Immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, believes the Niger Delta region deserves a lot of accolades for keeping the country together as a unit despite its constant neglect by each ruling government.
Speaking during his condolence visit to the late Chief Edwin Clark’s residence in Abuja, El-Rufai maintained that Nigeria would have long been divided had the Niger Delta joined the Igbos during the Biafra war.
He added that Nigeria would have become history today if not for the selfless and patriotic roles played by the likes of the late Edwin Clark, the late General Samuel Ogbemudia, and Major David Ejoor, among others, who fought for the unification of the country.
El-Rufai lauded the late Clark’s exemplary leadership role, which, according to him, has contributed immensely to the sustainability, growth, and development of the country, calling on Nigerians to fight for the existence of democracy to ensure the country does not go up in flames.
El-Rufai’s recent comment on Arise Television has continued to generate reactions from every nook and cranny of the country after he accused National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, of planning to succeed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2031 presidential polls.
He also accused the NSA boss of colluding with Governor Uba Sani as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to call for his probe over the missing N423 billion while he was in office.
“Our nation, our democracy, is in great danger. It is facing an existential threat, and the Niger Delta has been the glue holding the country together. All people of goodwill must come together to ensure that we have good leadership,” the former Kaduna governor said.
The former FCT minister said Nigeria is lucky to have six living and active former presidents but expressed dismay that the country is yet to leverage their wealth of experience and learn from their past mistakes.
He urged Nigerians to forgive Ibrahim Babangida for his June 12 gaffe and recognize his positive impact on Nigeria’s financial system to date after he licensed the existence of Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, and Zenith Bank.
“One of the questions I was going to ask President Babangida was about June 12. He has answered it, but there are more I want to ask him when the time comes.
“I am happy to say that all the former presidents have agreed on the project they think is important because we tend to forget the good things our leaders have done and only remember one or two of their mistakes.
“Taking Babangida as an example, people don’t realize that the three largest banks in Nigeria today did not exist before Babangida. It was Babangida who licensed Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, and Zenith Bank. These are the three largest banks in Nigeria. They didn’t exist before Babangida came, but nobody gives him the credit,” he noted.
THE GUARDIAN
