Former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that if the manipulation of election results persists in 2023, Nigeria might go into extinction.
Obasanjo said this at the symposium organised to mark his 85th birthday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
The former President noted that Nigeria as a nation is at 25 percent and changing at this stage not only required one person, but all Nigerians from all walks of life.
Obasanjo said: “If in 2015, Nigeria was 75 percent a country and 50 percent a nation, today, Nigeria will not be more than 50 percent a country and 25 per cent a nation. The task of reversing the trend is beyond one personality, one political party or all political parties; it’s beyond professional and commercial politicians alone. It demands and requires all hands on deck.
“I mean Nigerians from all walks of life and leaders in other aspects of the civil society.”
He warned that all is not well in Nigeria and that as long as leaders keep doing the same thing, nothing will change.
“Nigeria is tottering and for as long as we continue to put the cart before the horse, it can’t be well. Or for as long as we continue to do the same thing over and over again, the result will not be different.
“If the drift is not halted, the remaining 25 percent of Nigerian nation will be dissipated in no time and Nigeria will not be a country but countries and will never be possible to be a nation again. That will be a monumental tragedy for Nigeria, Africa, the black race and humanity,” he said.
Obasanjo added that elections were manipulated since 1999, warning that if Nigeria continued recycling, “we’ll soon bid farewell to what makes us a nation.
“Since 1999, we’ve changed from one political party to another, we’ve manoeuvred and manipulated to the point that election results are no longer reflections of the will of the people and we seem to be progressively going back rather than going forward politically, economically and socially.”
Obasanjo warned that if “Nigerians have activities without required actions and personnel to move us forward and continue in this same pattern of recycling, sweet-word campaigning, manoeuvring without substance of integrity, honesty, patriotism, commitment, outreach, courage, understanding of what makes a nation and what makes for development, we will soon have to say goodbye to Nigeria as a nation.”