The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) has blamed military incursion into Nigeria’s politics for the myriads of socio-economic and political problems afflicting the country.
Babalola said the ‘inglorious intervention’ of military apparatchik in politics laid the disastrous foundation of the pummeling inflation and untold hardship Nigerians are currently facing.
The legal luminary spoke in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital when the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Ekiti State Council led by Comrade Kayode Babatuyi paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
Babalola noted Nigeria was witnessing geometric growth and development on all fronts because the country’s journey to nationhood was imbued with high hopes and prospects for national unity, peace, and development until the military seized levers of power on January 15, 1966, and disrupted the developmental process.
He claimed that the military plundered the country’s economy, weakened the national institutions, and institutionalised corruption through the implementation of disastrous policies before exiting the political firmament.
The elder statesman the consequences of decisions made by the military rulers still influence socio-economic events in contemporary Nigeria, adding that the outcome of the juntas’ bad governance and poor management of the economy was what Nigerians are currently facing.
Babalola who absolved President Bola Tinubu of blame over the current economic situation and attendant hardship in the country, said the situation predated his ascendancy to office.
He admonished the president to brace up and fashion out workable economic blueprints to salvage the harsh situation so that Nigerians would quickly put the present hardship behind them and begin to experience improved living standards while the country itself begins the fast-paced journey to greatness.
Emphasising the importance of media in nation-building, the legal luminary tasked journalists to step up its constitutional responsibility of holding the government accountable to the citizenry.
Babalola urged them to expose the ills of government at all levels without any fear of intimidation and make Nigeria a better place for all.
He described the profession as the most powerful weapon to sensitise and advise as well as make suggestions to political officeholders on how best the country can move forward.