State Of The Nation: Tinubu Rushes Home As Nigeria’s Generals Meet Over Hardship

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has held a close meeting with Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Aliyu Gusau in Minna, Niger State.

Their meeting comes following the return of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Abuja, after his recent trip abroad.

The quartet are well respected across the country having served in various capacities, and their meeting is believed to be first of its kind under the current Tinubu’s administration.

Obasanjo, Babangida and Abdulsalami were former Heads of State, while Gasua had severally served the country as the National Security Adviser, NSA.

The meeting which held on Sunday at the Hiltop Mansion of Gen Babangida (rtd.), sources say, is significant considering the current state of the nation.

Tension is high in the country due to the economic hardship being suffered by many Nigerians due to the harsh policies of the current administration.

The administration has further compounded the hardship of the people by hiking the pump price of petrol, close analysts on the issue said.

“The meeting came at an auspicious time in the country when everybody has to come together. The former leaders’ meeting is therefore an important one considering their positions in the country, apart from the fact that they are all political players at one time or the other,” a source said.

“When Obasanjo and other Generals meet, you must be certain that it’s about Nigeria. They don’t just meet for tea party. I believe the outcome of their close door meeting will soon be made known to Nigerians, another source familiar with the meeting said on Monday.

Last week, some parts of Nigeria’s North west, including Maiduguri, Borno state were ravaged by flood leaving serious humanitarian problems in its wake.

For instance, Maiduguri the capital of Borno state has been sacked by the flood which left close to 500,000 people displaced, apart from dozens of persons that have been killed, according to figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.

The country became further tensed due to alleged  human rights abuses by security agencies, following the arrest on September 11, of Joe Ajearo, President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC by the Department of State Services, DSS, and on Sunday, Omoyele Sowore, one of the leaders of the #endbadgovernance in the country.

The duo of Ajearo and Sowore has since been released following serious local and international pressures.

Meanwhile,  President returned to Abuja, the nation’s capital on Sunday having been out of the country for close to three weeks, after Nigerians accused him of leaving the country rudderless.

The magazine reported that Nigerians had demanded his return to fix the myriads of problems facing the country.

President Tinubu departed the country on August 29, for China where he later signed five Memoranda of Understanding, MOUs, with the Chinese Government on critical areas of the economy.

During the trip abroad, the president also met King Charles of the United Kingdom, UK, before he returned home yesterday.

Tinubu was however billed to attend the 78th United Nation’s, UN, General Assembly meeting in New York, United States before returning to the country.

Highly informed sources told the magazine that the president had to rush home following complaints by not a few Nigerians that there are problems for him at home to fix.