Former
military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), has said age would not
permit him to run for the most exalted seat in the country during the 2015
general election. Babangida, who spoke in a live interview on a national
television station at the weekend, emphasised that those who were speculating
that he was still interested in becoming the president of the country were
doing so to mislead Nigerians. “The most important thing to me is to see
an election that is devoid of manipulation, rigging, violence and, ultimately,
fair and credible and where every vote will count. But I can’t be a participant
because by 2015, I would be clocking 74 if Allah wills. So, at 74, it will be
unwise for me to be running around the country looking for votes. I am not
going to seek any elective post, but I am ready to offer whatever help I can
render in terms of advice and my experience to move the country forward,” he
said.
He said Nigeria would
still remain indivisible entity after 2014, contrary to the speculation that
the country would disintegrate after a hundred years of Southern and Northern
protectorates, adding that despite uprising, religious, communal and tribal
crises among Nigerians, people have learnt to tolerate one another. He,
therefore, urged the Federal Government to initiate pogramme that would engage
the youths and help them become productive to the society, stressing that one
of the problems facing the country was that everybody wanted to live an exotic
life in spite of adverse effect it might bring. “Everybody is doing everything
to be like others without thinking of the adverse effect of their action. As
long as everybody wants to be like the other person, there would always be
increase in the crime rate and other social vices.
My advice is that the
government should find means of engaging the youths so as to make them
productive to the society. For instance, when I was the military president of
Nigeria, I introduced ‘back to the farm programme’ in order to make youths to
be productive to the society and the programme was very effective to the extent
that other states copied it,” he said.
Source: Daily
Newswatch
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