A former Minister of State for Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro, has condemned the killing of 17 officers of the Nigerian Army in Delta, describing the incident as very sad and unfortunate.
Obanikoro, also a former Ambassador to Ghana, made the remark while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the 10th Ramadan Lecture of Anwar-ul Islam College, Agege Old Students’ Association (ACAOSA), on Saturday in Lagos.
The lecture was titled, “Economic insecurity in Nigeria – Islamic solutions.”
Obanikoro said: “The killing of those soldiers is very sad and those killers must not go unpunished.
“We must make an example of them that nobody dare do that again.
“We must do it to the point that even when people see security officers in uniform, they will run, not to talk of killing them.
“That killing is very sad, it is very very unfortunate.”
On current economic challenges facing the nation, the APC chieftain said all hands must be on the deck for Nigeria to rise above all difficulties.
He said that President Bola Tinubu -led administration was also working hard to address all the challenges bringing difficulties to Nigeria.
He said: “We are going through a lot and a lot is also being done to ensure that things are normalised.
“The most important thing is the fact that all of us must play our part.
“The idea of thinking that only the president can change Nigeria is a wrong perception; everybody must play their part, if you don’t play your part, your country is not going anywhere.”
He said Nigeria would not get anywhere if all stakeholders, including teachers, students, police, civil servants, politicians and other people failed to conduct themselves very well and played active role.
“If everyone is playing his or her part, we shall make the job a lot easier for the president and for ourselves too so that everybody will be comfortable in the nation,” he added.
He decried that many Nigerians had become too lazy and not ready to work anymore, but just looking for easy money.
Obanikoro, who noted that while growing up, he had worked as a labourer in companies, a newspaper vendor and hawker, said that most Nigerians didn’t want hard work again, hence the reason for hunger in the land.
“I want to get rich overnight syndrome is killing Nigeria.
“Nigerians must change their attitude and disposition to life; we have become a nation of beggars and we have to turn around,” Obanikoro said.
NAN recalls that on March 14, at least 17 senior military officers and soldiers of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, deployed on a peace-keeping mission to quell community clashes, were killed in Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta.
The assailants ambushed the soldiers on the way and gruesomely murdered them while on a peaceful and mediation mission, after a reported case of communal clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities in Ughelli South and Bomadi LGAs of Delta. (NAN)
By Adeyemi Adeleye/Olayinka Olawale
