Nigeria in Intensive Care Unit, Obasanjo, IBB, Abdulsalami should help take her out, Lukman urges

By KEMI KASUMU

He said that the mere fact that the nation is gradually relapsing back to the era of arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, labour leaders and innocent citizens who expressed disagreements with governments at all levels is a strong indicator that Nigeria is now a training ground for authoritarian leaders.

Former National Vice Chairman, North-West, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has raised the alarm that the Nigeria’s democracy is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with no doctor to attend to it.

Lukman, however, said that leaders like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and former Minister of Defence, Major General Aliyu Gusau, owe the nation a duty to take it out of the ICU.

The APC chieftain also lamented that the current avoidable and embarrassing dispute between Dangote Refinery and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) is pushing the citizens to swallow bitter pills of higher prices of petroleum products in a manner that simply devalues local production.

He said that the mere fact that the nation is gradually relapsing back to the era of arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, labour leaders and innocent citizens who expressed disagreements with governments at all levels is a strong indicator that Nigeria is now a training ground for authoritarian leaders.

Lukman, in a topic titled “Nigerian democracy in ICU,” said that one of the big gaps constantly starting Nigerians in the most uncomfortable way is the demobilisation and destruction of democratic structures in the country, adding that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is now more of a private limited liability company owned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said, “As Nigerians, we are faced with the very unfortunate situation whereby an elected government is taking all the wrong decisions and all democratic structures that could facilitate consultations, enforce accountability, and to that extent regulate the conducts of elected leaders, including President Asiwaju Tinubu, are being systematically demobilised and demolished.

“Part of the disturbing reality highlighting the mismanagement of public policy in Nigeria is the current avoidable and embarrassing dispute between Dangote Refinery and the NNPC and how citizens are being pushed to swallow bitter pills of higher prices of petroleum products in a manner that simply devalue local production.

“Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, that appears to be the preference of the government. As it is, the issue of welfare of citizens is not the priority of President Asiwaju Tinubu. It is almost as if President Asiwaju Tinubu doesn’t give a damn about whether Nigerians are dying on account of government’s heartless and mindless policies. Rather than push public policy in a direction that relieved the economic burden of harsh living conditions, the Federal Government is more bent on imposing more stringent measures that drains and devalue the resources of citizens.

“No doubt, Nigerians are faced with the hardest of times. In the circumstance, it is legitimate for all leaders who mean well for the country to be worried.

“Nigerian democracy is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with no Doctor to attend to. Could former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau be the ‘Doctors’ needed to get Nigeria out of the ICU? If so, how can they achieve that?

“Former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau are certainly leaders in their own rights who have paid their dues. At different times in the political history of Nigeria, they were able to intervene. Arguably, their interventions may have in one way or the other contributed to getting Nigeria to its current messy situation.

“These leaders owe a responsibility to the nation to take it out of the ICU.”