The former Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola, has warned President Bola Tinubu of potential revolution if economic hardship continued in Nigeria.
Mr Aregbesola on Monday said this during a panel session at a national dialogue on the Parliamentary Bill organised by the Parliamentary System Support Group in the House of Representatives in Abuja.
The former governor lamented the deepening economic gap between the rich and the poor.
“We have seen worsening economic—even political and spiritual—conditions of Nigerians. You don’t need to be a nuclear scientist to know that,” said Mr Aregbesola, a one-time ally of President Bola Tinubu. “A smaller percentage of Nigerians are now prosperous—not that there is no prosperity in Nigeria—but it is decreasing daily.”
Mr Aregbesola urged Mr Tinubu’s government to address the current challenges to prevent a potential revolt.
“When I was born and during my developmental years, wealth was not as limited to the hands of a very few people as it is today. So, what does that tell us? It tells us that we are in deep trouble,” said the former Osun governor. “We would not be here discussing this if things were normal in Nigeria.”
Mr Aregbesola explained that “whatever does not give appropriate opportunity or rights to the people will be resisted no matter what you do.”
He added, “If other things fail, people can revolt. If we are conscious of all this and understand the consequences of things getting out of hand, we would be interested in finding the best ways to govern ourselves.”
