Any government that cannot protect lives and property has no legitimate reason to remain in power, says former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo stated this when he was a guest on News Central.
According to him, the primary duty of any administration is the protection of citizens.
The former president said making kidnapping and violent crime look normal showed a dangerous collapse of state responsibility.
Obasanjo declared that “a government that cannot give security of life and property to its citizens has forfeited the right of existence.”
Insecurity had reached an alarming stage where abductions were gradually being treated as routine, he said, adding that the Nigerians must resist the development.
He recalled that in past decades movement across the country was largely unhindered, saying Nigeria’s security decline did not happen overnight and attributed the deterioration to years of poor governance, proliferation of arms after the civil war, and failure to confront emerging threats.
Obasanjo attributed the worsening crisis to the return of armed elements following the fall of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, as well as the use of armed groups for political purposes.
He said Nigeria’s estimated 20 million out-of-school children represents a looming security emergency, adding that they are a vulnerable population that could be exploited by extremist groups if left unaddressed.
According to Obasanjo, apart from internal insecurity, there’s former worries over “Nigeria’s declining relevance in international affairs”, adding that Nigeria no longer exerts meaningful influence in regional or global decision-making.
He said “today, Nigeria is not at the table,” and blamed weak leadership for the erosion of the country’s diplomatic standing.
Obasanjo criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the coup in Niger as Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, saying sanctions, border closures, electricity cuts and financial restrictions imposed on Niger undermined decades of bilateral cooperation and weakened regional cohesion.
He said the sanctions reflected a poor grasp of historical ties between both countries, adding that extensive cross-border family links and strategic cooperation had benefited Nigeria, including during the civil war.
According to him, Nigeria’s handling of the crisis led to the exit of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS.
“We took 50 years to build it and virtually destroyed it overnight,” he said.
