Nigeria so divided, we need unity now – Obi

… Tinubu’s government has no shame – Amaechi

By Lateef Ibrahim/Jude Opara

The former governor of Anambra state and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Peter Obi has decried the level of division among Nigerians, adding that concerted efforts must be put in place to truly unite the country.

Obi who spoke at the National Convention of the ADC specifically said the government of President Bola Tinubu has deliberately encouraged the division as a means of distracting the people from the realities of a collapsing nation.

“We need to work as a united Nigeria for the sake of Nigeria. The country is so divided; we need unity. The present government has ensured that it will remain more divided. Your unity is important. Your country is collapsing, and if you allow it to go further, it will be worse.

“If you check your indices today, when the present government came into being, Nigeria ranking in terrorism was number eight today, we are number four. So in the next four years, we will be number one.

“But when he told you about our poverty, when this government came into being, if you go and check World Bank records, our poverty rate was 41.6%, 88 million people. Today, we are 63%, 140 million. So they have almost doubled that.

When this government came into being, we removed subsidies from petroleum, and the reason why we removed it is…

If we don’t do anything, what is that going down will take revenge on us and our children”.

In a related development, former governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi in his remarks described the APC government as one without shame.

Amaechi particularly took a swipe at those who say that President Tinubu was among the pro-democracy activists who fought the military for the return of the country to constitutional democracy in 1999.

“So, when you call me to speak, honestly I don’t know what to say to them, because they have no shame.

You call them thieves, they say they are thieves. They won’t even deny that they are thieves. You call them land grabbers, they say, yes, we grab land. So what are you going to tell them? Tell me what you will tell them so I can tell them.

“How can a man who said he is a democrat… …he was fighting on the side of NADECO, be stopping democracy, tell me what to tell President Tinubu?

If you accuse me of what I did not do, I will go to any lengths to defend myself. These guys won’t care. What they care about is money. That’s all they care about. They are using the institutions of government against the people of Nigeria. He doesn’t care.

So what kind of man is he?

“Let him address the issues. In one of his statements, I don’t know whether he will have a view. He said, let the poor be allowed to breathe. Are the poor breathing? How do you… How do you introduce… I said 20% tax. He said… The correctional ministry said they are 30%.

Company tax is now 30%. It means if you have 100 million in your account as a company, they will take 30 million.

What are they doing with the money? I watched yesterday, Nasarawa, people were running away from their community like in a civil war”.

He advised the members of the party to be dispassionate in choosing the candidate that will make it easier for the party to defeat the APC.