The Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency listen to the advice of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on how to move the nation forward and halt the numerous crises bedeviling the country.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the National Chairman of the group, Alhaji Sale Bayari, said the present administration ought to listen to other eminent Nigerians too in solving the nation’s problems, but that from the signs he is getting, things are not in order.
He said considering the tribal, ethnic, religious and sectional agitations from the South, East, North and West, things must be done urgently to address and avert national crises. According to him, there was no part of the country that agitation is currently not going on.
He stressed that even the crises that is already happening in the Northern states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Benue, Nassarawa and so on, are not good for the country, including that of the other regions like Niger-Delta militants, IPOB, Afenifere and the rest.
“In moving the nation forward, the government must listen to some elder statesmen irrespective of whatever their political views or affiliation is. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is one of them. I have found out that if any government in Africa is to tap one-third of what is in the brain of Obasanjo and use it, Africa will be better. Similarly, West Africa and Nigeria will be better for it.
“Obasanjo knows our problem; and then whenever he talks and explodes sometimes, I have found out that it is because he has made efforts to be listened to without success. He will then feel that posterity will judge him harshly if he does not come out to tell Nigerians and the world the truth of things”, he explained.
“Undoubtedly, Obasanjo is an embodiment of knowledge, experience and he knows very well the problem of our country, Nigeria. There is nobody dead or alive today that thinks the way Obasanjo does or knows what Obasanjo knows.
“He knows Nigeria, Africa and the entire world like the back of his hand. That is why I am advising this government to tap the brains of people like Obasanjo.
“He is a person that can lead the government into looking critically at the problem bedeviling the nation and finding a way forward.
According to him, “We know that government can do and undo, but any government desiring to move forward will require the support of statesmen and nationalists like Obasanjo.
“There are other statesmen the government should listen to; people like Yakubu Gowon, Ango Abdullahi, Sultan of Sokoto, Oni of Ife, Eze of Onitsha, and others. These are people that have this nation at heart and would not want it to disintegrate.
Bayeri maintained that, “If they put their machinery in place, I bet you that peace and progress will be achieved.
“But unfortunately, nobody is mobilizing them or seeking their input in solving the national crises. These people know what to do or the right people to call, among other things in solving the problems,” he said.
Bayeri said his fear is that if the government does not carefully handle these looming crises and they degenerate, the nation does not have the well-withal in terms of security to tackle it.
He said if the nation has been unable to tackle Boko Haram since 2009, then it is a greater danger if crises burst out in other states or regions in the nation.
“Recently, the Secretary to the Government of the Federal, Boss Mustapha said if the armed banditry is not carefully handled, it will be worse than the Boko Haram insurgency. I totally agree with him entirely because if you look at the way the thing is building up now, then you will understand what I am talking about.
“Very soon, some religious and insurgent groups may capitalize on it to recruit people for other nefarious acts. We should not allow this to happen, and we should do everything possible to halt it,” he warned.
