Minister Of Information, Defends Nigeria, Says it is not a failed State.

The Federal Government has said the doomsday predicted about Nigeria being a failed state “is not and cannot become a failed state.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the statement at a press conference in Lagos yesterday.

Mohammed was reacting to an editorial report of the Financial Times of London, published on December 22, which claimed that Nigeria was at the risk of becoming a failed state, referring to cases of insecurity bedeviling witnessed.

While countering the report’s position and presenting the government’s scorecard for 2020 to journalists, Mohammed said Nigeria is making significant headway in tackling banditry and kidnapping.

According to him, the doomsday prediction about Nigeria would not come to pass. He recalled that some pseudo critics did predict an implosion of Nigeria in the last two decades.

Mohammed described Nigeria’s characterization as a ‘failing’ state as a mixture of the wishful thinking of naysayers and the evil machinations of those who don’t wish the country well.

In his words, “Doomsday predictions about Nigeria will not come to pass. Nigeria will not become a failed state, but will rise to become a more respected member of the comity of nations, “

“This has not happened, and it will not happen,” he said, adding that the Federal Government had made remarkable progress in tackling insecurity, as could be seen with the peaceful Christmas and New Year festivities.

The minister reassured the Federal Government to fight against terrorism and kidnapping in the country. He recalled the ugly incidences on Christmas and New Year’s eve in 2010 and 2011, respectively, where bombings left people dead and many. He said such occasion had become a thing of the past.

Speaking in the past year, Mohammed characterized the year 2020 as a very challenging one. It came with so many problems like the COVID-19 pandemic, the #EndSARS protest, and the “heightened insecurity.”

However, he reassured the masses of the government in ensuring that the new year would record positive growth and come out of the current economic recession. He said the government had put various interventions to boost several sectors of the economy and better its citizens’ lives.