Former Head of State, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has said Nigeria under the Buhari administration, is seriously being afflicted by lots of issues which constant 'collective lamentations' won't solve.
Speaking in a statement on Wednesday at a dialogue session with key stakeholders in Abuja, Abubakar, who is also the Chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC), said too much talk without positive outcome is no longer acceptable, as the country continues to drift into chaos and eventual collapse.
According to the former Head of State, the challenges facing the country were not only insecurity in the narrow sense of the military definition.
He cited Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, increased poverty, calls for balkanisation of the country from different quarters, the threat of hunger arising from threat to farmers, the increasing sense of collective despair and despondency among the populace, among others as the salient issues afflicting the country.
He said, “The proliferation of all calibre of weapons not only in our sub-region in general and in Nigeria, in particular, is worrying. It is estimated that there are over six million of such weapons in circulation in the country.
“This certainly exacerbated the insecurity that led to over 80,000 deaths and close to three million internally displaced persons.”
The ex-military head of state also said that the security forces are poorly equipped and motivated.
According to him, “We believe Nigeria must find a way out of these problems. Our hope is that perhaps among us, by listening to your different perspectives, we can begin to build up confidence among our people so that we can hold together.
“So our hope is that we shall not only share our collective lamentations about the current situation, but propose some concrete suggestions that can point the way forward, suggestions that can inspire more confidence among our people and ensure that our country remains one.”