A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Audu Ogbe, and Major Gen. Muhammad Shuwa (retd) have disagreed with the former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Y. Danjuma, who was quoted to have said that Borno State was one of the failed states in terms of governance.
Danjuma had, on Tuesday, at the 50th birthday lecture in honour of the Chairman, LEADERSHIP Group, Sam Nda-Isaiah chided the governors of the northern states for the level of poverty and hunger in the area and their failure to rise up to the challenges posed to the region by the Boko Haram sect.
Ogbe said, “First, I must say T Y Danjuma is a man of tremendous clout for whom all of us have great respect for. However, Borno State in particular, I have visited twice and I have been working with the governor, who has also recognised the danger of violence which has actually resulted in the failure of the economy and governmental practice.
“I can speak for Borno, where perhaps there is more hope than many other areas because of what the governor is doing, and in which I am seriously involved: creating wealth through agriculture and agro processing.”
In the same vein, Shuwa,? commended General Danjuma for his show of concern but said: “Agreed, Borno is facing challenges but to call it a failed state is a remark in bad faith.
I just hope some Nigerians will not accuse General Danjuma of keeping silent while many parts of the country were facing problems only to come out offensively few days after his home state, Taraba, was faced with attacks. I regard General Danjuma as an elder statesman and hope he didn’t speak out of such sentiment which is not expected from a nationalist like him.”