By Ozioruva Aliu, Benin-City
A former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier-General Idada Ikponmwen (rtd) has said the challenges that led to the current protests predates the current administration but that the current administration needs to do more to justify the confidence Nigerians reposed in it when it was voted in 2015 and 2019.
In a chat with Vanguard newspaper, Ikponmwen said: “This thing has been lurking and nobody did anything so it got to a point that the masses now know that they have power and once that situation is reached, you don’t know who to go to, you don’t know who to call unless well-meaning people, respected people begin to appeal now.
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“What we are having now is a cumulative effect of inaction but the government is about the people and should listen to the genuine demands of the people. Nobody is asking for anything impossible, we as a government and as a people must come out with the kind of government, the kind of constitution that will please the people across the board.
When we get to a stage where the government is not ready to go through the evolution the people are asking for, it will now get to a revolution.
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“The problem we are having is not just the creation of one government just that people expect more than they are seeing from this government. It is not Buhari’s problem alone, it has been there since when the military handed over in 1999 but successive governments refused to listen, they are all to blame because they will not listen, they do what they want. PDP governed Nigeria for 16 years so will you say the APC government has been responsible for all the problems, it was inherited but the APC government should show more commitment, they too have not been able to redeem their own campaign promises.”
Vanguard
