Femi Falana, human rights
activist, has urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop insulting the
collective intelligence and memories of Nigerians having “instituted the
culture of impunity in the country”.
Falana spoke in Benin on Friday,
while reacting to Obasanjo’s special statement last week, which asked President
Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election.
The human rights activist said
Obasanjo had the opportunity to be great by providing good leadership and
ridding the country of corruption.
But he chose instead to install a
regime of impunity and corruption in the country.
The lawyer said apart from the
allegations of nepotism and clannishness Obasanjo levelled against Buhari,
“other allegations were nothing to write home about”.
“In other words, all the other
allegations took place under President Obasanjo and in fact, he
institutionalised the culture of impunity under the democratic dispensation in
Nigeria,” he said.
“If President Obasanjo who ruled
this country for 11 and half years has institutionalised democracy, rule of law
and respect for human rights, we will not be in this mess and the control of
Nigeria by the Nigerian people, we will be having an Eldorado by now.
“So, please, let Obasanjo and
others be honest to admit that they brought us to this shameful episode. So,
nobody should grandstand when it comes to the misgovernance of Nigerians.
“Nobody has apologised. The fact
that from 1999 to 2007, this country, made close to hundred billion dollars
from the sale of one commodity, oil. What is there to show for it rather than
permanent darkness?
“The more you spend on energy,
the more darkness you get. So what is there to celebrate? What we have were
mass unemployment and sale of national assets to few boys who were close to the
presidency and rigging of elections.
“You have all forgotten that the
results from Delta, Ondo and others were announced in Abuja and not in those
states in order to rig those elections. What is there to celebrate?
“President Obasanjo is entitled
to form his own political party or his own movement but he should please desist
from insulting the collective intelligence and the collective memories of
Nigerians.
“When Sharia started, the federal
government did not challenge the constitutionality. Under that era, we had
ethnic and religious violence that claimed lives of over 20,000 Nigerians.
“With great respect to former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, apart from the allegations of nepotism and
clannishness, which cannot be disputed, every other allegation made, there is
nothing to write home about. In other words, all the other allegations took
place under Obasanjo and in fact, he institutionalised the culture of impunity
under the democratic dispensation in Nigeria.
“Many of us have forgotten the
abduction of Governor Chris Ngige, many of us have forgotten the fact that the
national assembly and the house of representatives displayed bales of naira
with which it was alleged that the presidency wanted to bribe the legislators.
“Many of us have forgotten about
the third term agenda or the fact that many people who were also closed to the
seats of power were treated like sacred cows even in the fight against
corruption. But I do not want to join issues with Obasanjo for now on his
letter so that one is not seeing as endorsing impunity in our country but other
than the allegations of nepotism and clannishness which the presidency is
notoriously noted for, I think, they are birds of same feathers.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com