Some elder statesmen and prominent activists say Nigeria is on autopilot. They are surprised that no authority seems to be governing the citizens but today what we have is only a group of people known as presidency.
John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.), Prof. Attahiru Jega, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Dr Nguyan Shaku Feese, Dr Usman Bugaje, Adagbo Onoja, Amb. Fatima Balla, Ambassador Zango Abdu, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Chris Kwaja, Dr Hussaini Abdu, Kemi Okenyodo, Jim Gala, Aisha Muhammed Oyebode and Tsema Yvonne said this in a joint statement on Thursday.
They spoke under the auspices of the Nigeria Working Group on Peace building and Governance (NWGPG).
According to them, the Nigerian State is on autopilot with no define leader and is currently not being governed.
“The result is that corruption has gone completely out of control, as there is a concerted effort to dismantle anti-corruption agencies and render them ineffective, while evidence of corruption is growing, the prosecution has slowed down considerably,” they said.
They said the time for citizens’ action was now, asking Nigerians not to agonize any more, but organize.
“The civil society actors noted that in the absence of a binding narrative, there are series of conspiracy theories that have emerged, with immense capacity to divide the country along the sharp lines of ethnicity and religion, which is further sustained by the absence of strategic communication between the Nigerian state and its citizens.
“This situation is further heightening the level of desperation among the citizens that are increasingly being detached from the everyday governance of the Nigerian State,” they said.
The group also lamented on the increasing insecurity across the country in different regions