By Rotimi Ojomoyela & James Ogunnaike

ABEOKUTA—FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, described the security challenges facing the country as ‘a serious situation’, calling for concerted efforts by stakeholders to stem the tide.

Similarly, the Labour Party, LP, yesterday, warned that if the escalating wave of terrorism in parts of the country remained unchecked, it has the potential to derail the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

This came as a legal luminary, Afe Babalola, proposed the convocation of a national dialogue as a catalyst for revamping Nigeria from its incessant security challenges.

The former president spoke at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while receiving a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential aspirant, Dr. Ugochukwu Williams and his team.

Obasanjo, while reacting to the recent attacks on Kaduna-Abuja train, where no fewer than seven persons were confirmed dead and 21 other passengers missing, said the security challenge in Nigeria has overwhelmed the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

His words: “If anybody comes to say I want to see you, I want to talk to you, I will say ‘you’re welcome. This is because I believe very strongly, and I have said it publicly and I will say it again that the situation we are in this country is not a situation where one man will say yes, he has a solution unless we are deceiving ourselves. I believe we need to sit down collectively and look at the situation.

“A situation where you are not safe on the road, you are not safe on the train, you are not safe at the airport, shows a very serious situation.

“I believe that all right-thinking Nigerians must know that we have a situation that has overwhelmed the present administration, but we should not allow that situation to overwhelm Nigeria.”

Terrorist attacks may derail 2023 polls —Labour Party

Also reacting to the series of attacks by bandits and terror groups on communities, the Labour party alleged seemingly impotence of the Federal Government to arrest the situation, said the whole scenario threatens the 2023 general elections.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Arabambi Abayomi, said: “Labour Party condemns in totality the very weak responses of government to terrorism. At least now that the APC government, the security agencies and all the federal might have failed to provide security to the people, it is quite plausible that Nigerians should be constitutionally empowered to carry arms for self defense.

“Labour Party subscribes to the fact that the first and the very most important duty of government is to constitutionally provide and ably guarantee the safety and security of the citizens, but it is unfortunate that the APC led government had left Labour Party with no choice but to strongly condemn the level of its highly shocking and extremely nauseating incompetence shown against the continual killings of the citizens across the nation by the terrorists.

“It has now come to a stage that as a nation, this must not be condoned anymore. The time has come for the government to do what is standard and needful  immediately, as security is the main demand for a truly democratic rule, but this is one area in which the federal government had been found highly wanting.

“The frightening impotence of the APC led Federal Government, in the face of escalating terrorism, may derail the 2023 elections and Labour Party, hereby, advises the President to throw in the towel even as Governor Nasir El Rufai’s threats that Kaduna state with four others of the seven Northwestern states—Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto—may join him to hire foreign mercenaries if the federal government does not end the ongoing spate of terror attacks in the region” is a sign that the APC led federal government is a failure.

“It is becoming very frightening and more bewildering noticing the highly increasing level of helplessness of the APC led federal government as terrorism increases in boldness and daring.

“It is fast becoming unsafe to travel on any road in Nigeria as the seemingly intractable killings of the terrorists are now grown into a level that the APC government has been rendered confused and overwhelmed.”.

Afe Babalola calls for national dialogue

Meanwhile, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, ABUAD, noted that the country’s leaders have failed the nation, which the House of Representatives have admitted, this, according to him, will pave the way for everyone to rethink and proffer solutions.

Babalola said this at the end of a five-day Training Programme tagged: ‘Forest Certification for Responsible Forest Management’, held by ABUAD in partnership with the Ekiti State government, a United Kingdom-based Soil Association Organic, UNESCO and Forest Stewardship Council.

Commenting on the bombing of a train in Kaduna and the killing of occupants by bandits, he said: “I heard about the devastating story and I felt bad. We thank God that the House of Representatives had said they have failed Nigerians. This statement will make us think and rethink now that they had admitted their failures.

“The solution is as soon as President Muhammadu Buhari completes his tenure, no election should hold. We must set up an interim government for six months to discuss Nigeria. We should convene a conference comprising all retired Presidents and selected Nigerians for us to have a new constitution that will lead us back to Parliamentary System to really discuss how Nigeria should be.”