Nigeria on Precipice, May Disintegrate, INC Tells Tinubu

Segun James

President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), the umbrella body of the Ijaw worldwide, Professor Benjamin Okaba, has warned President Bola Tinubu that the country was on the precipice and could disintegrate.

“It is common knowledge that Nigeria is sliding down the precipice and that if urgent steps are not taken to address the situation, the country, in our very own eyes, might disintegrate into oblivion,” he said.

The INC President, who gave the warning in a keynote address at the 2024 retreat of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) held in Warri, Delta State, weekend, said the entire Ijaw Nation and the people of the Niger Delta were glad that Nigerian professionals were converging to discuss how the country could surmount some of its daunting challenges. 

“This is because the people of the Niger Delta who sustain and bear the full brunt of Nigeria’s economic and political survival desire to live in a more united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria,” he said.

He explained that a majority of Nigerian were fed up with the status quo as “Nigeria that was until recently, rightfully described as the giant of Africa, Africa’s largest and fastest growing economy, and projected to become the 3rd most populated country in the world by 2050, is currently passing through a very tough time. In fact, the Nigeria Project is tottering terribly in to the edge of the abyss. 

“Despite possessing the most enormous human and natural resources in Africa, Nigeria offers very limited opportunities for majority of the citizens to advance beyond the pitiable state we found ourselves today. 

“After independence in 1960, and 63years down the line, we are still struggling to establish the greatness. No thanks to the valiant efforts of political mismanagers, (military and Civilians). 

“By 1991, we got a rehabilitation of the political foundations with a dose of democratic experimentation.  Unfortunately, the return to the so-called democracy has not introduced any respite from the encroaching sense of doom, the nation was facing hitherto. 

“Instead, our own brand of democracy seems to have brought too many confounding intricacies to bear on our optimism and hope of a protracted Nigeria Project.”