Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said Nigeria is at a point of extinction that only God, not man, can reverse the impending disintegration.
The governor stated this at an Interdenominational Church Service in commemoration of the 61st Independence Anniversary of Nigeria at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Sunday.
Wike said it is regrettable that at 61, Nigeria still grapples with leadership failure, Vanguard reports.
He said, “This is the time Nigeria needs God more. The country is gone. Insecurity everywhere. Everyone needs to say, God, we need you because man’s leadership has failed this country.
“At 61 years, Nigeria is full of enmity, full of divisions, hatred, ethnicity, a country that cannot put themselves together. Everybody has responsibility, so ask yourself questions, have I played my own part?”
He wondered what has become of the nation’s legislature that continues to approve any wish of the presidency, unfeeling about the consequences.
Wike lamented that the national judiciary is easily being submissive to intimidation as judges, he perceived, have abandoned their responsibilities out of fear.
He questioned the fate of Nigerians in such a situation.
He stated, “We cannot do the right things. Other countries are talking about how their elections will be transparent, we are talking about how we will rig the election in 2023.
“Simple thing, transmit election results electronically to show transparency, that really that the person you’re declaring won the election, but we are afraid.
“Where is the legislature? A legislature that cannot think, anything they bring is right, a legislature that cannot say that Nigeria has nothing to regret from conducting free and fair elections.
“A legislature that you’ll close your eyes, anything they bring about, borrowing, you say borrow. A legislature that cannot say that this money we are borrowing, where is it, where are you applying it? You have no confidence to ask questions.
“The courts have been intimidated. The judges have abandoned their responsibilities out of fear. You’re seeing something that is wrong, but because you will be summoned in the night, you abandoned your responsibility.”
He also blamed the nation’s woes on docile followership, while lamenting that ascendancy to leadership is no longer driven by merit but by ethnic and religious biases.