Atiku Urges Federal Govt To Recall Ex-servicemen To Tackle Insecurity
AREWA AGENDA – A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to consider recalling all ex-servicemen, who are willing to return to service, to help tackle insurgency in the country.
Atiku also called for a decisive leadership in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping until they are rolled back and defeated.
The former presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, who made the call via his social media handles on Tuesday, said as a former vice chairman of the National Security Council, he is aware that Nigeria has a sizeable population of military veterans, who are alive, and were trained locally and internationally.
Atiku in the post titled: “The Time For A Total War on Terror is Now” said it serves no purpose to allow these valuable national assets to lie fallow when there is an existential threat to the nation.
Atiku said the security situation in Nigeria is deteriorating rapidly and ordinary Nigerians are living in fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
He, however, urged the federal government to call the ex-servicemen immediately and mobilise them to the field.
He stressed that the time has come for us to put in all our effort and stamp out this menace from our nation.
“Nowhere seems to be safe. Farms, markets, schools, homes, mosques, churches, and urban areas are all affected.
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“Terrorists are spreading their areas of operation beyond the Northeast, into far-flung areas as far as Niger State in the North-Central. That is merely hours from our Federal Capital.
“The men and women of Nigeria’s armed forces, whether serving or retired, who restored peace to Lebanon, Liberia, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe can, and should be used to do the same in the motherland,” he said.
Reiterating that they needed arms and ammunition, he said it was incumbent on the federal government to develop a more efficient means of sourcing for weapons and delivering them to the troops at the battlefront.
“A situation where terrorists and criminals are better armed than our troops on the battlefront is intolerable.
“We need to urgently improve the conditions of service of the men and women of our armed forces. And not just the government.
“The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, working in concert with primary mortgage institutions, ought to offer the men and women of our armed forces special concessionary mortgage loans so they can own homes.
“The private sector should also be encouraged to offer discounted services to them in appreciation of their services,” he said.
Atiku said there was no sacrifice greater than to lay down one’s life for the motherland.
“When our military is properly rewarded, they will fight more valiantly and gallantly.
“A nation that rewards courage is one that avoids outrage,” he added.
By Tunde Oguntola, Abuja
Arewa Agenda is a publication of young writers and journalists from Northern Nigeria geared towards peaceful coexistence and national development through positive narratives.
