A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has condemned the shutdown of schools in parts of the North in response to rising insecurity, describing the decision as cowardly and a shameful dereliction of duty by the government.
Speaking on ARISE News programme, Prime Time, on Monday, Galadima said: “For me, the government has abdicated its primary responsibility of protecting lives and properties of citizens and has given 99 percent of its time to politicking.”
He argued that school closures should never be an option, insisting that authorities ought to strengthen protection for educational institutions rather than surrendering them to criminal elements.
“In the first place, it is shameful to close down the schools—shameful on government and on authorities at every level. You can’t close down schools. What you should do is protect them,” he said.
Galadima warned that leaders were treating governance lightly, noting that those in office should be devoting nearly all their time to tackling insecurity.
“You shouldn’t have more than six hours for leisure. The remaining must be hands on the wheels. That we are not seeing,” he said.
The NNPP chieftain also criticised the government’s reliance on brute force without adequate intelligence.
He said, “Those in authority must put on their thinking cap and do the needful. They have tried this ‘gara gara’, as I call it. It did not work. It is now time to use their intellect, use technology, and protect our citizens.”
Galadima also claimed that security operatives had intelligence on the movement of bandits before the latest attack in Niger State but failed to act.
“Somebody was capturing them verbatim. He said they were going towards Yawuri or Ngaski. That is intelligence. The security should have moved quickly,” he added.
He berated soldiers deployed to the school for allegedly abandoning their duty post.
“Why did they leave the place? They should be court-martialled and be shot,” he said.
Galadima maintained that Nigeria’s security strategy was outdated and needed immediate overhaul.
At least five northern states have closed schools while several others have directed schools to allow boarding students to return home.
The PUNCH
