Boko Haram: Shettima replies Presidency, says FG insensitive to plight of Borno State

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has accused the presidency of insensitivity to the “sorrowful plight of the Borno People and its government”.

He stated this in his reaction to comments by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who reminded the governor that the war against the insurgents was not conventional in nature.

Okupe insisted that there was ample evidence to show that the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies are on top of the situation in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.

In a statement issued Tuesday night by Shettima’s media aide, Isa Gusau, the governor said Okupe’s statement was “rather unfair and insensitive to the sorrowful plight of Borno people and its government.”

“It is an irony to realise that while Okupe didn’t find it worthy to hold a press briefing in sympathy with the people of Borno and to join in condemning the horrible serial attacks that left nearly 300 innocent citizens killed in February alone, he found it very urgent to try to take advantage of an honest opinion just to show his face on television in the name of doing his job.

“At the end, it is Okupe that would attract ill the feelings of the people towards the presidency and not his targeted prey. First, let me say with emphasis that Governor Kashim Shettima has the highest regard for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and appreciates the president’s continued efforts in the last two and half years of tackling the Boko Haram insurgency.

“Governor Shettima equally holds the Nigerian Armed Forces in very high esteem and he has since proved that by his devoted support of them as successive leaders of the forces have differently confirmed.

“The Defence Headquarters in Abuja once described Governor Shettima’s support of the armed forces as extraordinary. The army leadership in Borno once said Governor Shettima treats them as the 28th local government area in the state, just to express how much attention they get from the governor.

“The Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Security feels the same way of the Shettima administration and so do all paramilitary organisations in the state, as can be confirmed from each of them,” the statement said.

It added that the governor wouldn’t have accorded the armed forces such serious attention if he lacked confidence in their abilities, patriotism and commitment in the counter insurgency operations in Borno State.

“It is on record that Governor Shettima has in the last two and half years been corresponding with the presidency through oral and written channels but at no time did the governor try to take advantage of such correspondence to undermine the presidency.

“The governor’s very honest remark yesterday (Monday) was a case of one who wears the shoes knows where it pinches. The governor is the person on the ground, he knows exactly what the problems are.

As most Nigerians would testify, Shettima had been very patient before he aptly opened up yesterday (Monday) and the sole aim was for Nigerians to appreciate the situation in the state.

“Unless Dr. Okupe wanted Governor Shettima to tell lies or to conceal the truth by deceiving Nigerians, or perhaps he wanted the people of Borno to die in silence, otherwise, the governor did the right thing any responsible leader should do in the circumstance he found himself.

“A leader must be bold enough to tell the truth so that solutions can be found to critical situations. Dr Okupe should kindly note that if he is looking for a governor to drive any rift with the presidency, he has not found one in Kashim Shettima because those who know him, know he is honest, courageous, respectful, humble but also dogged,” the statement added.

It said Shettima will certainly not be one of Okupe’s tool for showing his face on television, advising the president’s media aide to “kindly be reminded that as a Public Relations Officer, part of his job is to interpret situations correctly to the presidency, attract goodwill and create more friends for the presidency and not to create rift.