President Buhari was, on Wednesday, reportedly booed when he paid a sympathy visit to Maiduguri, Borno State Capital. Shettima described the incident as “very unfortunate”, saying the booing might be that Borno residents’ expectations on the war against Boko Haram insurgents were exaggerated.
“People thought he (Buhari) has a magic wand. He does not have wand. But I believe it’s temporary hiccups,” Shettima said. . According to him, Borno residents love Buhari and are fully in support of his government and the security establishments..
He said it was unfair for Nigerians to demonise Buhari because of the escalating insecurity in the country. He said finding solutions to the country’s security problems was more important than apportioning blame on the country’s leadership. Shettima said: “I believe that grandstanding, pouring venom won’t solve the problem.
We cannot just demonise Buhari. Buhari did his best and we had a respite between 2015 and 2017 before resurgence (of Boko Haram attacks). “How to find a solution to our challenges is more important than demonising anybody. “Buhari has done more than enough for the northeast. He was instrumental to the creation of the North East Development Commission. If we are to apportion blame, we have to be fair to this old man.” He, however, called for cooperation among Nigerians in addressing insecurity, saying, “fighting insurgency is a collective responsibility.”
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