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You have no moral right to mediate in Mali crisis – CAN to Buhari
BY OUR EDITOR
The Vice Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Northern Nigeria, Pastor John Hayab, has questioned the moral right of President Muhammadu Buhari to travel to Mali to mediate in the political crisis there, when his own country is in a bigger crisis.
Hayab said that the perennial killings, especially in Southern Kaduna and in the Middle Belt generally, required the urgent intervention of the president.
Vanguard reports that Hayab who doubles as the Chairman, Kaduna State Chapter of CAN, spoke to Arewa Voice, against the backdrop of the recent killings in Kagoro, Southern Kaduna.
According to the CAN leader, Christians were mainly the target of the gunmen.
He urged the government to desist from seeing the killings from the perspective of herders/farmers clashes and go against the criminals head-on.
He said: “You know very well that no sick man ever gets cured if he lives in denial. If you have a problem and admit you have a problem, then you will be given the right medication.
“The problem with Nigeria is that our leaders live in denial of the reality of what is happening to their subjects. The question you may ask is why are they living in denial?
“I am not sure I know. To my own thinking, they are not good leaders. It is a sign of weakness in leadership. It is a sign of lack of dexterity in leadership.
“Our leaders have so much divided us to the extent that if we dare understand the reason why they are dealing with us, we will chase them out.
“So, what they always do is to create confusion among us and give some other people a wrong picture, as if they are helping them not knowing that they are after all of us.
“Killing generally in Nigeria is unfortunate. It has gone beyond what one can explain. Life no long matter in this country. You kill or die, nothing happens.
“They announce the number of deaths and they don’t even feel it. If you talk about it, they come up with a different story as if it did not happen in their land.
“That is why people like me will ask the question, what moral right has our President to go to Mali because of crisis, when he has a bigger crisis than that of Mali in his home?”
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Meanwhile, President Buhari returned from the day-long trip Thursday without achieving a deal as the meeting ended in a stalemate.
Protest movements continued to clamour for the resignation of the Malian president, Ibrahim Keita, amid a long-running jihadist insurgency that threatens to throw the country into chaos.
After the intervention failed to seal a deal, the peace makers said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would hold a summit on Monday with the hope of reaching a compromise between the warring factions.
“Nothing has moved for the movement,” said one of the protest leaders, Imam Dicko, after holding talks with the presidents.