Former Abia State
Governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has
said the failure of Nigeria’s elite,
political, business and military class in joining hands with the federal
government to fight Boko Haram may jeopardize
the unity of the country and lead to its ultimate disintegration.
Kalu spoke to journalists at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport late Tuesday on his arrival
from the United Kingdom, saying President
Goodluck Jonathan may be Nigeria’s last president as a united country.
However, he noted that it was wrong to be heaping all the
blame on the doorsteps of the president and making him look weak in the
handling of the crisis without much support from relevant Nigerian citizens and
institutions at a time the Jonathan administration is in dire need of that
support.
“I am surprised with our political class and
our private sector class, our military class; I am surprised that they are
still joking with this matter when the country is in a serious crisis. Our
citizens are in pain; there is pressure in the business class with dwindling
fortunes of businesses and we are taking it lightly.
“The way some of us
are responding, I am talking about the political, business class, military and
even some of us, the civilians. If we don’t take time and collaborate and work
together as Nigerians, Goodluck Jonathan might be Nigeria’s last president,”
said the former Abia State governor.
Kalu said given the sophisticated nature of the challenge
from the Boko Haram sect, he welcomed the intervention and support from other
foreign countries.
“There is the need for
us to collaborate with international organisations to resolve this Boko Haram
challenge. Anybody’s child can be kidnapped; whether it is at Chibok or any
other place, Nigerians should take this matter seriously.
“Can you imagine how
many Nigerians that have been killed; how many have been wounded? I want people
to be as wise as my grandmother. I want people to take this matter seriously,”
Kalu said.
Continuing, he said those girls kidnapped are “our sisters; they are our daughters. It is
because some of us have not lost anybody to Boko Haram or our daughters are not
there that is why to some people it is like a joke. We should stop taking this
as a joke and take the matter very seriously.”
According to him, in the efforts being made to rescue the
girls, the government should not be rigid in its stance by refusing to
negotiate with Boko Haram, if that would result in the return of the girls to
their families.
“The federal
government should negotiate with Boko Haram either formally or informally
because the lives of those girls are greater than any other consideration.
“We cannot allow those
girls to continue suffering in the hands of these people because we don’t want
to negotiate. Government can negotiate formally or informally; it can send
agents to negotiate on its behalf without getting involved. The United States
does this in Afghanistan and other places,” he added.
Credit: ThisDay Live
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