A former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has revealed that Nigeria may disintegrate before the 2023 general elections.
Speaking in an interview with PUNCH, Archbishop Emeritus said the county will break up even before 2023 if the government of President Muhammadu Buhari continues to be irresponsible and reckless. He said some of the ways to avert the break up before 2023 is for the government to first accept its failures and do things the right way for its citizens.
Onaiyekan also asked the federal government to find a lasting solution to violence and killings around the country and insist on honesty and truth.
He said: It can break up even before 2023, if we continue to be irresponsible and reckless. But if all of us who believe in the future of this country, a country that will be better for our children and grandchildren, if we really work hard and try to do things in a better way and reduce violence and insist on honesty and truth, we will not only achieve the right things in 2023 but much more beyond 2023. The fact is that with the situation as it is today, the rules of the game of politics in Nigeria cannot carry us far.
The cleric, who also shared his opinion on Saturday’s Edo governorship election, said: “My feeling is that what is happening in Edo State has been what has happened in every election in Nigeria, there is nothing special with Edo. Is it violence? In every election in Nigeria, there is violence. Is it rigging? They are going to rig there and is the Independent National Electoral Commission going to perform well? We don’t know.
“The INEC chairman may be sincere in his heart but can he control the thousands of people that are working for INEC? The question of rampant corruption is all over the place. Who is going to stop policemen from taking bribes from politicians to do whatever they want to do? We are in a very tough and difficult country. We just keep praying that we manage to have an election there that will be peaceful enough.”
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