On the occasion of his 79th birthday, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Saturday, has felicitated with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Nathaniel Ikyur, in a statement issued in Makurdi said Ortom acknowledged the sincerity of the President when he was elected in 2015, regretted that all “high hopes were dashed immediately with the harsh economic, political, social and insecurity of lives in the country which has led to the death of industries in Nigeria, rising unemployment rate, high cost of goods and services among others.
“This has made the lives of the citizenry vulnerable and worse ever in the history of this country, leading to Nigeria gradually bleeding to death.
“To some, the President is a father, to others, grandfather while yet to others, he is a great grandfather who should understand that Nigeria at the moment is collapsing due to the activities of terrorists who have continued to destroy the very foundation of the unity of this country.
The Governor further stated that President Buhari’s commitment to the unity, peace and development of the country can not be denied, however, the current insecurity threatening the lives of the citizenry is a complete departure from the hopes and aspirations he promised the country when he was elected President in 2015.
He said, “Daily, people are slaughtered like animals either on their farms, at home or roasted to death while travelling from one destination to another with video clips showing the faces of the killers, yet no one has been arrested. The roads have become booby traps where the citizenry are scared to travel on, for the fear that they may be kidnapped for ransom or in some cases killed outrightly. It is an open secret that no one is safe in this country any longer.”
The Governor said he is compelled to remind Mr. President of these dangers the country is going through, peradventure he is not aware that Nigeria is collapsing during his time and gradually giving the sovereignty of the country into the hands of the murderous terrorists.
Governor Ortom admitted that he loves Mr President and so he’s pleading with him to use his 79th birthday, not as a member of a political party or any religious bias, but as a grandfather and a nationalist, to address the obvious imbalances in the nation now before he hands over power in 2023.
He said that where the security architecture in the country has collapsed and the citizens now live in perpetual fear as strangers in their own country is not acceptable.
He encouraged “the President not to listen to sycophants who may not be teling him the truth that all is well. All is not well with Nigeria right now Mr President. You must therefore take urgent steps now to pull the nation back from the precipice before it is too late.
The Governor urged every citizen not to sit on the fence but join hands with Governments at all levels as patriots to assist in redeeming the nation from the hands of bloodthirsty terrorists so that Nigeria can gradually move into political stability and economic prosperity for all.
He prayed that God will keep Mr President in perfect health and grant him the wisdom and strength to steer the nation to stability.