A number of eminent Nigerians have risen in support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his letter to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari for him to end the current security challenges bedeviling the country.
Obasanjo, who ruled the country between 1999 and 2007, had in an open letter, Monday, warned President Buhari that unending Boko Haram insurgency, herdsmen/ farmers’ clashes and growing cases of kidnapping and wanton killings were eroding the very foundation of Nigeria, with the country now nearing a tipping point. He urged Buhari to take urgent decisive steps in tackling the growing insecurity in the country.
Speaking with Businessday on Monday, some eminent Nigerians applauded Obasanjo’s warning to Buhari, stressing that it was obvious that the current administration had been overwhelmed and lacked ideas on how to resolve the current security challenges.
“Every right-thinking Nigerian would support what Obasanjo said. It is obvious that Nigerian is fragile; we are all feeling the effect of it, not only in insecurity but also in unemployment. Go round and see,” Olisa Agbakoba, senior advocate of Nigeria, said.
Also Read: restructuring Nigeria inevitable turaki insists
Agbakoba said the country was in a fragile state and needed urgent rescue, urging the president to urgently convene a dialogue where the issues would be resolved among the ethnic nationalities.
“The president would be showing good example by bringing everybody on the table. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic nation, he should do well to recognise and bring people to talk,” he said.
Agbakoba, however, advocated for an urgent restructuring of the country as a way out.
“I would urge President Buhari to do well and recognise our diversity. The centre is too strong; the centre suppresses the federating units. If we dissolve the country, the problems would disappear. I would urge him to take the step towards resolving the issues,” he said.
Ebenezer Babatope, a former minister, equally lamented the current state of insecurity in the country, stressing that Obasanjo spoke the mind of Nigerians.
“It is the right thing to do. I am very happy that Obasanjo as an elder statesman can come out and speak his mind. It is obvious, the way things are the country may go under, he has done well we should applaud him.
“He must act now or the country may not exist anymore, the ordinary man hope in the country is fading,” Babatope said.
Babatope further warned the President to take Obasanjo’s advice and act fast, adding that the country risk disintegration.
“Buhari must act now or the whole country would be pulled down, if he does not take the steps now, we are all at risk. The country has become terrible, if nothing is done Nigeria may be destroyed soon,” he said.
Also speaking, a politician, Guy Ikoku, also a public affair analyst, equally applauded Obasanjo’s letter but said only a restructuring of the country that gives each state powers to be in charge of its security apparatus could help the country out of the present problems.
