November 17, 2014
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By:
ofcounsel_admin/
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- Nigeria News
A sizable number of human rights and civil society activists at the weekend lamented that Nigeria had started disintegrating gradually due to what they attributed to the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.
The activists expressed the view at a national symposium organised to mark the first memorial anniversary of Baba Omojola at Airport Hotel, Ikeja, under the chairmanship of former military Administrator of Lagos, Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu.
The symposium was attended by the National Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP), Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Chief Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele and another veteran activist, Dr. Amos Akingba, among others.
At the symposium, Falana said Nigeria could be overrun by the terrorists, citing the increasing attacks of Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, loss of some towns to the insurgents and the growing cases of internally displaced persons and refugees.
The senior advocate observed that the Nigerian armed forces, especially the Nigerian Army could not liberate the country from the grip of the terrorists as presently constituted.
He said the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) “has become an extension of Aso Rock Villa. The other parties are on the defensive. This is the first time President Goodluck Jonathan will lead delegation to Jerusalem when only seven per cent of the Israelis subscribed to Christianity.
“The forthcoming elections are not addressing the issues affecting Nigeria. What is important for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to play up the religious cards. In 2011 election, what was used by the ruling party was the ethnic issue.”
He said the military had been incapacitated by massive corruption and internal fraud to which trillions of naira meant for procurement of arms “have been lost due to lack of accountability.
“As for the junior officers accused of mutiny, when I spoke with them, they said they are not guilty of mutiny. They want to fight and die for this country, but there are no equipment.
“They are asking us to face Boko Haram insurgents that have sophisticated weapons. We are simply being asked to commit suicide. That is why they said they had the right to life. They did not want to die cheaply.
“The soldiers are not saying they are not ready to fight. The money that has been voted for defence of our dear country in the last five years is N4 trillion. N968 billion was budgeted for defence in 2014 alone.
“President Jonathan has come back for a loan of $1 billion, which is about N177 billion added to N968 billion in one year. That is over one trillion naira. At the end of the day, our soldiers are being sent to the war front without weapon to fight.
“As of sunday, the $1 billion has not been processed. So, if we are not careful, the money is going to be diverted to fund the forthcoming general elections.
What I think we should be doing like is how do we intervene before the collapse of our country. Already, the country is ground to a halt from the way the soldiers are moving.
“There is no safe place anywhere because if Boko Haram insurgents come, our soldiers will simply run away. That is why it is easy for them to capture towns and villages in the North-east.”
Also speaking, Akingba said people kept asking the national questions because Nigeria “is not working. Ethnicity and tribalism has ruined the unity of the country. The people must come together to salvage the country.”
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