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Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday lamented the state of poverty under the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, saying the middle class has been destroyed by the economic situation.
According to the former president, “A distress text message received by me from a Nigerian requesting for financial assistance clearly indicated that the middle class era has been destroyed by the economic situation.”
Obasanjo likened the present state of the economy to the one witnessed under the military junta headed by the late General Sani Abacha.
The former president, who addressed a group of traders who were on a courtesy visit to his Abeokuta residence, read the Save Our Soul (SOS) message he (Obasanjo) received to the traders, saying: “I told him (the text message sender) that we have experienced this period during the time of Abacha, all the middle class was completely destroyed.”
He said the development notwithstanding, the situation did not change his conviction that “tough time do not last forever, and when tough times come, tough people get going. We will keep going and we will survive this tough time.”
Obasanjo narrated the story of a military personnel who could not afford to buy a brand new car, which he said was a surprise to him.
“I was surprised the day a colonel in the army came to me, complaining that he and his family could not afford to buy a car,” he said.
He also gave another example about a medical doctor’s family that had to relocate to the Arabian country to survive.
“A friend of mine, Dr. Okoro, a medical doctor, his wife was also a medical doctor and they have a daughter who is a medical doctor too. Between the three of them, they could not afford a new car, they had to go to Saudi Arabia. But I pray we will not have such a time in Nigeria,” he said.
While responding to the request of the traders on the way forward especially ahead of the 2015 political dispensation, he said Nigerians have to be alert and vigilant on the situation.
He said: “We have to be at alert. To be forewarned is to be fore armed, if we will get ourselves out of the morals we find ourselves in, it has to be done by each and every one of us.
“We all have contribution to make and should not leave our responsibility on others to do. If we fail to participate in things that are meaningfully positive for this country, you will be a victim and we all become victims.”
Obasanjo said as far as the next political dispensation is concerned, he could not decide yet, resorting on spiritual guidance for help.
He said: “As for me, we don’t know where we are going yet, may God show us the way. The way that will take this country and make it a great one, and when, for me, I understand and I see the way, I will tell you. I pray that God will show me the way, may God show you the way.”
However, leader of the delegation and National President of the Nigerian Market/Traders Council, Mrs. Funsho Osho, said the visit was meant to get the direction of the former president on the 2015 elections.
She said the council had tremendous support from the former president during his eight year rule “as such, we deem it necessary and as a mark of respect to come and find out on which direction we are going.”
This Day.
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