Sunday 13 January 2013

Pastor Bakare Blames Obasanjo For Nigeria’s Woes

 OLAOLU OLADIPO

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.
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

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