David West says Nigeria is sick

Former Minister of Pe­troleum Resources, Professor Tam Da­vid-West has said the country is gradually going down, calling on Nigerians to effect a change of leader­ship at the next elections.

The renowned Professor of Virology, who spoke at the monthly lecture of City People Magazine on Thursday night, specifically said ‘Nigeria’s head is rotten’ and needed to be changed before it affects the body.

The former minister cor­roborated the position of the former president, Chief Oluse­gun Obasanjo that the ‘country is actually sick.’

“This country is sick. I don’t know what virus is affecting Nigeria. It is even more than a virus. Ironically, we have done everything to kill her but God is keeping Nigeria. So, we have to keep her because God has a purpose for her.

“My fear is that Nigeria is going down. We cannot go on like this. Our economy is in trouble. Unemployment rises on daily basis, yet, our minis­ter in charge of the economy said 10 million jobs have been created. It is all lies.

“President Goodluck Jona­than should borrow a leaf from the Obafemi Awolowo and Shehu Shagari episode when Awolowo told Shagari that the ship of the state is wreck­ing. Shagari didn’t abuse him. But what happened afterward, the military toppled Shagari’s government.

“Jonathan’s men should stop abusing Obasanjo for be­ing patriotic enough to cry out but they should rather reflect on the state of the nation, espe­cially its economy,” the retired university teacher stated.

David-West, who spoke on the topic; ‘How to move Ni­geria forward: My thoughts’, stated that the country had all along been walloping on  inconsistent economic policies and unstable and ephemeral political system with her leaders deceiving the populace since Independence.

He suggested that for the country to move forward and witness real development there should be true federal­ism where federating units would be free of unwarranted and undue interference from the na­tional government.

The former minister also called for true de­mocracy, where votes will count and people’s wish will be reflected. While recommending life jail for election rig­gers, he warned that those who did not want peaceful change may be courting violent change. He also called for the establishment of special court to try executive recklessness or rascality, saying the court should consist of retired Chief Justices of the Fed­eration and state Chief Judges.

On the dwindling for­tunes of the oil industry, the former minister la­mented the shady busi­nesses going on in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where he incidentally hails from, lamenting that there ‘is too much stealing going on in the oil sector.’

“We may soon be in trouble, especially those of us from that region because the United States is no longer buy­ing oil. We have nothing again to survive on in that place.

“But the problem is that Nigeria head is rot­ten. Our people say if the head of a fish is rotten, the whole body is rotten. In Nigeria situation, we pray the body will not be rotten. And that is why we said the head should go before it affects the body,” he stated.

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