It Is Poor Leadership For Tinubu To Approve 1,000 Forest Guards For Oyo State – Peter Obi

The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has questioned the decision of President Bola Tinubu to approve the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards in Oyo State in the wake of the kidnapping of teachers and schoolchildren in the state.

Obi, in a statement on Friday via his 𝕏 Account, said the recruitment is a hasty and reactive approach which demonstrates poor leadership by President Tinubu.

According to him, Nigeria needs a holistic approach to tackling insecurity, not just knee-jerk reactions.

The former Governor of Anambra compared the forest guard recruitment to other government policies, such as the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira, which have caused irreparable damage to ordinary Nigerians and the economy.

He added that other states in Nigeria are experiencing security challenges and wondered if the Tinubu government would also approve the recruitment of forest guards for them.

Naija News reports that Peter Obi argued that addressing Nigeria’s security situation requires a holistic, or what can be described as an ecosystem, approach.

In his words, “In a hasty effort to be perceived as attentive and courageous, it is reported that President Bola Tinubu has approved the recruitment of about 1000 forest guards for Oyo State. This is a further demonstration of poor leadership and attending to very serious governance and security issues with a reactive approach. It is the same reactive approach that led to the sudden removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the Naira that has caused irreparable damage to ordinary Nigerians and the economy.

“While recruiting more security personnel for Oyo state and the country is important, it should be done in a more organised and well-thought-out manner. Presently, almost all the 36 states in Nigeria are experiencing different forms of insecurity, with Oyo, Plateau, Kwara, Kogi, Borno, Katsina, Anambra, Niger, Imo, and Sokoto being very alarming.

“The question, such as the reactive approach of our President, is whether all the states will receive the same approval to recruit 1000 forest guards per state, that is 37, 000 forest guards for the 36 states and Abuja or is the recruitment approval based on the mood of the President? Moreover, with the approval for Oyo, what will happen to the Amotekun Corps that is trying its best to secure South-West Nigeria?. Will they be disbanded in Oyo state?

“The pervasive insecurity we currently have is directly related to the failure of our ecosystem, particularly leadership. It is only failure in leadership that can lead to the death of over 10,000 innocent Nigerians since 2023, and Nigeria is ranked among the top-most terror-affected countries in the world.

“Addressing our insecurity situation requires a holistic or what can be described as an ecosystem approach. With failure in leadership, there is failure in unifying our dear nation, failure in industrialisation, failure in harnessing our abundant resources in agriculture, minerals, tourism, water, sports and even oil and gas to effectively generate required revenue, growth and particularly jobs for our exponentially growing youth population.

“A New and Productive Nigeria will be POssible, and we will be OK!.“