Nigeria, an abysmal failure; Greatest disappointment to black race – Ayo Opadokun; Blames military, Obasanjo

Chief Ayo Opadokun, Secretary-General of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), has slammed Nigeria’s military for setting back the democratic journey of the country with the 1966 coup d’etat, insisting that the country has not yet recovered from that intervention up till the present.

The outspoken activist also descended heavily on former President Olusegun Obasanjo, pointing out that the one-time military Head of State further eroded democratic principles during his tenure as an elected President. He insisted that Nigeria has not yet recovered from the years of military rule and the anti-democracy precedents set by ex-President Obasanjo.

Opadokun, who was speaking as a Guest on Channels TV’s “Inside Sources” with Laolu Akande, on Friday, April 12, 2024, pointed out the extent of damage done to democracy by the military rulers of the country and accused Obasanjo of taking several actions that further hindered Nigeria’s progress as a democratic country even while in office as a civilian leader.

Condemning the era of Obasanjo as a democratic president, Opadokun said:
“Because we succeeded in pushing the military to the barracks, they (military) went on their own terms and imposed upon us their former commander in chief in the person of General Obasanjo who ruined Nigeria.”

He challenged Obasanjo’s democratic credentials, stating, “Give me just one thing that Obasanjo did to promote democracy, democratization and democratic features in the country.

“Most of what he did were all anti-democratic; (for instance) directing the shooting at sight of innocent people. And when we cautioned him that no reasonable investor will bring his money into a country where people can be shot at sight, he had no regrets.”

Opadokun also blamed Obasanjo for the proliferation of Sharia law in northern Nigeria.

“When the man in Zamfara started the Sharia, we told (then) President Obasanjo that the Nigerian law ought not to permit another constitution. He said it was a political Sharia.

“Twelve states in the north took after him (the then Zamfara governor). What is the resultant consequence today? We have two laws in some parts of the country, and they can get away with anything,” Opadokun said.

“In fact, the so-called Sharia police could go ahead to destroy the bottles of beer of some people in their different states. And yet the value-added tax (VAT) that is collected from drinking beer, they are very eager to share from it without shame. I have never seen a thing like that,” Opadokun lamented.

He further criticized Obasanjo’s choice of successor, claiming that rather than let democracy thrive, he looked for someone whom he knew was medically challenged, stressing that he (Obasanjo) wanted to govern by remote control.

“When Obasanjo was going to leave, rather than let democracy thrive, he looked for someone whom he knew was medically challenged. He wanted to govern us by remote control. And because of that fellow, as it would happen, all of us are human beings, it never lasted.

“The man he went to bring at the pain of death, called President (Goodluck) Jonathan took over, and because he also would not listen to him, he went on the offensive with him. The next person to govern was another commander-in-chief of the Army called General (Muhammadu) Buhari. People like me are not deceived at all by our democracy,” the veteran activist said.

Opadokun restated his disillusionment with Nigeria’s democratic trajectory, stressing: “People like me are not deceived at all by our democracy.”

He insisted that Nigeria strayed from the path of progress and that the people have been left in despair, pointing out that the country’s leadership has since deviated from the path of progress.

Reviewing the country’s state of growth so far, and if there are possibilities for progress, Opadokun lamented: “I will say regrettably that Nigeria is not on course. In all ramifications, on socio-economic and political matters, rather than being a developing nation, we are an under-developing nation, and Nigeria has been the greatest disappointment to the black race who have looked up to Nigeria till today for leadership.”

“We have been an abysmal failure, and we cannot provide leadership to the black world. In spite of the fact that Nigeria is endowed with natural and human resources, those who have captured Nigeria as their private enterprise have subverted the hopes and aspirations that Nigerians had at independence,” Opadokun said.

He criticised the military’s role in the entire saga, declaring that they have been most guilty of all the subversions that have been taking place in the country.

“Much more guilty in this wise is the fact that the institution called the Nigerian Army which staged the military coup and violently overthrew Alhaji Tafawa Abubakar Balewa’s government on January 15, 1966, has been most guilty of all subversions that are taking place in the country,” Opadokun said.

He highlighted the impact of the 1966 military coup, asserting that, “By that military putsch, the military subverted, stunted and arrested our growth and reduced us to nothingness since then.”

Opadokun condemned the abrogation of the federal constitutional arrangement and its replacement by centralized military decrees, as a detrimental backward step in Nigeria’s history.

He said, “What could be regarded as an article of faith that binds the various ethnic nationalities together, called the federal constitutional arrangement, was abrogated and suspended on January 15, 1966, and was substituted by a series of military decrees from Decree 2 to the rest of them, introducing a centralized and unitarised Nigeria.”