A Lagos socio-political activist, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri, has called for a new approach in resolving the nation’s humongous security and economic problems. He said: “There is need for leaders of thoughts, traditional and religious leaders from all the six geo-political zones of the country to meet and chart a new course for Nigeria.
“They should proffer suggestions and solutions that would assist the Federal Government to subdue all these challenges for the citizens to live peacefully anywhere in any part of the country.”
Onitiri noted that the Federal Government has not been hard on the criminals creating the problems of insecurity, kidnapping, banditry, cattle rusting, cultism, robbery, herdsmen and a lot of others: “Presently, the herdsmen are having the field-day all over the country as if they have the backing of the government to enter and destroy people’s farms without being challenged.
“This group of Nigerians creating problems for the farmers are supposed to be declared terrorists group by the Federal Government. They operate everywhere as if they own Nigeria. In actual fact, one needs to agree with the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), headed by Professor Ango Abdulahi that the Federal Government has not taken the bull by the horn to secure and pilot the affairs of the Nigerian nation in particular, in terms of security of lives and properties of Nigerians.
“I join other Nigerians to call for the immediate removal of all the country’s service chiefs who had spent over four years in office. They have done their best and they should leave for younger officers with fresh ideas.” Onitiri called on all patriotic democrats of Nigeria and leaders of thoughts, organised labour and business community to rise up to the occasion and save the nation from total collapse by the operations of Boko Haram and armed bandits:
“The present administration has not lived to expectation in fighting corruption adequately by being selective in who or not to prosecute. Alas! Corruption thrives in the country more than before as pronounced by the Transparency International (TI). On the economic front, Nigeria is rated as the world’s poverty capital, ranking third as the world’s poorest nation. This is not good for our country’s image.
“We urge the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), student unions and human rights organisations not to keep quiet, while the nation is drifting. This is not the country our heroes past beget to us. We should rescue it because we have no other country we can call our own.”