Presidency has slammed former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his recent comment on the state of the nation, describing him as the country’s ‘Divider-in-Chief.’
Obasanjo had on Thursday said Nigeria is slowly becoming a failed state and a basket case that urgently needs to be pulled from the brink of collapse under President Muhammadu Buhari
Speaking while delivering a speech titled “Moving Nigeria away from tipping over” at a consultative dialogue in Abuja, the former President said he had never seen Nigeria so divided.
He added that many of the problems plaguing the country today were due to the recent mismanagement of Nigeria’s diversity.
Read Also: Nigeria Becoming A Failed, Divided State Under Buhari – Obasanjo
Presidency has now reacted to this through Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement titled “Obasanjo is Nigeria’s Divider-in-Chief.”
Shehu said the former president’s comment is an unfair attack on the President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration, adding that Obasanjo has with his recent opinion descended from the lofty heights of a Commander-Chief to being a Divider-in-Chief.
Obasanjo, according to the Presidency, should;
Once again sheath the sword and rest the pretentiousness about the Messiah that has (mis)led him to pronounce often wrongly, as he disastrously did in the 2019 elections, about the life and death of Nigerian governments.
It restated that Buhari’s comments on West African leaders sticking to their constitutionally allowed terms is for the good of the region.
While accusing Obasanjo of a failed attempt at elongating his tenure when he was in office, the Presidency called on him to stop the “mushrooming of a poisonous atmosphere of ethnic and religious nationalism.”
It added;
Surely, he must have disappointed many of his local and foreign admirers by showering commendations on a few extremist groups who have vowed to shun the invitation to the National Assembly to participate in the process of constitutional amendment.
While describing Buhari as a courageous leader with “rare statesmanship,” the statement hailed him (Buhari) for shunning populism and seeking the best interest of Nigerians via reforming critical sectors of the economy.
It explained;
He leads a government that has liberalized the investment climate and market access by achieving reforms that have placed the country in the list of the world’s top reforming economies.
Nigeria, which other nations had mocked and ridiculed for so many things that were wrong is today progressing at a pace reflecting its size and potential.
The presidential aide boasted that Buhari has run a administration focused on infrastructure and development.
The President, Shehu said, has repaired the nation’s damaged relations with neighbours and traditional allies such as the United Kingdom, United States, China, Russia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the others with lots of benefits to the country.
He said with his achievements and the more to come, it was not surprising that Buhari will be object of envy from politicians who he said failed to deliver.
Presidency stressed;
With so much to show and many more coming, it is little surprise that President Buhari would be the object of envy and harsh unfair challenges by politicians who failed to deliver, but continue to nurse ambitions of delighting the audience long after their curtain has been drawn.
The Presidency equally threw jabs at some politicians who, having previously failed in delivering quality leadership to the masses, are now bent on envying President Buhari.
