Kalu: Jonathan May Be Nigeria’s Last President

Former Abia State Governor, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, has said the failure of Nigeria’s elite, political, business and military class in joining hands with the federal government to fight Boko Haram may jeopardise the unity of the country and lead to its ultimate disintegration. Kalu spoke to journalists at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport late Tuesday on his arrival from the United Kingdom, saying President Goodluck Jonathan may be Nigeria’s last president as a united country. The former governor expressed worry over the incessant terrorist attacks in the northern part of the country by Boko Haram, especially the kidnapping of school girls in Chibok, Borno State, and warned that Jonathan might become to Nigeria what Mikhail Gorbachev was to the Union Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) when he presided over the disintegration of USSR. However, he noted that it was wrong to be heaping all the blame on the doorsteps of the president and making him look weak in the handling of the crisis without much support from relevant Nigerian citizens and institutions at a time the Jonathan administration is in dire need of that
support. He challenged those who genuinely love Nigeria to embolden the president as he collaborates with foreign countries to end the war the insurgents are waging against the country. “I am surprised with our political class and our private sector class, our military class; I am surprised that they are still joking with this matter when the country is in a serious crisis. Our citizens are in pain; there is pressure in the business class with dwindling fortunes of businesses and we are taking it lightly. “The way some of us are responding, I am talking about the political, business class, military and even some of us, the civilians. If we don’t take time and collaborate and work together as Nigerians, Goodluck Jonathan might be Nigeria’s last president,” said the former Abia State governor. Kalu said given the sophisticated nature of the challenge from the Boko Haram sect, he welcomed the intervention and support from other foreign countries. “There is the need for us to collaborate with international organisations to resolve this Boko Haram challenge. Anybody’s child can be kidnapped; whether it is at Chibok or any other place, Nigerians should take this matter seriously. “Can you imagine how many Nigerians that have been killed; how many have been wounded? I want people to be as wise as my grandmother. I want people to take this matter seriously,” Kalu said. Continuing, he said those girls kidnapped are “our sisters; they are our daughters. It is because some of us have not lost anybody to Boko Haram or our daughters are not there that is why to some people it is like a joke. We should stop taking this as a joke and take the matter very seriously.” According to him, in the efforts being made to rescue the girls, the government should not be rigid in its stance by refusing to negotiate with Boko Haram, if that would result in the return of the girls to their families. “The federal government should negotiate with Boko Haram either formally or informally because the lives of those girls are greater than any other consideration. “We cannot allow those girls to continue suffering in the hands of these people because we don’t want to negotiate. Government can negotiate formally or informally; it can send agents to negotiate on its behalf without getting involved. The United States does this in Afghanistan and other places,” he added.