NATIONAL: Be thankful bombings no longer happen daily – Adesina

THE Buhari administration has restated its position that the security of the country has improved under the current government.

The administration said of the indices that informed its stance is the fact that bombings have ceased being a daily occurrence in the country, adding that Nigerians should be thankful for this pleasant development.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said this on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme yesterday.

Adesina made the claim to counter the complaints by Nigerians over the rising insecurity in the country.

The president’s spokesman, who said killing had reduced in the country,  noted that there was a time in the country when six bombs would go off in a single day but that had changed under the watch of his principal.

Adesina said this while responding to the five separate incidents of killings that took place in the last three days.

When asked if security had improved, he said, “Yes, there are times, a week, two weeks even a month that you don’t have all these things happening. There was a time in the immediate past when they happened daily several times. You talked of one bombing within three or four days. There was a time in this country when bombs went off like firecrackers every day.

“There could be five, six bombings in one day. Now, you can have two, three months with no single case of bombing. Let’s be thankful for small mercies. Any mercies we receive, let’s be thankful for it, and let’s not dwell on negatives alone.

“Life is taking the rough and smooth together. So, sometimes we see when things go on for days, for weeks with no negative developments, let us emphasise those ones… We have challenges but these are not the constants in the country.”

Asked if Buhari had been able to wipe out Boko Haram as promised during his campaign, Adesina said it must be stated that the President made some promises as an opposition figure and not a government official.

He claimed the terrorists had been technically defeated but still active in certain areas on a lesser scale.

Adesina noted the President had said last week that the security agencies could do better which means there is something he wants to see.

The Presidential aide also faulted a claim by a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, that the abduction and rescue of over 300 Kankara schoolboys seemed dubious.

He said the Buhari regime’s credibility is intact.

Adesina’s position had earlier been expressed by  he Minsister of Defence, Basha Magashi, who said insurgency had been to technically defeated under the Buhari administration.

Even Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno, who is presiding over one of the  hotspots of insurgency in Nigeria had also said the security of his state had improved under Buhari.