CHRICED flays past leaders over state of the nation comments

The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has decried the killings and kidnappings that have engulfed Nigeria and urged the Federal Government to urgently check banditry in the country.

It specifically faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for his recent comments on the state of the nation, insisting that he did not do better when he was president.

Executive Director of CHRICED, Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, made the assertion at a media briefing, yesterday, in Abuja, noting the present administration had failed Nigerians, because bandits now operate with reckless abandon bearing in mind that the government of the day lacked the political will to tame their excesses.

“What some eminent Nigerians said on the state of the nation from 2015 till date are not entirely correct, because some of the past leaders are part of our problems.

“In fact, there were killings during the Obasanjo administration. We have not forgotten the killing of an Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and today nobody has been prosecuted. It was the highest crime perpetrated against the state.

“The truth is once they have lost face, they start lamenting. The failure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 16 years brought the present administration. Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari is a product of the seed Obasanjo and PDP sowed,” he stated.

Zikirullahi maintained that the current approach of dropping a few bombs on terrorists’ hideouts and leaving them to continue their rampage on communities is not far-reaching, especially given the current scale of banditry and terrorism.

He added that given the enormity of the country’s situation, the only way out is for the government to arrest and expose the backers and sponsors of terrorist gangs, whom the government claimed to know.

“Government should also take a critical look at all the recruitments into the military, police and Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies to ensure the right people are in charge of the nation’s security architecture,” he said.

Zikirullahi frowned on the high inflation rate, stating that the situation has plunged millions of Nigerians into poverty and charged government to put measures in place to arrest the looming famine, so as not to worsen insecurity in the country.

“The skyrocketing inflation is so bad that a bag of rice now sells for between N30, 000 and N32, 000. A bag of cement now hovers around N5, 000 with the likelihood of further increase, especially during the yuletide.

“A 12kg cylinder of cooking gas, which used to sell for between N3, 800 to N4, 000, now sells for between N9, 600 and N10, 000. The same goes for the prices of other basic commodities and the government is also talking of increasing taxes and the pump price of petrol next year,” he added.

He noted that the starting point would to put as many Nigerians as possible back to employment, adding: “The Federal Government needs to stop being indiffent, while its citizens suffer. This can be achieved by reducing waste, corruption and mismanagement in government.”