By NewsBits
Consistent and outspoken Nigeria’s former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has once again criticised appointments of incumbent Nigeria’s President Muhammadu saying they are skewed and lopsided on the basis of nepotism, and mediocrity.
Obasanjo who stated this in a speech entitled, ‘The quest for unity in Nigeria and the role of unity schools,’ which he delivered at the 50th anniversary of Federal Government College, Kaduna, at the weekend, also said merit and competence in the appointments have gone to the dogs in Nigeria with the Buhari administration.
He regretted that Nigerian leaders are more concerned about their selfish interests than the country’s survival.
Obasanjo said, “Once again, our nation is dancing on the precipice and some of us are truly worried about the state of affairs today. I expressed that worry in my open letter to Nigerians and Nigerian youths on New Year’s Day.
“As I stated in the letter; ‘If we fall prey again, we will have ourselves to blame, and no one can say how many more knocks Nigeria can take before it tips over. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed.’ Of course, I pray that Nigeria will never tip over. We must constantly work at it and pray.
“My worry is premised on a number of issues. First, I am concerned that the current state of our nation’s economy has widened the gulf of inequality and left many people in despair. Inflation is on the rise; poverty and hardship have returned to many households. The last decade has reversed many of the economic gains that were made in the first decade of the century. There is a general sense of hopelessness across the nation with seemingly uncontrollable insecurity.
“In addition to the economic hardship is political mischief. Never have we been so politically divided along religious, ethnic, and other fault lines and deliberately so. Appointments in government are skewed and lopsided on basis of nepotism and mediocrity and disregard of merit and competence,” he said
He added that politicians and political parties were trampling on many of the things put in place to give all groups in the country a sense of belonging.
“Elections are here and may compound the problem. Political parties and politicians have now been emboldened to discard some of the things that were put in place to give all groups a sense of belonging. Exclusion is being taken as normal. Disunity stares us in the face and many of our leaders are more concerned about their selfish interests than the survival and health of our nation.
“Let me reiterate that the concerns being raised about the nature of the options before us in the presidential elections for instance are real and should not be trifled with.
“Nigeria belongs to us all and no part of the country should be left in doubt about their place in this union on any basis whatsoever; ethnic, religious, language, region, culture or social standing,” he said.
Obasanjo stressed that doing the right things would make every component of the country have a sense of belonging.
“If we choose to do nothing, we will only have ourselves to blame. If we choose to do the right thing, we will by so doing return this country on the right track; one which gives all our people a sense of belonging and a sense of unity of purpose and a stake in the project Nigeria; a project that will give all of us peace, security, stability, shared prosperity, hope and progress and a place within the comity of nations,” he said.
