Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigerians should feel no obligation to apologise for seeking international assistance to address the country’s worsening insecurity, insisting that human lives are being lost daily across religious, ethnic, and political lines.
Speaking Friday night at the Plateau Unity Christmas Carols and Praise Festival in Jos, Obasanjo urged the federal government to urgently adopt modern security technology to stem the killings. With today’s technological tools, he said, no criminal should be able to evade detection or arrest.
“In these days of technology, there should be nobody who can hide after committing a crime,” he said. “Before I left government, we had the capacity to pick up anybody in Nigeria once identified… Every Nigerian life matters, whether Christian, Muslim or pagan. Nigerians are being killed; this must stop.”
He added that seeking international partnership is justified when local measures fall short, stressing that protecting lives must remain the nation’s top priority.
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, also addressed the gathering, expressing confidence that Nigeria will overcome its current security and economic challenges. “By the grace of God, those who want Nigeria destroyed will not succeed,” he said, praying for sustained wisdom and strength for national and state leaders.
Mutfwang noted that the annual carol festival was conceived to foster unity among Plateau’s diverse communities through worship and thanksgiving. Despite the country’s difficulties, he said, the gathering reflects gratitude for “the goodness of God in the land of the living.”
