As spate of violent attacks, kidnapping, killing and wanton destruction of properties continue to sweep across Nigeria, the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Calabar and Archbishop of the Niger Delta Province Bishop Tunde Adeleye has lamented that there is no country again for Nigerians to call their own.
Bishop Adeleye, who made the remarks, during a chat with journalists, Tuesday, said “Nowhere is safe again, insecurity is now in our houses, on the main road, everywhere. People are kidnapped and some killed as they travel.
“Somebody said the country has failed but I don’t agree with the person. The truth is that with this level of insecurity, there is no country again. Is this a country? For a country to qualify as one, there should be security but here, it is not there, jobs are not there, medical treatment for sick people is not there, fair treatments for retirees in terms of their entitlements are not there.
“The creators of Nigeria didn’t know the country would turn out to be like this. Somebody recently said that the Fulani herdsmen/farmers’ clashes, with the attendant bloodshed, was sufficient reason for another civil war, and I agree with him.
“The government is not only failing but it is going into extinction with the level of insecurity and corruption we face daily. Some sections of the country are suffering. They are being highly marginalised, they are being ignored, set apart and cheated and not remembered in appointment.
“I was aghast when somebody opened his mouth to tell Nigerians, who are mostly victims of insecurity and bad governance that the killing is because some governors refused to donate land for cattle colonies or RUGA. Can you imagine that? So, somebody must die for not allowing you to use his land for your business?
“In some streets in Calabar, like the satellite town, you’ll see cows walking on the main road, passing feaces all over the tarmac, and these roads are paid for to be swept daily. Unfortunately, nobody is talking.
“People want to create a road from Niger to Nigeria, whereas the road from Calabar to Akwa Ibom did not only collapse but does not exist anymore. And nobody bothers, nobody cares.”
