Hundreds of women on Wednesday staged a rally in Lagos in support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to keep quiet and allow Nigeria work.
The event tagged, “The Freedom Rally for One Nigeria” was organized by Africa Women Arise for Change Network, as placard-carrying women stormed the Freedom Park at Ojota, Lagos.
The placards read: ‘We are for progress and development under President Buhari’, ‘Time for Obj to keep quiet and allow Nigeria Work’, among others.
Executive Director, African Women Arise for Change Network, Mrs Josephine Okpara who briefed newsmen said the rally was “to remind us all that we should not allow those who once tried to destroy the country to succeed. Such people have been trying to use the impact of the anti-corruption war to incite Nigerians against the government and against themselves”.
According to her, Buhari was bold enough to marshal the political will and determination to break away from the destructive cycle that was once the norm in the land.
She opined that Buhari’s war against corruption has yielded results as monies are being recovered on a daily basis.
The women frowned at the criticisms of President Buhari by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying the ex-President failed to build systems and tighten ropes against corrupt elements.
Okpara said, “Progress is being made under the government of President Buhari and the Freedom Rally for One Nigeria aligns totally with this progress. We are for progress and development under President Buhari. It is something we want to continue. But unfortunately, those that have truncated the fortunes of the country want to keep sabotaging the country.
“Most tragically but unsurprisingly, a former president, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, is the arrowhead of this misguided group. He has used the pedestal of the esteemed office he once occupied as a platform to launch attacks on a government that has succeeded in delivering to Nigerians what he failed to deliver in the eight years he led the country and things his party was not been able to deliver in the sixteen years it held Nigeria hostage.
“Had Obasanjo and his party laid the right foundation for Nigeria, the country would have by now passed the stage where the present government has to begin building the nation afresh from the ground up.
“Obasanjo’s failure to build systems and institutions with preference for being the strong man has done untold damage to the psyche of the nation. The present administration is constrained to begin rebuilding critical national institutions while reintroducing systems that should have been in place long before it came into office.”
She appealed to President Buhari to focus on the task of rescuing Nigeria from the stranglehold of corrupt elements saying he should remain undeterred by Obasanjo’s attacks.
“We further urged Mr. President to acknowledge that the time for niceties is over as the reality on ground demands that the nation gets to the root of its problems without fail”. (Daily Trust)
