Why Is Atiku Unmoved About the Russian Flag During Protests in North?
Whether passive or active, the ex vice president, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku played some roles in the 10-day nationwide protest to “end” bad governance. The former vice president was vocal in his unprecedented support for the protesters before, during and indeed after the protests.
He gave his support by insisting that every Nigerian has rights to protest as far as they are citizens of the country. He was right, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows Nigerians to protest albeit peacefully. But the events in northern region, notably in Kano and Kaduna indicated that there were plans other than the struggle to end bad governance.
Some protesters could be seen flying, hoisting and waving the Russian flag. They were even chanting anti-Tinubu songs, which was not out of place actually. The military intervened and in the process, one 16-year-old lost his life when an unruly soldier opened fire. Some others were seriously injured in the crackdown on the protesters.
Atiku was quick to react to the incident. He accused the police and the military of using live bullets on the people and chastised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, his latest rival in the quest for power. He simply looked away from the other important issue of sovereignty of the country. Did the former vice president, a perpetual presidential candidate want the Vladimir Putin’s country do what it’s doing in the Sahel region in Nigeria?
Russia has a hand in the coming to power of Captain Ibrahim Traore of Niger Republic, which has a very long border with Nigeria at the north, where the Russian flag was flown. Putin’s interest and influence in West Africa is spreading astonishingly rapidly. The presence of the flag in the protest along with the songs portends dangers for Nigeria.
The PDP’s presidential candidate in the last general elections has benefited immensely from the 25-year old democracy of Nigeria. He was at least a vice president for eight years (1999 to 2007) though he has vainly fought to occupy the highest office. He had represented the PDP in the last two general elections. He should be worried about any threat to the democracy of the country.
One thing about the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States of America is that once their is a national security threat, they drop partisan politics and work together for the common goal of the land. They wouldn’t mind to unite just to wade off threats from North Korea, Iran, China and Russia.
Alhaji Atiku has shown that he doesn’t have capacity to defend the country and unite it as well. He dares not say anything that can ruffle the northern feather. He would rather offend the people in the other region. There are some other cases to show as Atiku’s poor attitude to the unity and sovereignty of the country.
Have Nigerians forgotten the young College of Education student in Sokoto State? Samuel Deborah was lynched by an irate mob who accused her of blasphemy. They stoned her to death and went on to set her ablaze. This media organisation preaches religion tolerance.
Atiku was quick that time to condemn the killing on his verified social media pages. But he received backlashes from northerners who threatened to deny him votes. One would expect him to stand by the truth and maintained his stand. He rushed to the media to deny approving the posts and said that henceforth he would add his initial AA to all the posts emanating from him. He has been doing that, anyway.
The bottom line is that Atiku is chicken hearted, he couldn’t muster courage to condemn the Kano protesters who were wielding the flag. The flag was actually a knife being brandished to Tinubu, an unpopular president with unpopular policies. The former vice president knew what’s at stake in 2027. He would appear in the poster again. Therefore, he didn’t care if the sovereignty is at stake in as much as he gets the much needed support from north.
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