Borno visit: ACN commends APC governors, slams FG

Action Congress of Nigeria has commended the state governors, under the aegis of the All Progressive Congress, who visited Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, last week despite the year-long violence in the city. This was contained in a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.ACN said by their action, the governors had reassured the people of Borno and Yobe states, which are the most affected by the Boko Haram crisis, that their fellow Nigerians had not abandoned them to their fate.

“Their pace-setting, courageous and compassionate action is a boost to the country’s unity and a blow to anarchists,” the party said.

It said the visit had also exposed the fears of those at the helm of affairs at the centre, who had hitherto failed to show that the Boko Haram crisis was not just a problem of a section of the country but a national problem.

The party said, ‘’There can be no better assurance of solidarity and support for the beleaguered people of the states affected by the Boko Haram crisis than to see leaders from various parts of the country walking – without donning bullet proof vests and helmets – on the open streets of a city that has been described as the epi-centre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“It does not mean the crisis does not exist, but it sends a strong signal to the insurgents that they have only succeeded in cowing a very few, not all, Nigerians, and that indeed under a purposeful APC government the conflict will in no time become history.’’

“The message conveyed by the visit is simple: ‘No part of Nigeria should be a no-go area, especially to the President and the Commander-in-Chief’.

ACN added, “Part of the reason this needless Boko Haram crisis has festered is that the President in particular has failed to show leadership. By staying away from the affected parts of the country since the crisis started in 2009 for fear of his personal safety, and also receding behind the safe walls of the Aso Rock fortress to celebrate independence anniversaries, the President has unwittingly emboldened the anarchists who have killed and maimed thousands.”