A former national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on Monday said he was sad that the nation had not attained its full potential.
He was speaking in Benin on the forthcoming Nigeria 60th independence anniversary.
“Starvation, terrorism and dwindling resources have bedeviled us but what I can say confidently is that the basic foundation of our future growth has been laid.
“We have had a very tough period of dwindling resources right from the beginning of this administration and I think but for careful management, we probably, would not have gotten as far as we have today.
“There is hunger in the land. Economy is not growing as it should. Unemployment is very high. Terrorism has reared its ugly head again after initial success at controlling it, cost of production of crude oil now is almost equating what we are getting from selling crude oil.
“So, the resources are just not there,” Odigie-Oyegun said while fielding questions from journalists.
He also decried the spate of insecurity in the country, claiming that external forces that didn’t mean well for the survival of the nation might be responsible for the situation.
He said: “60 years, tough, but I have hope that if we can contain the difficulties that beset us, particularly insecurity, then this country still has a bright future.
“It is beginning to sound to me as if somebody or group outside this nation have interests in our country that are not known because there are a lot of foreigners involved; a lot of AK47 coming in through the Sahara desert.”
Odigie-Oyegun, who gave reasons why he didn’t participate in the party’s governorship campaigns in Edo State, said the decision not get involved in any act of illegality made him to follow his conscience.
“Let me put it this way, I am a man of conscience. I am a strong believer in justice and fair play. I believe that when the rules of an association you belong to have been so flagrantly disregarded, put aside and not complied with, then you have to go back to your conscience to say, can I support or not support what has happened? I cannot support injustice. Don’t forget, at every point, my views were made known and it is not that I hid and said nothing,” the former governor of Edo State said.
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