Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd.) Monday expressed worry over the current state of the nation.
He expressed concern particularly on the worsening fuel scarcity and epileptic power supply.
Babangida expressed these concerns when he paid a farewell visit to the out-going Niger state governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, at the latter’s residence in Minna.
He was accompanied on the visit by former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.)
“I am as concerned as you are. I urged Nigerians to support the incoming government on whatever measure it takes to provide solution. Government is doing all it can to make sure the problem comes to an end. We should endeavour to support them during this period”, he said.
Asked why the problem is coming at a time when Nigerians are looking forward to a transition from one administration to the other, the former Nigerian leader said the problem currently bedeviling the country was not peculiar as it was prevalent in all developing countries but it is the duty of the government to find a solution to the problems.
“Every developing country has one problem or the other, there have to be a government to solve the problem and the government is on ground”, he said.
In his remarks, Gen. Abubakar appealed to the general public to sustain the peace being enjoyed in the country, while he charged the outgoing governor to assist the incoming government with his wealth of experience.
In his remarks, Governor Aliyu commended the two elder statesmen for their support throughout his tenure and advised the incoming government not to relent on sustaining the level of security attained in the state, particularly at this period when the menace of kidnapping had reached the state.
Aliyu refuted claims that the outgoing administration was responsible for the continued epileptic power supply and fuel scarcity in the country, insisting that “nobody can be heartless to arrange such thing”.
He attributed the fuel scarcity to the difference of exchange rate, saying, “When the agreement between the marketers and the government was signed a dollar was captured at N150 but now the exchange rate was around N200”.
On power, he said there was water shortage in the hydroelectric dams, which forced the drop in electricity generation.
“Nobody can sit down to create this type of problem unnecessarily; nobody can arrange such a thing. It will soon come to an end. The problem is not deliberate”, Mr. Aliyu assured.
