Mr Obasanjo, Nigeria's number one citizen between 1999 and 2007 had claimed that Boko Haram and marauding Fulani herdsmen are out to Islamize and Fulanize Nigeria and the entire West Africa.
However, in response, the Coalition for Nigeria Movement believes this is another coy by the “professional rabble-rouser” to cause friction in the much-admired relationship between Christians and Muslims.
The group further revealed that Mr Obasanjo's secondary aim is to pitch the south against the north, which would lead to massive deaths.
These concerns were brought to the fore in a press conference on Monday in Abuja.
According to Sabo Odeh, the group's Convener, the estranged former president could have more mischief under his sleeves hence Nigerians shouldn't be surprised.
“ We are aware that Obasanjo suffers from intermittent depression brought on by his failure wasted years in office as a president that did not do enough to positively impact the life of Nigerians. His depression has been worsened by the direction and focus that President Muhammadu Buhari has been able to show Nigerians as opposed to the lost years that the country has under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“ It is important that Nigerians do not allow Obasanjo to lead the country into crisis, which is his age long ambition. We are not strangers to his many failed letters and antics in the run up to the General Elections, how he tried to appropriate even the name of our group in his desperate bid rally Nigerians behind his destabilization agenda. It took the maturity of Nigerians to see through his duplicity at that time.
“This has now made him to switch to sectarian and ethnic sentiments knowing that these are the only issues that make Nigerians react with passion instead of logic. He is cashing in on the weakness of the masses where their religion or ethnicity is concerned in order to plunge the country into civil a war. Nepotism, lack of continuity of policies by successive administrations, and corruption had hindered development, resulting in widespread insecurity, mistrust, nepotism, and electoral fraud that he mentioned as other reasons for the possible collapse of the country were intended to merely pad his speech and deflect attention from his true intent.
“ Coalition for Nigeria Movement is using this opportunity to remind Obasanjo that the era where he can full most people sometimes is over. He can now only fool a few people once in a while. Nigerians are wiser and they know that problems of the country today have their root in the manner Obasanjo handled the affairs of the country when he had the unusual fortune of being the first civilian president in the current democratic dispensation.”
In terms of his alleged Islamisation of the country, the group revealed that had Obasanjo done the right thing when he was in office, the then dubious governors that toyed with Sharia rule would not have had the fertile ground to sow the seed of controversy that is today bearing the fruits of extremism and radicalization.
“He ignored them and allowed them to set the country on the tortuous part it today threads. The poverty he laid the foundation for remains the foundation of the huge recruitment.
“ We state unequivocally that the ex-president is playing a game. He knows exactly where he is going which is not far from the agenda to disintegrate the country at all cost. We have seen this pattern in the assertions of those that have come out to support his evil position. It is for this reason that we declare that Obasanjo owes Nigerians and the rest of the world more explanation to shed light on his aims, intentions and objectives why he made such evil pronouncement that is now dividing the country. He him come out to tell the world about his evil plan in details.
“ The federal government must take steps to counter the damage intended by Obasanjo’s utterance. It will take the grace of God for the country not record a spike in ethno-sectarian strife when a supposed leader made the kind of criminal comments that came from Obasanjo. Citizens have to be reassured that government is on top of the security situation, which have no bearing with the lies of Obasanjo.”
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