Elder statesman and former Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo contributed to the system that made Nigeria worse for President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said if President Obasanjo and his predecessors had performed well, Nigeria would not have been in its current bad shape.
“Former President Obasanjo was not being honest and I’m not surprised about his dishonesty because he contributed to the situation that made it worse under Buhari.
“If he had done the right thing and those before him also had done the right thing, the situation would not have been so bad for Buhari”, he said.
The elder statesman who spoke with Daily Trust was reacting to a comment attributed to the former president in which he said the country is drifting towards a failed state, and sharply divided under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
‘The burden of responsibility’
Obasanjo had made the comment while delivering a speech titled ‘Moving Nigeria away from Tipping Over ‘ at a consultative dialogue attended by various socio-cultural groups in Abuja at the weekend.
Balarabe Musa said all the past leaders especially those that ruled before President Obasanjo and those after him have failed the country.
He added that President Buhari who now bears the burden of a rotten system has also made it even worse.
“Now the situation is beyond the control of Buhari, he said. “
On why he thinks Obasanjo made the comment, he said “it’s because he is dishonest as a former leader; after all, the situation was bad when he too found it.
“But he didn’t do the right thing to prevent what developed under him, and those who followed him, including Buhari, now bear the burden of the responsibility.
“We should simply be honest with ourselves because we know them and we are older than some of them.
“We should tell the truth now that we are alive. And the truth is that they have all failed one after the other.
The way out
“The succeeding ones made it even worse; Buhari, being the latest, has made it even worse.
“Buhari, no matter what he does, cannot control the situation except God decides to change everything.
“And in reality, God has shown us the way out. We may accept it and we may not accept it.
“God has shown us throughout the history of the development of mankind that there has always been a socio-economic and political system controlling all developments of a country.
“We believe that the only system that can control the situation in the country for the better is the system of socialism, starting with the leading role of the state in the economy to ensure peace, equality, justice, and dignity of the human person for the development of the country,” he said.
He also added that there is the need for Nigerian leaders to return to God and perform with a sense of sincerity and not based on selfish interest.