Former presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, tackles Arise TV anchor, Ayo Mario-Ese, after she claimed his boss, Late Buhari, did little or nothing to stop t&rrorism while in office

Former presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, tackled Arise TV anchor, Ayo Mario-Ese, after she claimed his boss, Late Buhari, did little or nothing to stop t&rrorism while in office.While speaking about the Trump declaration in a TV interview some days ago, Ayo said The past administration, we had a leader who almost didn’t care about what was going on, almost didn’t do anything with regards to pushing back on terrorism. We saw terrorism almost take a life of his own during the last administration”Bashir felt it was a misrepresentation of facts and took to his X handle to berate Ayo. He wroteWow. Ayo,@ayomairoese, you are a clear example of how human beings can either forget too easily or choose to be deliberately manipulative for convenience. It is deeply disappointing and frankly alarming when such amnesia comes from someone in journalism, a profession built on truth, memory and responsibility. How can anyone especially a journalist go on live broadcast and boldly say that President Buhari didnt care or did nothing to push back on terrorism in this country? Your statement is just a betrayal of the truth and of the memory of millions of Nigerians who lived through those dark years before he took over in 2015. Let me take you on a brief journey back to our shared reality before the last administration came into office. In 2015, 17 out of 27 local government areas in Borno State were completely under Boko Harams control as there was no government presence whatsoever. In Borno, and partially in Yobe and Adamawa states during that period, no schools, no hospitals, no markets, no airport (Borno), no electricity, no mobile networks, and no public life. Even traditional rulers had fled their palaces as their whole communities were living under siege. Those days entire these three states were under a 6 p.m. to dawn curfew and even the state governors couldnt move freely during the curfew. Now, lets talk about what happened after Buhari took office. Within his first two years, those 17 local governments were liberated, government presence was restored and displaced communities began returning home. Markets reopened, airports resumed operations and those traditional rulers returned to their palaces. And it wasnt just in the northeast. In other northern states, including my state, Kano, we couldnt go to schools, markets, mosques, churches, stadiums or any such places without being thoroughly searched. Every public place carried an atmosphere of fear. Boko Haram attacks were daily realities that haunted every Nigerian. So when you sit there today, in a peaceful studio, confidently saying Buhari did nothing, youre doing so precisely because his administration did the work that made it possible for you to feel safe enough to say it. Before President Buhari, even Abuja was practically on lockdown because major roads leading to critical or government facilities were barricaded and fear ruled the streets. Terrorists had attacked the UN building, Police Headquarters, Banex Plaza, Nyanya motor park and even targeted major media houses. By the end of Buharis first term in 2019, all those roadblocks in Abuja and elsewhere had been removed and Abuja had regained its normal life, something no one could imagine just a few years earlier. These are not tales from imagination, they are documented facts, recorded by the same media houses that now seem to have selective amnesia. It is indeed astonishing how quickly people can forget when it suits their narrative. So, Ayo, before you go on air next time to try to rewrite history, remember this, truth is not something you bend to fit a headline. Facts are stubborn. And in this case, the evidence of what President Buhari did to reclaim Nigeria from the grip of terror is not only undeniable, it is written in the blood, sweat and resilience of millions of Nigerians who lived through it. Two short years of revisionism can never erase that reality.” The post Former presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, tackles Arise TV anchor, Ayo Mario-Ese, after she claimed his boss, Late Buhari, did little or nothing to stop t&rrorism while in office appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.