Former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar (rtd), has said that 60 years after Nigeria gained its independence, it appears a significant number of political actors have not learnt the lessons that led to crises in its previous attempts at entrenching democracy and good governance.
He said this in an exclusive interview on Channels TV’s News Night on Wednesday as the country prepares to mark its 60th anniversary.
According to him, although some have tried to imbibe the lessons, there is need for the country to chart a path to peace and development.
“Some tried to implement what has been learnt, others are throwing caution to the dogs. You will find that there is a lot of agitation in the country, everybody wants to go out,” he said.
“There is Arewa Conservative Forum, there is Afenifere, thinking of the Yoruba nation, there is IPOD, thinking of the Biafra, the Urobo nation, Ijaw nation, and so on. So, you can see we are now slipping back.
“We are not thinking for Nigeria, first. We are thinking of our tribe. People think they are being marginalized, people think there is no equity or justice and they think that by trying to come out, they can now carve an empire for themselves, a nation for themselves where they think there will be equity and justice which they feel is being denied them”.