Nigerian politicians in high places have been cautioned against setting the country on fire based on their utterances and politics affecting good governance across the nation.
The warning was issued on Saturday in Abuja during a press conference titled, "Separating Politics from Governance" by First Green White Resources (FGWR) in collaboration with Strategic Communication Centre for Defence and Security.
The group emphasized that it became necessary to alert the public about growing attempts by some elites and politicians, who themselves had contributed negatively to the nation's growth, to distract the government from its focus on governance and ongoing reforms.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Bonaventure Melah, founder and CEO of First Green Resource, clarified that while the group does not speak for the government or aim to praise the current administration, it is concerning how politics is being played to suppress governance.
"While acknowledging that things are not totally where they are supposed to be in the country, we believe that the reforms are yielding meaningful results and should be supported to come to full bloom, rather than punching holes in deliberate attempts to diminish their relevance as some are doing," Melah stated.
He pointed to several indicators showing that government reforms are working, including the current price of rice and the positive effects of subsidy removal. "In this country, we bought one bag of rice at N110,000 about two years ago. Today, one bag of the same 50kg is selling at between N63,000 and N67,000," he noted.
"Following the removal of oil subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on the first day of his inauguration, prices of petroleum products rose astronomically up to N1,500 per litre. But as the president promised, through reforms in the petroleum industry and government support to indigenous players, there is now healthy competition among investors to the extent that currently, prices of petrol are hovering around N900 and N840 per litre, depending on where you buy from," he added.
Melah further highlighted that the subsidy removal had resulted in the transformation of the FCT and the 770-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. He also mentioned the Nigerian Students Loan Scheme's disbursement of ₦73.2 billion to 396,252 students from 206 tertiary institutions across the country as another positive development.
"We have noticed rather unfortunately, that rather than applaud these remarkable achievements and suggest ways and areas of possible improvements, some persons, mostly motivated by political inclinations, especially those who have fallen out of favor with the current establishment, are making frantic efforts, including inserting toxic media contents to pour tar on the achievements, aimed at diminishing the gains being recorded. This is not only unpatriotic but meant to mislead the public," he said.
Concerns Over Attacks on NNPCL Management
The group also expressed concern over the ongoing criticism against the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), particularly the personal attacks on its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, who has been in office for less than four months.
"Even though he has neither awarded contracts nor leased oil blocks, the barrage of attacks on him and how the attacks are being celebrated in the media should be a matter of concern to well-meaning citizens," Melah emphasized.
He cautioned that such attacks could potentially de-market Nigeria's oil industry and scare investors away, adding that attacking strategic government institutions as a way of getting to the President because of 2027 political ambitions is a disservice to the nation.
Also speaking at the event, Mr. Yasmin Luka, Director of Publicity for Strategic Communication, Centre for Defence and Security, accused politicians of hijacking the media to spread messages of doom that dampen the spirit of average Nigerians.
"It is unfortunate, to put it mildly, for someone who has served the nation as governor, senator, minister, whatever, to come to the public and say that Nigeria would collapse soon; or that there is no hope for the people, just to undermine the system and heat up the system unnecessarily in order to advance personal interest and in the process, gain political mileage at the detriment of Nigerian people," Luka stated.
He added that the focus on 2027 elections is premature and becoming a serious distraction to governance, urging the federal government to take decisive action to stop attacks against strategic institutions like NNPCL, as any threat to the nation's oil industry constitutes a threat to national security.
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