The Northern Youth Association of Nigeria (NYAN) has called for restraint by those who have chosen to benefit from the insecurity situation in the country by distracting the military and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from focusing on winning the fight against insecurity.
President of NYAN, Comrade Godiya T. Adams Bogoro, made the call during a world press conference held in Bauchi on Friday to condemn what he described as the ill-motivated call for the sack of non-performing service chiefs of the military by the President.
He stated that the press conference was necessitated by a patriotic concern to initiate a timely intervention and a call for restraint from some who were trying to distract from the ongoing fight against insecurity in the country.
According to him, considering that the call for the sack of so-called “non-performing” service chiefs is ill-motivated, unpatriotic, and a clandestine move to rearrange and alter the new structure of the military hierarchy by some ethnic bigots for primordial interest, we, the members of NYAN, considered it pertinent to call for caution and restraint.”
The NYAN President added that the new Service Chiefs are less than a year in office; however, to the surprise of many, they have achieved tremendously well in curbing the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, banditry, and the IPOB agitation that the previous governments allowed to linger due to unseriousness and a lack of willpower to do the right thing.”
He added, “We frown and condemn the call for the sack of any service chief by some Northern organisations.
Unfortunately, though not surprised at the persons and organisations hired to embark on this unpatriotic, selfish, and unproductive venture, we call for restraint.”
According to him, “Nobody should take Shettima, the President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, seriously.
He has a reputation for ethnic bigotry; having campaigned for the Igbos to vacate the North, there is no doubt that he trades crises, mischief, and ethnic struggle to promote hatred and sectional interest.”
“Though the operations are without setbacks, a lot has been achieved in restoring peace in several communities across the country. For instance, peace has been largely restored in Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, and the state is witnessing the resettlement of hitherto displaced persons,” he stressed.
Godiya Adams stated that according to His Excellency, Governor Babagana Zulum while presenting the 2024 budget to the Borno State Assembly, observed that the security situation has greatly improved and will continue to improve. Many have observed that the military operations in the North-East have brought about a considerable level of stability to the region.”
He further stated that in the Niger Delta region, the joint Taskforce Operation Delta Safe and other security operations in the region have also reduced the vandalism of oil facilities.
According to him, “So far, the military has uncovered and destroyed illegal refining sites and intercepted millions of litres of crude oil valued in billions.
Also, suspected oil thieves were nabbed within the period, while boats used to convey stolen crude oil and its products were impounded.”
He stressed that the decisive intervention has led to an increase in Nigeria’s oil production output to about 1.7 million barrels per day in December, a sharp increase in daily oil production.
However, these successes were not without pain, such as the killings of soldiers in ambushes, sabotage, and the loss of equipment and operational errors that had resulted in the killing of innocent citizens.
“We have lost officers and soldiers through ambushes and crashes. We sympathise with the families of our fallen heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price while protecting us.
We also sympathise with the families of civilian casualties and victims of banditry and terrorism,” the NYAN President observed.
He added, “We applaud the Chief of Defence Staff and his team. It was observed that since his assumption, General Musa has brought his wealth of experience on the battlefield to bear. Our members noted that his leadership has maintained a good relationship with stakeholders in the communities, leading to more synergy and successes.”
Godiya Adams added, “We applaud his strategic approach and collaboration with other security agencies; it was observed that the synergic approach has yielded more results in the effort to return peace and security to the affected areas.”
According to him, “We are proud of the Nigerian military and particularly the CDS, General Musa. We believe that insecurity will be a thing of the past soon. We call on Nigerians to support President Bola Tinubu and the Service Chiefs.”