Chief Frederick Fasheun, founder of
Oodua Peoples Congress,OPC, has said that the alleged prediction by an American
diplomat that Nigeria may break come 2015 is possible, unless its leaders take
urgent steps to address the insecurity in the land.
A former US Ambassador to Nigeria,
Mr. Terence McCauleys, had expressed the view in a 17-page paper entitled:
“Mapping Sub-Sahara Africa’s Future”.
The draft was released in March
2005, after a one-day conference convened by National Intelligence Council,NIC,
two months earlier, where top US experts on Sub-Saharan Africa discussed likely
trends in the region over the next 15 years.
The Medical Doctor in an interview
with Sunday Express said that “If things continue to go this way, there will be
no 2015. We will talk about 2015 election and all that, but actualizing it will
be the problem.”
While speaking, the 72-year old
further stated that, “Now there is so much insecurity in Nigeria, nobody is
secure and insecurity will continue to grow. There is no politics in the air;
it’s only the parties that are acting with themselves. By the time the
political parties begin to flex their muscles, there will be greater
insecurity.
According to him, “The insecurity
will build up to such a level that no politician of southern origin will dare
go to the North for fear of Boko Haram and northern politicians will also not
have the effrontery then to come down south to campaign, because it will be
unfair – our own people don’t go there to campaign, why should they come here
to campaign?”
Recalling his reaction after the
American’s revelation, the OPC initiator said, “I was one of those who asked
America to shut up when they spoke about 2015, but if you critically juxtapose
that with what is happening now, we are gradually moving in that direction. I
said there might be no 2015. Obviously, the Americans knew what they were
saying when they said Nigeria will break up in 2015; are we not moving in that
direction now?”
“We thank God that Nigeria is
resilient. But for God’s sake, you need more than resilience to continue with a
country like ours.”
On the issue of governance, Fasheun
lamented what he termed “bad leadership”.
“There is so much insincerity of leadership.
Corruption is reigning supreme. How does democracy survive in the presence of
insecurity, corruption, lack of mutual trust, lack of development, hunger – all
these ills are maturing and they will mature more. Come 2015, Nigerians will be
so insecure that politics will not be their priority.”
“We pray
that a revolution will not start in Nigeria under the circumstance. Nigerians
could be very wicked. I believe in a revolution but not a bloody revolution.
Bloody revolutions devour their own children. What we want is a peaceful
revolution that will open our eyes to what has been going on for 99 years,” he
rued.
He defended
President Jonathan saying he was not to blame for the violent attacks in
northern parts of the country.
“We all talk
about Jonathan. He is not responsible for our ill luck. These problems have
been building up for decades and are the results of the activities of previous
governments. Jonathan is not a magician, the problems that have built up over
four decades, you wouldn’t expect Jonathan to come up and solve them all. And
Nigerians are not giving him the opportunity to have the peace of mind to deal
with the problems.
During election, certain people said they were going to make
the country ungovernable for him. Is the country governable now?”
He asserted
that the future of Nigeria lies within the younger generation, adding that he
hopes those who fall within the age bracket will be given the opportunity to be
part of leadership.
Sounding
philosophical, the septuagenarian said, “I have a dream that will ask the
Nigerian youth to be part of their own political life. A dream that will tell
the oldies that you have performed very well, but you have failed to bring
Nigeria to the expected level of recognition by the international community,
please go and sit at the backseat and become backseat elders and let the youth come forward.”
Source: Daily post.
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