Former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, John Cardinal Onaiyekan has said that Nigeria may split before 2023 due to insecurity challenges and sad realities in the country.
In an interview with Punch in Abuja, the cleric said Nigerian leaders would always want to remain in office even after their tenure because of “greed, wickedness and stupidity”.
He said, “There is no reason why the spate of insecurity should continue like this till 2023. There is no reason why we should not be able to finally settle this problem before the year 2022 is over.
“If it is not over, it means we have failed as a nation and the question will no longer be whether we can have election or not, but whether it makes sense even having an election because we don’t have a country; the matter is serious.
“As for the election, we are not even sure whether Nigeria will be one country or whether we would have an independent country. So, those are issues we must face now. As for holding election, it is not a big deal really. Election is a normal practice and in a democratic environment, if the environment is really democratic and peaceful, the election will come by its own.”
The cleric also identified the unwillingness of incumbent governments to conduct free and fair elections as one of the obstacles that threaten democracy in Nigeria.