Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The deputy minority leader of the House of Representatives, Toby Okechukwu,  has charged the Presidency not to dismiss concerns raised recently by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about current developments  in the country.

Okechukwu, in a statement,  on Tuesday,  said it was “unwise ” for the Presidency “discard both the message and messenger “.

The lawmaker , who insisted that the country is in dire straits,  expressed surprise that the Presidency has failed to see the dangers confronting the country.
He noted that the  international organizations saddled with the responsibility of rating ” global fragility and terrorism ” could not have deliberately rated the country poorly.
According to him,  “Just yesterday (Monday), in Nasarawa State, gunmen attacked officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who were traveling from their Sokoto and Kebbi State Commands to Abuja for a training. They killed two people and kidnapped about 10 others.

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“On the same day, the media also reported gun attack on a passenger train headed to Abuja from Kaduna.

“So, the truth is that the country is indeed in dire straits as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and some well-meaning Nigerians have continued to point out and it is unhelpful to continue to live in denial. Even if the Presidency does not like the messenger, they cannot just wish away the message, which is an honest assessment of the true state of the nation”, he stated.

“It is instructive that the Fragile States Index (FSI), produced by the Washington DC, USA-based organisation, The Fund for Peace, following a analysis of 178 countries across 12 indicators of the risks and vulnerabilities faced by individual nations, ranked Nigeria on the High Alert category and as the 14th most fragile state in the world as well as the ninth in Africa.”