President Muhammadu Buhari stated on Friday that the past 18 months have been “some of the most challenging moments in Nigeria’s history.”
“I question whether we have encountered a period of greater heightened challenges than what we have witnessed in this period,” the embattled 78-year-old complained on October 1, 2021, during his Independence Day program.
“Today, our journey has been dogged by conflict; religious, ethnic, and economic issues; and insurgencies and banditry that have brought much darkness, many valleys, and many thorns,” stated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The founding fathers envisioned a vision in which the different nationalities and ethnicities of Nigeria’s north and south, 300 languages or more, many tribes, and religions would join together by God’s grace to form one nation.
However, Nigeria appears to be full of surprises in 2021, and the security threat is as visible as the sky.
Kidnapping for ransom has become so unmanageable in recent months that no day goes by without news of it from one of the 19 states in the North West, North Central, or North East.
He said the heinous activities of the bandits have led to the death of over 4,000 people, resulted in over 8,000 married women becoming widows, and over 16,000 children to become orphans.
“These bandits, investigations have shown, are hypnotised and so they are directionless; they don’t care about themselves that is why they are killing people recklessly,” he said.