Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, says bad governance and hopelessness are some of the factors behind ethnic agitations and terrorism in the country.
Mr Obi made the statement on Thursday in Lagos at the 2nd anniversary lecture/awards ceremony of Global Patriot Newspapers.
He spoke on the theme “Patriotism, Untapped Potentials and National Development”.
The former governor said some of the people who call themselves members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are ordinary people he sees on the streets in the southeast.
On why they resort to agitation, he said, “it is a cumulative effect of leadership failure over the several years.”
Pushing the argument further, he added, “if you lock all of us here and we have any hope of anything, in the next few days we become terrorists. It’s simple, if you don’t have a hope about anything, you can turn into anything.”
He lamented the situation where Nigerians travel to Libya to undertake the dangerous journey to Europe.
Such people, he said, embark on such journeys not knowing what will happen to them over there because they “are fed up with here”.
Speaking earlier, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said President Muhammadu Buhari is taking practical steps toward realising the Nigerian dream.
“Nigeria is a country blessed with human and material potential. Unfortunately, the Nigerian dream had been deferred for too long.
“We now have an administration that is determined to explore and exploit the country‘s potential for greatness.
“That is why we are talking about diversification and all that, and we are beginning to see some movements in agriculture, solid minerals and other critical areas.
“We also have Economic Recovery Growth Plan Programme to place the economy on the path of progress and grow the GDP,” Adesina said.
