Former President, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo has advised the Federal Government to manage Nigeria’s democracy and terrorists without resorting to brute force.
The former president, who spoke on the state of the nation, reminded the Federal Government that his administration fought corruption using agencies like the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to give the nation some level of integrity.
He warned that the dwindling economy and questionable character of leadership has ways of degenerating into physical violence.
Mr Obasanjo also criticized the government and the national assembly and accused the executive and legislative arms of government of being corrupt.
The Former President also spoke at length on President Jonathan’s handling of the economy and youth unemployment and urged the Federal Government to concentrate on education in the north-east.
Speaking during the public presentation of “The Story Of My Two Worlds; Challenges, Experiences And Achievements” written by Justice Mustapha Akanbi in Abuja, Mr. Obasanjo berated the high level of corruption in the national Assembly.
He also accused the Federal Government of making direct payments to the legislature in order to cover up its wrong doings.
“Corruption in the National Assembly also includes what they call constituency projects which they give to their agents to execute but invariably, full payment is made with little or no job done.
“In all this, if the executive is not absolutely above board, the offending members of the National Assembly resort to subtle or open threat, intimidation and blackmail. When the executive pay the huge money, normally in millions of dollars, all is quiet in form of whitewashed reports that fail to deal effectively with the issues investigated”, he said.
He however, noted that the National Assembly still has some lawmakers that have refused to be corrupt by others and wll not do anything to get invovled in corrupt practices.
“When the guard is the thief, only God can keep the house safe and secure,” he said. “But I am optimistic that sooner than later, we will overcome.
“God will give us guards of integrity and honesty with the fear of God and genuine love of their people and their country.
“Today, there is no institution of government that is not riddled with corruption, not even the military. As the people cry out, where then is the salvation.”
Mr Obasanjo also noted that “what the public know or see of the economy is not what the economy truly is.
“The economy is in the doldrums, if not in reverse. The often-quoted GDP (gross domestic product) growth neither reflects on the living condition of most of our people, nor on most of the indigenous industries and services where capacity utilization is almost 50 per cent,” he added.
