Nigeria needs people like me, says Fasehun at 80

The founder of the Oodua People’s Congress, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, says Nigeria needs people like him that will always tell the truth and ensure that the government of the day is always on its toes.

Fasehun said this while delivering a speech at the reception of his 80th birthday in Lagos on Monday.

The octogenarian, who is also the Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria, narrated how he, alongside members of the National Democratic Coalition, fought for the enthronement of democracy during the military regime of the late maximum ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha.

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Fasehun, who was imprisoned for 19 months (from December 1996 to June 1998) by Abacha, said without critics like him, Nigeria would not have attained democracy and greatness.

He said, “As we all know, the journey to democracy is usually not easy because human nature is more conditioned towards selfish autocracy and egotistical dictatorship. That is why agitators for democracy in any land have a lot to confront in persuading the powers that be to be their brothers’ keepers, instead of carrying on in the natural propensity of humans, such as subjugating the downtrodden, stamping upon the underprivileged, selfish building of dynasties and corrupt amassing of public resources.

“When you view what is happening to our vast population, where the greater number suffers difficulty in accessing education, employment and livelihood, you realise that without agitators like me, our brothers and sisters would have been turned into the wretched of the earth, consumed by poverty and hopelessness. And blind inequality would have been pervasive, turning our country into another Afghanistan – unsafe, insecure, chaotic and crisis-ridden.”

The medical doctor said Nigeria would do better if the government listens to critics, adding that this was what helped many nations in the world achieve greatness.

The OPC founder added, “So, critics like me may cause irritation, but we are necessary. In a land used to sycophancy and praise-singing, critics, as a matter of fact, may prove to be the best friends of rulers.”

Fasehun called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to ensure that no one was victimised in the war against corruption and that security agencies must not be compromised.

Fasehun said it was regrettable that Nigerians did not honour its heroes. He, therefore, called for the establishment of a national cemetery where heroes are buried, typical of the Arlington National Cemetery in the United States.