Femi Adesina: Insecurity not as bad as under Jonathan

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, says despite the growing insecurity in the country, security has improved under the Buhari administration.

Adesina said while the latest bomb blast at a Borno mosque is regrettable, Nigeria used to experience as many as 10 bombings in a day before President Muhammadu Buhari took over from former president Goodluck Jonathan.

The presidential spokesman said this on Sunday when he appeared on a Channels TV programme.

TheCable broke the story of how the bombing carried out by suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed a 12-year-old.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in the north-east — where the insurgents’ might seems to be growing.

During the programme monitored by TheCable, the anchor asked Adesina to assess the performance of Buhari, considering the growing insecurity.

But the presidential spokesman immediately told him the situation “is not as bad as you are making it seem”.

He said the president’s promise is “well alive and the work continues,” adding that ”there are many redeeming sides” to the country’s security situation when compared to how it was before Buhari assumes office.

“We know what the situation was as at 2015 and we know what it is today. Despite the reversals in security, it is still not as bad as it used to be in this country,” he said.

”There was a bombing or two today, there was a time there were five, six, ten bombings in a day in this country.

”It is very bad to lose even a single soul in the country. But when we begin to make it seem it is all bad and bad, and no redeeming side to it, then it’s not proper.

“There are many redeeming sides to the security situation in the country compared to how president Buhari met it in 2015 and it is thohse who are affected most who can tell you, particularly, those who live in the north-east.”

Adesina added one would think it is “all over” in the north-east with reports from the “Nigerian media, social media, and some international agencies”.

“(But) it is not,” he said. ”The people living there will tell you that the difference between now and 2015 is the difference between heaven and hell.”