Obasanjo and Buhari
The scary ethnic and religious division manifested in our dear Nigeria in the last 15 months is indeed unprecedented. Something similar to this was only experienced during the days leading up to the civil war. The alarm raised recently by a United Nations report, drawing attention to this malaise should serve as a wake-up call to genuine patriots to call the Buhari administration to order, in order to pull back our dear nation from the precipice. The UN report on Nigeria’s Common Country Analysis (CCA), (though, not limited to the Buhari era alone) revealed a deeply alienated society based on the plurality of ethnic, religious and regional identities.
The report observed that, for decades,
different segments of Nigeria’s population had at different times
expressed feelings of marginalisation, of being short-changed,
oppressed, threatened, dominated, or even targeted for elimination. The
truth that must be told is that this division was greatly escalated in
the last 15 months because of a number of actions and inactions of the
Buhari administration, particularly his lopsided appointments.
Also recently, former President,
Olusegun Obasanjo expressed concern about the continued threats of
disintegration resulting from the activities of various armed groups in
different parts of the country, noting that aside the 30-month civil war
period; Nigeria has never been as divided in history as it is
presently. While criticising those calling for the breakup of Nigeria,
Obasanjo lamented that the activities of the Niger-Delta Avengers, NDA,
Boko Haram terrorists and Fulani herdsmen had fractured the country.
The former president said, “At no time
in our history, except probably during the civil war, has Nigeria been
so fractured in the feeling of oneness by the citizenry. In the last
four months, we have an average of twenty hotspots across the country
with huge potential for national disintegration. Our strength as a
nation lies in our unity and national cohesion.”
Genuine patriots must rise up and start
preaching the gospel of unity in diversity and unity of
purpose/cohesion. Our dear President Buhari must also be forced by
patriots to always look at the map of Nigeria closely before making
appointments. He must also take steps to reverse all lopsided
appointments made by his administration, particularly in the ministries
of defence and Internal Affairs. Buhari must operate as a father to all
Nigerians. I am convinced that this nation will become great as one. May
Allah continue to bless beautiful Nigeria.
THISDAY 9 Sept.2019
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