As the president-elect, Mr. Bola Tinubu takes the oath of office today, three former Nigerian heads of state – Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen Yakubu Gown and Dr Goodluck Jonathan – have advised him to be a president for all Nigerians.
The former leaders conveyed their thoughts in separate interviews.
Speaking on Arise Television, Babangida said Nigeria is currently divided and that Tinubu needs all the skills to be able to unite the country.
However, he said the country does not have a short supply of intelligent people and hoped that the incoming president would pick their brains to revamp economy as well as the military.
“As commander-in-chief, he needs to take a good look at the armed forces to reorient them, retrain them and reorganise them because the armed forces have undergone a lot of processes that need to be put together and make them more efficient,” he stated.
He also urged Tinubu to reorganise the civil service and the opposition to accept the results of the last election.
Babangida maintained that Nigeria remains blessed with everything it needs to survive, urging the new administration to redesign the economic system in Nigeria.
“I wish the new administration well. Let them put Nigeria first and the welfare of Nigerians should be paramount. Leadership at all levels is missing,” he said.
The former military president also told Nigerians to be patient with the new administration.
“The only advice is to be patient and continue to support the new government but if they see things going wrong, they should cry out as usual, but be objective about it,” he said.
For his part, Gown said he was happy that 60 years after, Nigeria still remains as one entity and called for massive support for the incoming government.
“As far as I am concerned, I am satisfied that we are still existing as a united nation after the little fracas. Thank God we made it to 60 years and I hope we make it to the next 60 years, though I might not be here. But that is my belief: to keep Nigeria one and to strive to make a better country.
“Do your best, be a loyal Nigerian, love Nigeria, good or bad. Whatever it is. If it is bad, try to make it better and if it is good, try to make it the best. This is my attitude and this is why I have always supported every government that started in this country and I will continue to support them,” he said.
Delving more into election matters, Jonathan expressed concern about the contentious and controversial nature of elections in Nigeria and called for the system to convince people who lose elections that they truly lost.
He said Nigeria’s election remains one of the worst in the world, noting that the frustration arising from election could lead to unpalatable outcomes.
The former president called for a reform of the electoral system to ensure that persons appointed to the commission are not only of impeccable character, but also go through a rigorous screening process.
“I know there are issues bordering on the election, some are happy, some are not. Some are feeling other ways,” he stated.
“In my own time in 2015, my senior officials, people who worked with me, there was this fear that after losing election, what will be their fate.
“Will the new government just throw us into jail without even giving us fair hearing, because government is next to God and could decide to do anything. That fear was in the mind of people. Some people said should I stay, or run away?
“But this is different because it is the same party that has taken over, so the tension we faced then, Buhari may not face the same tension. Yes, there may be some who may have issues that bother them. But on the average they won’t have that kind of feeling. But it was tense and by this time, I already conceded defeat, so that was completely over.
“I knew why I conceded defeat because I was more interested in the country than myself which I also advise every politician, because without a country, there will be no president.
“The problem we have is the electoral management body and the security. If two soccer teams are playing and the referee decides to look the other way, they will injure themselves. You must not allow it.
“The electoral management body shares more than 60 per cent of the blame because if they do their work well , the politicians will have no choice than to follow the rules, they and the security and the courts.
“I believe one day we will get there, but I feel sad now that our electoral process is still wobbly. We have migrated from card reader to BVAS, which is a superior technology. Why do we still have problems?
“For manual voting, we have problems, electronic we have problems, so where is the problem coming from? It’s the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC has to sit up so as not to throw this country into conflagration one day,” he said.
With ThisDay report
