Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has written a new letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to live up to expectations as a true leader and proffer lasting solutions to various security challenges and unsavoury development that have culminated in recent wanton killings in different parts of the country.
He urged the President to address the issue with utmost seriousness and maximum dispatch, getting all hands on deck to help.
“If there is failure, the principal responsibility will be that of the President and no one else. We need cohesion and concentration of effort and maximum force – political, economic, social, psychological and military – to deal successfully with the menace of criminality and terrorism separately and together. Blame game among own forces must be avoided. It is debilitating and only helpful to our adversary. We cannot dither anymore. It is time to confront this threat headlong and in a manner that is holistic, inclusive and purposeful”, the former President said.
In an open letter dated July 15, addressed to the President and a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, by his media aide, Mr Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo said the issue he was addressing was of a great concern that borders on the issue of life and death for all and sundry in the country.
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According to him, the issue can no longer be ignored, treated with nonchalance, swept under the carpet or treated with cuddling glove.
He said: “One of the spinoffs and accelerants is the misinformation and disinformation through the use of fake news.
A number of articles, in recent days, have been attributed to me by some people who I believe may be seeking added credence and an attentive audience for their opinions and viewpoints. As you know very well, I will always boldly own what I say and disown what is put into my mouth.
“I am constrained to write to you this open letter. I decided to make it an open letter because the issue is very weighty and must be greatly worrisome to all concerned Nigerians, and that means all right-thinking Nigerians and those resident in Nigeria.
Since the issue is of momentous concern to all well-meaning and all right-thinking Nigerians, it must be of great concern to you, and collective thinking and dialoguing is the best way of finding an appropriate and adequate solution to the problem.
“The issue is hitting at the foundation of our existence as Nigerians and fast eroding the root of our Nigerian community. I am very much worried and afraid that we are on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay.
“Without being immodest, as a Nigerian who still bears the scar of the Nigerian civil war on my body and with a son who bears the scar of fighting Boko Haram on his body, you can understand, I hope, why I am so concerned.
When people are desperate and feel that they cannot have confidence in the ability of government to provide security for their lives and properties, they will take recourse to anything and everything that can guarantee their security individually and collectively.”
Samson Oyedeyi
