‘Nigerians in state of despair’

*Ohaneze, Afenifere chieftains lament situation in the country
 
Chieftains of two socio-cultural groups in Nigeria have described the country’s democracy as a mirage that is proving elusive to attain. The duo of Second Republic politician and chieftain of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Guy Ikokwu and Afenifere chief and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) activist, Dr. Amos Akingba, lamented that the country is in a state of despair.
 
While speaking with The Guardian in a telephone interview, Ikokwu said there is nothing worth celebrating in the state of Nigeria’s democracy, as the citizens have nothing to show as dividends of democracy.
 
According to him, “There is total despair in the country because most people don’t know where we are going. There is no quality education and social welfare and so much insecurity everywhere.“They said we are out of recession, but that is not true, everything is technical, we are technically out of recession because there is still inflation in prices. People cannot build new houses, they cannot establish industries, and things have been bad. There is technically no more corruption, there is technically no more Boko Haram, and there is technically no more harassment by Fulani herdsmen. This is a country where not less than 50 people are killed everyday.”

He maintained that the bad system of governance is responsible for the situation the country is facing adding, “Virtually most citizens are criminally minded because of the bad system of governance. When you go to other African countries, they call Nigeria big for nothing. When you say you are a Nigerian they laugh at us that a country that have all the mineral resources in the world, a country that has vast arable land to grow all manner of things, still smuggle things into the country. It is a big shame and I don’t see how we can laugh about it. We have to face the truth tactically.”