WHEN THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF CHICKENS OUT - STEVE AUSTIN NWABUEZE (OPINION)

Before an enthralled global audience in the wake of the tedious electioneering campaign riddled with rancid propaganda and sectional diatribes, PResident BUHARI had told the audience at he CHatham House, London while fielding questions on the Boko haram menace emphatically stated that "as the Commander in chief, I would always lead from the front". As terse and spontaneous as this answer might seem, it showed a man who is not scared to confront security challenges. Being an accomplished and decorated soldier himself, it was hard to fault this statement. More so as the speaker is known for his straightforwardness and no nonsense approach to life.

It is no wonder then that the president made the issue of security in the terror ravaged NOrth East top of his agenda . The president hit the ground running soon after he was handed over the reins of Governmen . Although the issue of he Boko haram menace is far from over, it would be grossly unfair to trivialize the the achievements of the government in this regard.

For few months now however, the self styled NIger Delta Avengers , a novel militant group in the troubled creeks in the Niger delta has since sprung up to wreck havoc on the nation. The burgeoning militant prowess of the group is heavily attested to by the daily bombardments of the region on sensitive oil and power installations which is literally bringing the country to its knees . Soldiers and security agents are now being either abducted or killed on a daily basis. Apparently emboldened by their unexpected accomplishments within a very short period, the group had penultimate Wednesday the 1st of June threatened to assainate the President when he comes visiting to flag off the clean up of the OGONI waterways that have been ravaged by oil exploration in the area. It would be recalled that the president was due to flag off the momentous event on the 2nd day of June 2016 . The militants had issued their threats on Tuesday , the 31st of May, 2016. It is therefore difficult not to see the link between the two events in real time. There was no indication whatsoever that anything whatsoever would stop the president from making the trip. The president looked hale and hearty during his democracy day broadcast. So what could have gone wrong? The press release from the presidency announcing the cancellation of the trip was terse and lacking in reasons for the failure of the presidency to show up as planned. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was hurriedly whisked to port harcourt by his handlers. I am sure the Vice President himself was unprepared for the hasty chain of events that saw him replace the president at the last minute. What happened could be likened to a management decision by a firm where a decision to send the chairman to an important function gets cancelled at the last minute with the chairman sending the manager instead. The manner of the cancellation is to say the least, contemptuous of the citizens and Nigerians in general. The president probably did not give a hoot how the people of Rivers state felt with that decision .

The president certainly lost an opportunity to leverage on the goodwill from that momentous occasion and get his traducers off his back for sometime. Given the fact that a son of the NIger delta was in power for 6 whole years, it is quite commendable that such a move was coming from a president from the northern extraction.. A president who was much maligned and vilified by the south southerners some of whom saw president BUHARI as a usurper in the wake of his victory at the polls. It was an opportunity to bond with the NIger delta , an opportunity to assuage the feelings of neglect by the region, an opportunity to allay the fears of  people from the region who view his government with disdain and scorn and re-establish trust no matter how fleeting. It was an opportunity to defy the security threats and issues from the so called Avengers and establish once again that NIGERIA does not negotiate nor condone terrorism and militancy. This was an opportunity for the president to walk his talk in view of his tough talking stance on the issue and dare the militants to do their worst. It was an opportunity to send a message of defiance and scorn to the avengers not to be brow beaten . Unfortunately, the presidency would be coming out of this faux pas with its tails firmly behind its legs. The loss of public goodwill occasioned by this national embarrassment can only be imagined . What makes it more worrisome is the shoddy media handling of the situation. The press release was a crass display of government contempt and derision of its citizens. The international community was watching with keen interest to see how NIGERIA handled this momentous occasion. Unfortunately, we have not clothed ourselves in glory as expected.

One would recall that a similar incident played out under his predecessor.  President GOODLUCK Jonathan when he cancelled his scheduled visit to Borno state on the ground of a solid security Intel that the visit be rescheduled and the APC Media voltrons bared their fangs to call him all sorts of names . 18  months down the line, their own candidate is giving us an ENCORE. At least,  His predecessor was brave and precise enough to predicate his trip cancellation on security threat. The president's handlers have neither the decency nor candor to own up to the fact that the threats to assassinate the president by the avengers was the major reason for the cancellation

The president's action raises a lot of posers for me; have the Avengers suddenly become more powerful  than the president's security details so much so that the President had to cancel his scheduled trip at the last minute.? What has become of the president's public bravado and threats to crush the militant sect? If  indeed a security Intel is at the end of this cancellation, what was the wisdom behind sending  the Vice President in his stead if the threat was real as bandied? or has  the life of the Vice President become so less important all of a sudden  If the security details are armed enough and competent to protect the VP , what stopped the President's security details from showing such mettle as well ?  Or was the Vice President sent to die in the president's place. ?

It is commonsensical that a militant body that is bold enough to threaten the life of a sitting president would jump at the opportunity to get his vice since it has a general grouse against the government and not the president  as a person.

It would of course be foolhardy to play Russian roulette with the life of a sitting president in the light of a confirmed and real threat to his life . The security Intel should have come in longer before the avengers released its statement threatening the life of the president . The implication is that the only material upon which the said security Intel was built on was the statement credited to the militant group threatening to assassinate the president on his visit. That makes the Intel flawed and unreliable and one founded upon cowardice by the president's  handlers.

The economic implications of this cancellation are not lost on the government of RIvers state which has expended copious amount of tax payers ' money in preparation for the President's visit. It has also opened a a window of corruption for public officials who might want to profit from this incident . It is a complete morale dampener and has further widened the gulf of mistrust  between the government and the people of the Niger Delta. It would be interesting to see whether the President would be able to turn this around in future.