A former member of the House of Representatives, Shina Abiola Peller, has called on the opposition to come together and rescue Nigerians from the clutches of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Addressing journalists shortly after the 7th Annual Shina Peller Ramadan Lecture/Iftar held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Sunday, the former lawmaker lamented that there is hunger in the land.
Peller argued that Nigeria is now in bad shape and needs a formidable opposition to put the present administration on its toes.
He said that what is happening in the country, where a few individuals who criticize the present administration are being persecuted, indicates that there is no longer freedom of speech.
According to him, “We all know the present state of the nation; the country is in bad shape. There is hunger in the land. It is very evident that there is hunger in the land. It is not something that anybody needs to hide to say. I am well connected with people, even market people; we can hear the voices on the streets, religious people. I can tell you categorically that there is hunger in the land, people are not happy, and you will agree with me that a hungry person is an angry person.
“So, the country as it is now is going through these difficulties, and I don’t know the magic the government of the day will do. Things are getting worse day by day. You begin to have this fear, and to cap it all, there is no longer freedom of speech. As you are looking at it, there is a corps member who spoke her mind, and the next thing is that people are threatening her to take down the video.
“So, either people are getting scared of what the government could do to them, or those who can speak are busy embezzling money and don’t want to talk. But whether we like it or not, we believe so much in this country. I believe that God has given us a country that can stand as one of the best in the world. Our faith tells us that after hardship comes ease. In the Quran and even in the Bible, it says after darkness comes light.
“God is light. Whatever we are facing now is darkness, and we believe that light shall definitely overcome darkness. Honestly, where Nigeria is now, people should drop individual ambitions. Nigeria is at a stage where people must rescue the country. They should try as much as possible to drop personal ambitions and prioritize national interest.
“So, whether there is a merger or not, everybody should come together to form a formidable opposition.
“Democracy needs a functional opposition so that there can be constructive criticism of the government. Nigeria is not a one-party state.”