A former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, says Nigeria is experiencing total retardation in all facets of national life under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration.
The former military governor of Ondo State cited instances of the strategic roles Nigeria previously played among the comity of nations, stating that the nation was being sidelined under the incumbent.
He added that because of the way the current administration has handled the nation, Nigeria’s unity is being severely threatened.
He accused the Buhari administration of violating federal character principles in appointments.
George noted that Fulani herdsmen’s activities, which he said were not new in the South, have taken a dangerous turn because of perceived support from the Buhari administration.
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Speaking on what went wrong for Nigeria, George told Saturday Sun,
“It is because of the way this current government has handled Nigeria. It is the way it has handled the issue of national unity. In the past, we were patching and moving on.
“The way it has handled the distribution of political positions without balance, equity and justice is the trigger. It made nonsense of the federal character constitutional provisions and the Federal Character Commission.
“Check out all the positions, strategic positions, everything went to the North and a tiny segment of the north took everything. It is cronyism in action as never before.
“The Fulani herdsmen are rampaging, killing, maiming, destroying and raping our women and the government is keeping a blind eye. Is this the first time we are encountering Fulani herdsmen in the South? No. This is not the first time. You cannot come to my house and try to dislodge me. It cannot work. When you do that, then you are looking for trouble.
“Look at Nigeria today. We went to the Olympics, where is Nigeria? There is total retardation in all facets of national life.
“Today, the G8 Group of Nations will meet and no mention of Nigeria. Before, they will invite some strategic countries and Nigeria will be there.
“The liberation of South Africa, Nigeria was at the forefront. I remember, I was in military service and they took a percentage of our salaries as our contributions to the liberation of South Africa. Look at the role we played in Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. So where are we now? Where is that giant of Africa? This system is not working, and it can never work. We have tried it now for 21 years.”
George stated that most of the nation’s challenges would be addressed with devolution of power to the states.
“We will be deceiving ourselves by saying all is well. All is not well. We have friends all over the country. We are complaining now in the South that young people who have graduated have no jobs, nothing doing and no future. Let us devolve power to the states. That was the decision of the National Conference in 2014. If you devolve power to the states, the government will be much closer to the people. People will not bother about the way things are running. We will be sending a certain percentage to the centre (Abuja) to maintain the national government. But the way we are now, with 19 states in the North, 17 in the South, there is no way we can change the constitution or make progress in anything,” George stated.
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