By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Nigeria’s former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has said that Nigeria was not a failed nation, contrary to the views of many citizens.
He said that despite high insecurity and other challenges, that Nigeria could not be classified as a failed state.
General Abdulsalami who spoke in home Minna yesterday, however, addrd “But for Nigeria to remain as one, we must ensure that there are equity and justice and to make sure that there is equal representations as we move ahead”.
Despite its challenges, Nigeria still commands appreciable level of respect among committee of nations, Abdulsalami said, insisting that whatever the country and its citizenry are going through is part of its peculiar ups and down which does not make her a failed nation.
On Nigeria’s 60th year of nationhood, the former Head of states nevertheless admitted that the country has numerous problems including; security, economic and political challenges, ‘but that does not make us to be classified a failed in a true sense of it’.
The former leader declared, “It takes two to tangle. When you say a nation has failed, what causes that failure? You point accusing fingers at the government but who is the government? It is me and you”.
It is always good to remain positive about our country, Nigeria; individual contribution is key to nation building. If we all individually contribute towards the Nigeria of our dreams, I see no way anybody can regard us as a failed state.
“What have we contributed to trying to make the so-called failure? Have we done our citizen’s right as a people and leaders in our respective ways; have we done our citizen’s duty, Are we obeying the laws of the land; are we paying our taxes?” he queried, insisting, “We cannot blame anybody in particular about the state of the nation when we have not added to make it a better country. “I agree, a lot of things could be done better, so if we as a people are having a feeling that we are becoming a failed nation. What are we doing that is making us a failed nation and what is it that we should do to get out of this bad