President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, has said the North was doing much better until Buhari became president in 2015.
He said before throwing their support behind Buhari in 2015, the North had thought Boko Haram was an issue the retired General would address, something believed to be the major reason Jonathan was rejected. But alas, Buhari's arrival not only failed to end Boko Haram as promised, but also brought more problems to the region.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Sun, Yerima said, "The recurrent case of insurgency has become disturbing for those of us in the Northern part of the country and it is alarming.
"We are very disturbed that insurgency, poverty and banditry have become a norm under the watch of a Northern president. The Northern people are for no just reason kiIIed on daily basis either as a result of insurgency, kidnap, rape and bomb attack.
"So, it’s a bit confusing as it is today. Before 2015, we were faced with only Boko Haram and few incidents of pipeline vandalization in the Niger Delta region, but today, almost all the crimes you can mention are currently going on repeatedly in all parts of the country, most especially in the Northern parts of Nigeria.
"I have always said that you cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result. It can never be different from the previous results until you change the pattern. The method and approach of this government has been the same from 2015 till date, especially when it comes to the issue of strategy. Rather they are so relaxed and comfortable with the old pattern of leadership.
"Today, they tell you they funded the Nigerian armed forces to do their job, tomorrow they tell you they were not funded enough. The ethics of Nigerian Armed forces by military or training, is that they hardly come forward to complain that things are not going the right direction because it’s not part of their ethics.
"The truth of the matter is that security agencies are underfunded. With the increasing rate of insurgency, banditry and kidnap, that is if we can sustain this pressure till the next one year, will bring untold hardship to the people and increase the level of internally displaced people in the country.
"The government should consider the lives and properties of innocent and defenseless Nigerians who are kiIIed on a daily basis. The attitude of this government to security challenges is not satisfactory at all. They must change their strategy to security if really, they want to combat insurgency to a standstill.
"They must cooperate with communities and engage them with proper ways of becoming vigilant. If the government continues to use the old strategy, definitely, the result will remain the same and will continue to grow worse every day."