Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has lamented that Nigeria as a country has fallen well below expectations even as the country prepares to celebrate its 61st independence anniversary.
Wike on Sunday while bemoaning the huge leadership failure in the country said perhaps the only thing Nigeria can celebrate is its name which continues to exist.
He observed that insecurity in many parts of the country, as well as economic hardship being experienced by the people, leaves a sour taste in the mouth as the country marks another independence celebration.
The Governor was quoted in a statement by his media aide Kelvin Ebiri to have made the submissions on Sunday at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Port Harcourt during an Interdenominational Church Service held in commemoration of the 61st Independence Anniversary of Nigeria.
In his speech, Wike highlighted that God is the single most important thing the country needs to right the wrongs of many years caused by bad leadership.
He also urged the citizens and residents to ensure they are playing their roles effectively in nation building.
“This is the time that Nigeria needs God more. The country is gone. Insecurity everywhere. Everyone needs to say God, we need you because man’s leadership has failed this country,” he noted.
He added that the leaders have been promoting hatred, division, and ethnicity which has made Nigeria as a country very retrogressive and unable to compete favourably on the global scene.
“At 61 years, Nigeria is full of enmity, full of divisions, hatred, ethnicity. A country that cannot put itself together. Everybody has responsibility, so ask yourself questions, have I done my own part?” the governor added.
On the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Wike lamented the huge and frequent borrowings embarked upon by the federal government while also lambasting the current National Assembly for refusing to check the excesses of the legislature and just assuming the role of rubber stamps.
He added that the judiciary has become intimidated and no longer able to dispense justice due to fear brought upon them by a tyrannical government.
Wike further questioned why Nigeria can’t adopt electronic transmission of results for the 2023 general elections, pointing out that it’s because of electoral fraud the politicians want to execute.
“We cannot do the right things. Other countries are talking about how their elections will be transparent, we are talking about how we will rig the election in 2023.
“Simple thing, transmit election results electronically to show transparency, that really that the person you’re declaring won the election but we are afraid.
“Where is the legislature? A legislature that cannot think, a legislature, anything they bring is right, a legislature that cannot say that Nigeria has nothing to regret from conducting free and fair elections.
“A legislature that you’ll close your eyes, anything they bring, about borrowing, you say borrow. A legislature that cannot say that this money we are borrowing, where is it, where are you applying it? You have no confidence to ask questions.
“The courts have been intimidated. The judges have abandoned their responsibilities out of fear. You’re seeing something that is wrong, but because you will be summoned in the night, you abandoned your responsibility,” he added.
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