The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has described Nigeria as a failed state and called for a moment of sober reflection as the nation turned 52 today.Reacting to the independence celebration of the nation, the Executive Chairman of CACOL,Debo Adeniran noted that there is no cause for celebration in the country.
“A country where poverty is a way of life of the majority in the midst of plenty: a country that is known for production of crude oil; and renown for export of the same crude oil but import refined and finished petroleum products to the detriment of its economic and political progress; a country where millions of naira is set aside to celebrate her independent anniversary while the masses are denied basic necessities of life does not worth celebrating independence.
Ours is a unique country where anything goes. The economic resources of the nation are concentrated in the hands of an elite group called ‘the cabal’ that have succeeded in misdirecting the nation’s affairs for their selfish reasons and to the detriment of majority of the citizenry. A country where more than 70 per cent of its annual budget goes for salaries and allowances of political office holders at the expense of the poor teeming masses. Ours is a country where the policies of the government at all levels entrench the hegemony of the rich over the poor; ours is a country where the president does not give a damn about the stipulations in the constitution and no other arm of the government could hold him accountable for the frivolous statement because they (other arms) have become an appendage of the executive arm,” Comrade Adeniran stressed.
Speaking further, the human rights activist averred that Nigeria of today is worse that when the nation was under the servitude of the colonial masters.
“Insecurity is now the order of the day. People sleep with one eye opened for fear of insecurity bedeviling the safety of the hapless masses. It is no more news that basic infrastructures in the country are in deplorable conditions. No good roads, no basic educational structures, our hospitals have become transit point to mortuary due to inadequate health care facilities. Unemployment is increasing as the economy gets worse. Industries have closed down due to
unabated high cost of production as a result of unreliable power supply. What our colonial masters handed over to us at independent are better than what we have today. We had the best in term of infrastructures, good roads, hospitals, good education system, good transport system, the list is endless. Despite all our rich resources; there is nothing to show for it except abject poverty devastating the vast majority of the entire citizenry because of the endemic corruption that is ravaging our land.”
Adeniran however urged President Goodluck Jonathan to make a conscientious effort to tackle the widespread corruption making life unbearable for the mass of the people.
“When a nation is continually led by visionless leaders, who neither have the mental capacity nor patriotic desire to move the country forward, the lot of such nation is actually hopeless. The President must garner enough political will to fight corruption in the country. The time has also come for the Nigerians to wake up from their slumber to reality. It is high time they made their leaders accountable to them, it is high time they told their leaders the sovereignty of Nigeria lies with the people and not with some few elites cornering our common patrimony into their own coffers.”
