TheCable

Ahmad Gumi, Islamic cleric, says he feels pity for Nigeria’s next president.

In an article entitled, “Let us Pity the next President” published in The Punch on Tuesday, Gumi said the next commander-in-chief has to act “quickly and carefully” when he assumes office.

The cleric said the economy needs a true nationalist to fix it, adding that the president will have to ward off “fake” corporate organisations.

“The next president is going to meet a great mess. In a metaphorical sense, the nation is suffering from three main disabling diseases. They are leprosy, diabetes, and HIV/AIDs; all in one body,” he said.

“In the case of leprosy, which is a disease that attacks the sensory nervous system, the brain is unaware of the suffering of the extremities.

“The presidency, which represents the brain, is not getting the true picture of the grassroots suffering and the excruciating poverty breaking the masses because the feedback system is attacked by corruption, wickedness, and immorality.

“The president has to be careful of the dishonest clergy. Like mosquitoes, they feed on every system without adding any values except polarising the nation more on the religious divide.

“I cannot imagine a nation facing insurgencies left, right, and centre, yet the clergy would fold their arms without intermediating to see for conflict resolutions. Rather they are busy fuelling religious polarisation.”

Gumi said the recent BBC documentary and that of Daily Trust have exposed the ethnic and tribal undertones of the menace that has riddled the north-western part of the country.

“If the next president also follows the same trajectory, thinking that the present government was only dealing with the criminals with kid gloves, then a greater insurgency will definitely ensue,” he said.

The cleric said the country should not be governed by a sectional or regional politician but one who has a national appeal.