Politics
By Anthony Isibor
MAJ-GEN. Abel Obi Umahi (rtd) says that every Nigerian, including the nation’s military want a new and better Nigeria.
Umahi told Realnews in an exclusive interview in Lagos that any person, who had been in the military and who is still in the military and cannot think of the survival of this country, has wasted his years of service.
According to him, as soldiers, they were thought to do everything possible to ensure the survival of Nigeria and to ensure that this it is on the right path.
“So, I can’t see any division, or struggle between the civilians and the old military brigade in this whole thing, because we all want the best for this nation.
“If you see any person who has been in the military that does not want a new Nigeria, you can’t really classify the person as a full military personnel. Even those in service, is just that they can’t talk, but if you ask them, one on one, as a friend, not a journalist, they will tell you that they want a new Nigeria,” Umahi said.
Recalling the injuries he suffered as a serving military officer, Umahi said that there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to see that this nation “moves forward”.
“Let me tell you something, see, I got shot in my waist and on my ribs in defense of the interest of Nigeria, which means I almost died,” he said.
He noted that the present difficulties being experienced in the country are salutary pointers for the need to look for a new Nigeria.
Umahi, who stated that the country must reject all the leaders at the various levels who have refused to steer the nation to greater heights in the past, believed that the change should begin at the top.
“There comes a time in the life of a nation when so many things begin to happen very fast. Perhaps, meaning, that the system wants to vomit those who have been responsible for the ills that have beclouded the system. So, I think that is it. If I don’t see it physically, I see it from the eyes of the spirit, that’s what is happening.
“They are the people who have been in government. They are the leaders who were supposed to steer the course of the nation in the right direction, but because of the leadership vacuum, the nation have gotten to the age of precipices’, so those leaders are accountable, they are the ones that can be held responsible for what has been happening in the country; for where we are.
“We have three tiers of government. And the truth is that except we get it right at the federal level, it will be impossible to get it right at the state and local government levels because when a fish gets rotten, it starts from the head. So that is why there is this clamor that we must get it right. Though we want to get it right at all levels, but the clamor for getting it right at the federal level is most loud,” he added.
A.I
Tags: Anthony Isibor Maj.-Gen. Abel Obi Umahi Umahi
