Bola Tinubu said on Thursday that the overthrowing of the government in Gabon proved that there would be more coups in Africa after the one in the Niger Republic.
Mr. Tinubu said this when he met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) at the State House.
“My fear has been confirmed in Gabon: people will start doing the same thing until it stops,” said Mr. Tinubu, according to a statement by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.
Gabon’s military officers announced on Wednesday that they had taken power and put the president, Ali Bongo, under house arrest. This was the latest attempt at a coup in Africa, just a few weeks after troops in Niger rebelled and took power.
Shortly after this happened, Mr. Tinubu talked about how worried he was about the coup in the Republic of Gabon, which is on the west coast of Central Africa.
At the same time, he said that all political options with the military junta in the Niger Republic would be exhausted before any military action.
Mr. Tinubu also said again that a democratic government could not be removed by force. He asked the sultan to go back to the Niger Republic to talk to the army again.
“I must thank you for your many trips to the Niger Republic, Your Eminence, but you will still have to go back.
“The Niger Republic is our neighbor, and what has brought Nigerians and their great people together cannot be broken. No one wants a war to happen. We have seen how bad things are in Sudan and Ukraine. But if we don’t use the big stick, we’ll all have to deal with the results,” Tinubu said.
Mr. Tinubu said that Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar led Nigeria into a new era of democratic government in 1998 when he set up a nine-month transition program.
The president said that the military leaders in the Niger Republic could do the same thing if they were honest.
When asked about how hard it has been for many Nigerians since the fuel subsidy was taken away, the president said that all of the current reforms would reposition the economy and help most people in terms of jobs, infrastructure, health care, and education.
He told the group that the federal government was working with state governments to provide land for pan-national animal husbandry and agro-allied production and processing facilities for mass export, job creation, and revenue generation.
“If Nigeria is still looking for vaccines for basic health problems and there are a lot of deaths of babies and mothers, we need to look at ourselves. He said, “I will promise to talk to other leaders, like the NSCIA, and we will meet the needs of our people.
Kashim Shettima also said that Tinubu had put N50 billion in the budget to help rebuild lives and property in the North-West and North-East.
He said that the focus of this move was now on talking to solve security problems and help the physical efforts.
The Sultan of Sokoto promised “100% loyalty” to the president and said that a person can only become a leader if God wants it, not if people want it.
(NAN)