Nigerian politicians in high places have been cautioned against setting the country on fire based on their utterances and politics affecting good governance across the country.

The warning was issued on Saturday in Abuja during a press conference titled, “Separating Politics from Governance” by First Green White Resources in collaboration with Strategic Communication Centre for Defence and Security.

The group said it became expedient to alert the public on the growing attempt by some elites and known politicians who themselves had contributed negatively towards the growth of the nation, to distract the government from its focus on governance and the ongoing reforms.

Speaking, Mr Bonaventure Melah, founder and CEO of First Green Resource clarified that even though the group does not speak for the government and not out to praise the current administration, as concerned Nigerians, it’s a source of worry the way politics is being played to suppress governance.

While acknowledging that things are not totally where they are supposed to be in the country, “ We believe that the reforms are yielding meaningful results and should be supported to come to full bloom, rather than punching holes, in deliberate attempt to diminish their relevance as some are doing.”

Melah said some indices have shown that the government reforms are working, using the current price of rice and the positive effect of subsidy removal as reference points.

He said, “in this country, we bought one bag of rice at N110,000 about two years ago. Today, one bag of the same 50kg is selling at between N63,000 and N67,000.

“Following the removal of oil subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, GCFR on the first day of his inauguration, prices of petroleum products rose astronomically up to N1,500 per litre.

“But as the president promised, through reforms in the petroleum industry and the support by government to indigenous players, there is now a healthy competition among investors to the extent that currently, prices of petrol is hovering around N900 and N840 per lire, depending on where you bought from.”

Malah further said that the removal of subsidy had resulted in the transformation of the FCT and the 770-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

He also argued that with the resources available to states, Nigeria is now on the path of recovery.

He cited other examples as the Nigerian Students Laon Scheme disbursement of ₦73.2billion to 396,252 students from 206 tertiary institutions across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He said, “We have noticed rather unfortunately, that rather than applaud these remarkable achievements and suggest ways and areas of possible improvements, some persons, mostly motivated by political inclinations, especially those who have fallen out of favour with the current establishment, are making frantic efforts, including inserting toxic media contents to pour tar on the achievements, aimed at diminishing the gains being recorded. This is not only unpatriotic, but meant to mislead the public, especially citizens of the country, that nothing is working, when they know it is deliberate falsehood.”

The group also faulted the ongoing war against the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), especially personal attacks on its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Bayo Ojulari.

“I want to quickly remind us that someone was NNPCL CEO for many years until recently and the roof was not brought down as is been plotted today. The current CEO assumed office less than four months ago, in fact, he clocked 100 days in office on Tuesday this week. Even though he has neither awarded contracts nor leased oil blocks, the barrage of attacks on him and how the attacks are being celebrated in the media should be a matter of concern to well-meaning citizens.

“President Tinubu, while announcing Bayo Olujiri’s appointment, made it clear that he is to carry out comprehensive overhaul of the company, inject reform policies necessary for NNPCL to operate with global best practices and therefore profitable to the country and our people.”

The statement further said the issue at stake is not only the unwarranted attacks, but that the attacks have the potency to de-market Nigeria’s oil industry and scare investors away.

Melah cautioned that the idea of attacking strategic institutions of government as a way of getting to the President because of 2027 is a great de-service to the nation and direct attack on the wellbeing of the people.

Also speaking, Mr Yasmin Luka, Director of Publicity for Strategic Communication, Centre for Defence and Security, accused politicians of hijacking the airwaves including television radio, newspapers, online and social media. He said most of them have continued to pass messages of doom to dampen the spirit of average Nigerians.

He questioned recent comment by a politician who said Nigeria would collapse soon.

“It is unfortunate, to put mildly, for someone who has served the nation as governor, senator, minister, whatever, to come to the public and say that Nigeria would collapse soon; or that there is no hope for the people, just to undermine the system and heat up the system unnecessarily in order to advance personal interest and in the process, gain political milage at the detriment of Nigerian people.

“For us, the convergence for 2027 is rather too early and therefore becoming a source of serious distraction.

“We also support the idea that the new management of NNPCL is just 100 days in office and should be allowed to work. The federal government should therefore take decisive action to stop the shenanigans against such a strategic institution like NNPCL as any threat to the nation’s oil industry is a threat against national security, since the sector currently the main stay of our economy.”