Nyako Turnaround..Says Goodluck Is A Good Man

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State is disputing claims by some of his fellow governors that he was roundly condemned by participants at last Thursday’s meeting of the National Security Council.

A major issue discussed at the meeting was Nyako’s letter to Northern Governors in which he accused the federal government of hiding behind the current state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to perpetrate alleged genocide in those states.

Several governors were said to have engaged Nyako in a shouting match at the meeting calling his action unpatriotic.

But speaking to reporters in his Dougirei residence in Adamawa State, Gov. Nyako said what is true about the meeting is that people ‘made observations’ about his letter.

“My letter was never condemned. People made observations but nobody came out and asked why or how I reached my conclusion and all that. They never asked me this,” he said.

“Mr. President allowed everybody to speak; he asked for comments and we were allowed to read the paper (letter) again; and he asked for comments. Nobody condemned me for writing such a letter. The talk that my paper (letter) was condemned is all nonsense.”

He said the President remains his friend regardless of their recent political differences. He also praised President Jonathan for the matured manner in which he handled the situation.

According to him, “We as a people must remain loyal to the President and always pray for him to succeed as our leader. He is my friend and brother and I’m his Special Adviser on Agriculture and he also appointed me as a member of the National Economic Council.

“The President is a good person. The only problem is that many Abuja based politicians with evil motive have been going to him to say Admiral Murtala Nyako doesn’t like him. The President has since stopped listening to charlatans who want to put a wedge between me and him.

“Mr. President, to me, was really superb the way he handled the Security Council meeting. He wore no anger, no sign of getting too involved and he allowed everybody to speak. This is a democratic country and we are free to speak.”

He dismissed as untrue a statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he was out to frustrate Jonathan’s visit to Adamawa.

Such statements could only have come from ignorant people, he said.

“I am ready to leave the entire Government House for the president during his visit. In fact, I was saddened that the president had to be confined to a certain cubicle during his last visit to the state while the Government House was there for him to use,” Nyako said.

He explained why he had to write the controversial letter, in the first instance.

He said the massive deployment of troops to the northeast occasioned by the imposition of state of emergency has not, in any way, stemmed what he called mass murder and destruction of property in the zone.

He said:”Everybody knows that the security situation, especially in the north, is degenerating by the day as mass killing is being recorded. The records are there. A number of people taken into the custody of the state and the nation’s apparatus are being taken to the grave yard for burial from the cells.

“Those inmates are not being fed or looked after and it is a well-known fact in this state.”

Nyako added that the failure of any government agency to carry out its responsibilities is usually an indictment of the affected institution.

He described the involvement of the military in containing internal insecurity as out of fashion.

“About 80 percent of the world’s nations have prohibited the use of the military to contain internal security issues. The use of the military in internal security situation is prohibited by most nations in their constitution,” Nyako said.

This trend, he said, informed the decision of the Babangida Administration to refuse to send the military to contain the Zangon Kataf uprising and the crisis in Taraba State.

The governor expressed happiness that a new resolve has been adopted by all stakeholders and with that a new strategy to resolve the insurgency is being taken by the stakeholders to resolve the insurgency.