Human rights activist, Dele Farotimi, says President Bola Tinubu cannot separate himself from the failures of the ex-President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The pro-Labour Party activist was a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday.
Tinubu took over from Buhari, his partyman, on May 29, 2023. Both are chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Many current members of the Tinubu cabinet including Minister of Finance Wale Edun had blamed the current socio-economic and security challenges in the country on Buhari’s eight-year double administration.
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However, Farotimi said Tinubu actively marketed Buhari to Nigerians in the buildup to the 2015 general elections and cannot insulate himself from the failures of the Buhari government.
The activist said nothing has changed since May 2015 when the APC took over from ex-President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The evidence of the last nine months are unimpeachable and cannot be denied. I know that the convenient excuse is that Buhari had damaged it (Nigeria) and he (Tinubu) is repairing it but who brough Buhari? Who was the chief marketer of Buhari in 2014/2015 when the ‘Change’ lie was sold to Nigerians?” he queried.
Farotimi lamented that nothing has been done by the Tinubu government to expect anything positive. Instead, he said Nigerians should brace up for more challenges beyond the economic hardship occasioned by the petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange windows.
‘Breakdown Of Laws’
Farotimi said the future of Nigeria appeared bleak saying, “I am going to be 56 years old this year and in my entire lifetime, we have never been far away from greatness than we are today. The future of Nigeria appears bleak than it has ever been in my entire lifetime.”
He blamed the rot in Nigeria to “each and every one of us” but “most importantly the “complete breakdown of the rule of law”.
According to him, Nigeria has copious laws in writing but there is no rule of law in our space as “the laws are observed more in breach”. “Nigeria as it is today is not ruled by law but by impunity,” he said. “When you look beyond that, you begin to look at the institutions of state.”
Farotimi said for the nation to move forward, the principles of justice must be enthroned, starting with the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.
He also said Nigerians should understand that folks from other tribes are not their enemies but those who are beneficiaries of the rot in the system of government who have refused to reform the system and have weaponised poverty, ethnicity and religion.
