonging to end growing tension.
“The President’s body language, high level of justice, unfair treatment to some sections of this country and lack of equity for all and marginalization are responsible for current tension in parts of the country, especially in south-east and south-west”.
According to the APC Chieftain, “We all know why there is tension in parts of the country but nobody wants to say the truth. Mr. President should change his body language because there is anger over certain actions and pronouncements by the President”.
He pointed out that current agitations from the south-east and the south-west for secession were more of reactions to what he described as, “High level of injustice and marginalization of the two zones by the present administration”.
“Though the people spearheading the campaign for secession have no pedigree or capacity to speak for their regions but they are commanding followership because the people are feeling cheated, marginalized and unsafe in their own country”.
Vatsa who is the Special Adviser (Public Affairs) to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said he believe that the APC manifestos is so rich and excellent enough to take Nigeria to the next level but regretted that some peoples’ individual ambition override the party’s agenda hence causing avoidable tension.
“Is it because Mr. President has no cousins and uncles from Niger state, the south east and south-western parts of the country are being abandoned, and nothing is being done to revive the rail line from Ilorin-Minna-Kaduna-Kano?
He said, “Before talking about grazing routes, let the government first of all recover all the ranches across northern Nigeria that have been sold to politicians. We need those ranches back as a starting point instead of causing confusion over grazing routes”.
On the growing level of insecurity in the country, occasioned by the activities of armed bandits especially in the north, Jonathan Vatsa said “Honestly it is a bad advertisement for the APC government which I am part of, I don’t know what we will tell Nigerians in 2023.
Vatsa said, “In addition to the growing Insecurity, there is serious hunger in the land which is also fuelling the Insecurity. The government should be concerned about this so that the situation will not get to a point of no return”.
“My heart bleeds when I remember the 161 school children ages between 4 and 10 who are still being held captive for almost three weeks now inside forest by their abductors”, Vatsa said adding that he decided to visit the orphanage and IDPs as a show concern for them.
