Northern Elders Forum calls Buhari’s 8yrs in office ‘a misadventure,’ urges incoming government to ‘literally re-invent Nigeria’

Apex Northern Nigeria  advocacy group in the country, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has described the eight year-administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which ends this May 29, as ‘a misadventure,’ just as the body argued that the incoming government ‘must literally re-invent Nigeria.

Reacting to the chaotic evacuation process of stranded Nigerians in war-stricken East African country of Sudan, which kicked over a week after the conflict in the East African nation broke out, NEF lamented what it described as the Nigerian government’s seeming ‘impotence/indifference over plight’ of the country’s citizens trapped in Sudan, adding that this was happening in a country which commands ‘such strategic importance’ on the continent of Africa.

Speaking through its National Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Thursday, who was writing via his Twitter handle (@baba_hakeem), the group berated the ‘slow start’ of evacuation of trapped citizens in Sudan long after other countries had almost completed their contingency plans for evacuation of the nationals.

“We have been distressed and shamed by @MBuhari 8-year misadventure. Our virtual impotence/indifference over plight of our citizens in Sudan and developments in a country with such strategic importance just seals it. The next administration must literally re-invent Nigeria.

Further responding to a Twitter user who labeled him as biased, Baba-Ahmed insisted that he is only biased ‘against poor leadership.’

“If saying @MBuhari’s non-governance is a biased opinion,& you say I am always biased, how would you describe your reaction to my comments? Let me help you: biased. Bias is a human character, & an unbiased mind is not worth contemplating. I am biased against poor leadership. You?”

It would be recalled that, Thursday morning the first batch of evacuees arrives in Abuja via the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) transport plane, as well as an Air Peace B777 aircraft, with an estimated 376 evacuees, just as Azman Air awaits clearance to depart Egypt with the second contingent on its 409-Seater Airbus A340-600 aircraft.

The country’s evacuation arrangement has been beclouded by controversies and hiccups, and only took off a week after the Sudan conflict broke out, with the Nigerian government officials advising ots citizens to remain indoors at the time foreign countries and even Sudanese were making their way out of the country.

When the formal evacuation plans took off, more issues arose as some passengers alleged discrimination in boarding the buses reportedly procured by the Nigerian government, even as Nigerians who eventually arrived the Egyptian border with Sudan were locked out over visa issues.

The Nigerian government opted for the Egyptian border which is more than two days by road rather than the much shorter Ethiopian axis which is barely here hours by road from Sudan.

As at last week, foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, just as Sudanese nationals desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the country’s two rival generals will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations were completed.

A stream of European and Mideast military aircraft flew in all day Sunday, through the night and into Monday, to ferry them out. France and Germany said more flights were possible if security conditions permitted.

The exodus began with American special operations forces swooping in and out of Khartoum in helicopters early Sunday to evacuate U.S. Embassy personnel.

France brought out nearly 400 people, including citizens from 28 countries, on four flights to the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, two of them overnight. A Dutch air force C-130 Hercules flew out of Sudan to Jordan in the early hours Monday carrying evacuees of various nationalities, including Dutch, on board. Germany has so far conducted three flights out of Sudan, bringing more than 300 people out to Jordan.

Italy, Spain, Jordan and Greece also brought out a total of several hundred more people, including their own citizens and those of other countries.

Japanese nationals are being transported by land to an eastern town with an airstrip, to be picked up by Japanese aircraft positioned in Djibouti, Japanese media said. France and Germany each said they were prepared to do more flights if possible.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted that U.K. armed forces evacuated British diplomatic staff and dependents. But Britain’s Middle East Minister Andrew Mitchell said about 2,000 U.K. citizens still in Sudan have registered with the embassy for potential evacuation. Many Britons in the country have complained about a lack of information from the government and say they are in the dark about any evacuation plans.

EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg penultimate Monday that the evacuation operation has been successful, with more than 1,000 people brought out by EU member states.

Over 600 deaths and 5000 injuries have been reported by the Sudan’s Ministry of Health since the escalation of violence erupted in the country on 15 April – but paramedics, frontline nurses and doctors are often unable to access injured civilians, because of insecurity and attacks on ambulances and health facilities.

Further adding to the Nigerian evacuees’ hiccups, fleeing Nigerians were stranded on the Sahara Desert en route the Egyptian border over demands by the bus drivers for full payments for their services has been resolved, while those who eventually arrived were stranded for days at the border between Sudan and Egypt over visa-related issues.

However, by Monday, resolutions were reached among various agencies which convened a Situation Room over the hitches encountered in the evacuation of the stranded Nigerians in Sudan.

A joint statement issued by member-agencies of the Situation Room also confirmed that all problems related to the evacuation process of Nigerians in Sudan have been resolved, even as it also added that the ‘initial hitches encountered during the commencement of the exercise, including incidents of bus drivers stopping in the desert due to non-payment have been resolved,’ as, according to them, ‘the stranded buses have continued (their journey) towards the Egyptian border.’

Nigerians In Diaspora (NIDCOM) Chairman/CEO, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on April 27, noted that about 7,000 nationals, including Nigerians, were stranded at the Egyptian border on their way from Sudan, as she confirmed that the Egyptian authorities were not allowing the foreigners to cross its border from Sudan since their arrival on the evening of Thursday, April 27.

Later, she confirmed that some Nigerians stranded in Sudan had reached Egypt, adding that 13 buses of about 60 people had left Sudan.

Giving a breakdown of the $1.2m spent on the bus fare to evacuate the citizens, the Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, last Sunday, explained that $30,000 was paid per bus and that 40 buses were procured for the evacuation of Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan.

According to him, the owners of the buses demanded full payment, though sending money to Sudan could not be done directly but through middlemen.

However, Sani-Gwarzo, who also serves as the Chairman of the Situation Room on evacuation of Nigerians from Sudan, added that the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) were being carried along in the payment process.

He attributed the protracted holdup of Nigerians at the Egyptian borders to delays in payment caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid a request for visa payments by the Egyptian government.

On Monday, there were reports that one of the buses conveying the Nigerians from Khartoum suffered a burst tyre on its way to Port Sudan.

Confirming the incident, NIDCOM’s Head, Media, Public Relations and Protocols Unit, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said, “It was a tyre that got burst. No bus caught fire.”

All nine Nigerian students on the bus were confirmed to have arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday.

According to a source from the Sudan evacuees’ situation room, the students joined another bus sent by the transport company.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, on April 23, said there were 5,500 who were ready for evacuation.

According to him, the affected Nigerians would be evacuated by road as airports were being bombed. He also said the evacuation would be commenced by Tuesday, April 25.

“We have been given the cost estimate and all the details. They gave us a figure of 5,500 who are ready for evacuation,” Onyeama said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

Later, the minister said the Federal Government had hired 40 buses for $1.2 million to evacuate the stranded citizens.

Member-agencies of the situation room include;  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).

Other members are; the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Office of the Chief of Staff, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Nigerian Air Force (NAF), as well as, the various Nigerian Foreign Missions relevant to the evacuation exercise.