OLAOLU OLADIPO
Appraising the state of the nation in the wake of recent developments
that have suggested that the country was drifting, Bakare yesterday
urged Nigerians from all walks of life to ensure that the gains of last
year’s fuel subsidy protests were utilized for correcting the rot in the
way the country was administered.
According to Bakare, the former leader was well placed to address the
problems plaguing the country, but he rather opted to use the position
that God had placed him to undermine the country’s progress through his
actions both in office and out of it.
Bakare’s position was contained in 15-page text he read out at a
media parley in Lagos to mark the first anniversary of the fuel hike
protests that rocked the country, which his group organized in Lagos in
the wake of the removal of subsidy on the price of petroleum products by
the federal government.
“Obasanjo was one person who derailed Nigeria at critical juncture in
her life,” he said. “In 1999, Nigerians were full of enthusiasm as they
watched the military return back to the barracks. We were excited
because it was the dawn of a new beginning.
“We wanted a different and better country, one with a defined
national character and with the possibility of creating a sense of
self-pride; we so badly needed after so many traumatizing years under
the military. It never happened; Obasanjo squandered that enthusiasm and
returned the country to a path of corruption, prebendalism, primordial
sentiments and even administrative bullying.”
He said that last year’s protests rekindled enthusiasm in Nigerians
whom he said showed that they were ready to take the country back from
the grip of the elite who had not demonstrated the willingness to make
it progress in spite of the abundance human and material resources.
Lamenting the negative impacts of corruption on the country, he said
the country lacked positive persona needed by its citizens to galvanize
them for development.
“We appear to be more of a makeshift country simply existing without
ideas, vision and goals. Our ideas of planning for the future have
never quite exceeded the annual budget,” he said. “That might explain
the average Nigerian attitude to this country: people seem aware that
the country has no clearly defined future and, therefore, a sense of
patriotism or identifying with the country is at an all-time low.”
This situation, he remarked, has enabled corruption to thrive in the
country as people have come to recede into their regional shells having
developed an attitude that makes them fiercely loyal to personal and
ethnic ties over nationhood.
Leadership
The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare has
heaped the blames for the sorry state of the country on former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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