Nigeria: Former Leaders Obasanjo, Abdulsalami, Others Meet Thursday to Douse Tension

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd); Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, and former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and others will meet Thursday in Abuja on the state of the nation.

The meeting, which will be held under the auspices of Interfaith Initiatives for Peace, was convened to discuss “pressing issues” in the country.

The group is jointly led by Obasanjo, Sultan, Abdulsalami, and Onaiyekan.

According to a letter addressed to President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, sighted by TheCable, issues such as national unity, security, peace, integration, economic revitalisation and development will be discussed at the meeting.

“I am pleased to invite you on behalf of Interfaith Initiatives for Peace jointly led by the Sultan of Sokoto, his eminence Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar and his eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, national peace committee chaired by General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Socio-cultural Consultative Committee convened by me and all these bodies called Committee of Goodness of Nigeria (CJN) to an exploratory meeting on pressing issues of national unity, security, peace, integration, economic revitalisation and development, women and youth welfare and general progress,” the letter said.

Obasanjo had recently expressed worry over the state of the nation and blamed bad leadership for the nation’s woes.

The former president, while receiving a book titled, ‘The Man, The General and The President,’ written by Femmy Carrena, had said in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, that even though the country was destined to be a land flowing with milk and honey, bad leadership had made it unachievable

The former president had also on Sunday asked Nigerians to beseech God for a solution to the security crisis plaguing the country.

“We seem to have been overwhelmed and unsure of how to handle the crisis in our land. But nothing is too difficult for God to do. That is why we are here.

“We have some challenges. These are beyond what we can handle. We have to cry out to God to help us,” he had said.

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

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