A former Secretary General, CommonWealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku says the Nigeria of today has moved away from the original ideals envisioned for her, by the founding fathers of the nation, which he identified as justice, peace, and unity.
He said unlike during his younger days, when there was value for human life and people of any tribe could travel and live in any part of the country, contemporary Nigeria is characterized by bloodshed and sectionalism.
Anyaoku was speaking to a TNC correspondent recently in Oba in Idemili South of Anambra State, over the recent happenings in the country.
He believes insecurity in the country has thrived because the perpetrators are not arrested and prosecuted accordingly, calling on the federal government to devote more efforts to tackling increasing cases of killings across the country.
“The ugly trend of insecurity, banditry, and all manner of heinous crimes have continued unabated due to lack of arrests and subsequent prosecution of perpetrators of the dastardly acts.
“Recently, over 150 persons were killed in a community in Plateau State and another community has been issued threat of attack.
“In all these, what has the government done?
“In the past, people have been fingered in mass killings, terrorism, and other crimes. They were neither arrested nor prosecuted
“So, I want to call on the government to deploy its forces to apprehend and punish those behind the killings to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.
Anyaoku, who would be 90 in the coming year continued; “What’s particularly depressing is that these killings occur and nobody seems to be held responsible and charged accordingly.
“The first thing the government should do is to deploy its agencies and forces to apprehend those perpetuating the killings because that’s the only way to address the problem.
“If they’re apprehended, prosecuted, and punished, that would serve as a deterrent to others to continue the killings.”
Anyaoku also charged the federal government to work harder to meet up with the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent for education.
He added, “Federal government isn’t doing enough for the education sector. The percentage of education in the budget is well below the UNESCO recommendation.
“I like to see the government work harder to meet up with the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent.”
While proposing for endowment fund for educational institutions across the country, Anyaoku, said such will help address the decay in infrastructure in the schools.
