Tinubu was not given adequate briefing about Benue killings – Akutah

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Barr. Pius Akutah, has said President Bola Tinubu was not given proper briefing about the killings in Benue State.

He said the President is determined to take steps to turn around the country for the better, as well as address the politics surrounding the recent security skirmishes that rocked Benue State.

Barr. Akutah disclosed this during a chat with journalists at his residence in Makurdi.

He urged the people of Benue to believe in and remain supportive of Mr. President in tackling the insecurity rocking the state.

Barr. Akutah said the speed with which Mr. President responded to the issue in Benue, and from his statement, shows that he was misbriefed.

He didn’t have the proper briefing, and that was the reason Nigerians were angered when he spoke about the killings in Benue.

“But immediately the governor gave an interview, people knew that, oh, this was the briefing Mr. President had. And this is why he said what he said. People saw where the problem was coming from.”

“So it’s very obvious that these are the issues, and Nigerians should just be very patient with Mr. President.”

He said it won’t be long before Nigerians see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“He is not the type that will just pay lip service to issues like this. He’s very firm, very honest, and sincere with the Nigerian people.

“He’s an accomplished man by all standards. All that he needs to do now, and all that he is doing, is to leave a legacy for this country.

“We have seen how he is building the economy, how he is deepening our democracy, how he is stretching hands of fellowship to many dissidents across the country, and ensuring that this country is blooming in a new economic order that will affect everyone.

“Over the years, people have talked about diversifying the economy of this Nigeria over and over and over.”

Barr. Akutah said successful leaders in the country were paying lip service to the enormous challenges facing the country until the President came on board.

“Today, you look at what the non-oil sector is doing, and the economy is moving towards that direction by virtue of his policies. So he says it, he does it.

“He promised Nigerians he was going to take out the fuel subsidy. Immediately he came in, on day one, he took it out.

“And you see the firmness with which he stood his ground. Even when they fought back, he stood his ground to this day.

“And we now realize that, oh, oil subsidy was no good for Nigerians.

“And what he did was the best thing that anybody could have done in that circumstance for the benefit of our economy.

“Look at the dollar. Today, the fluctuations we had in the past government are stabilizing because of policies that he took.

“Nigerians are complaining that there is hunger in the land, there is this, there is poverty, there is this.

“But yes, all of the past failures to confront these problems frontally have piled up to the point that what he did was like, you know, you have something stuck in your lap and somebody came to remove it.

“You will feel sharp pain at that point. But then, when the healing process continues, you’ll see how everything will just die down and you’ll have permanent healing.”