Amid increasing social discontent in Nigeria, a scholar and former Nigerian envoy, Nnamdi Onochie, says Nigerian masses are grappling with hopelessness while the country’s elites’ senses have been numbed by comfort.

“For the ordinary citizen, despair and hopelessness have encapsulated their thinking that the situation will not improve in the foreseeable future.

“The ruling political class, especially the ruling political party appears to live in a cocoon of comfort that dumbs (sic) the mind,” said the former diplomat.

Mr Onochie also noted that he had a blueprint for putting Nigeria back on track to achieve peace, prosperity, and progress.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday that the political class must close ranks at this critical time to chart a roadmap to guarantee that Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities continue to stay together.

Citing recent “ugly” developments in Africa’s most populous nation, Mr Onochie, “It has become increasingly apparent that the worsening social condition in Nigeria is exacerbating tensions in the country and tearing the nation apart.

“The compelling reality is the inevitability that we the political class in the APC, PDP, and other political parties must confront the hardship in Nigeria headlong,” Onochie, a former Nigerian envoy to the Philippines and Algeria, stated.

He explained that rescuing Nigeria should be the immediate concern of the political class, rather than “watching helplessly and playing the fiddle while Nigeria burns.”

He condemned the “dog-eat-dog” scenario and apparent lack of patriotism in the country, which according to him, has resulted in social hardships, including the slaughtering of Nigerians by fellow Nigerians.

Mr Onochie added that it had become unimaginable that some misguided Nigerians would take up arms against their compatriots, dealing harsh blows to their country while grandstanding as jihadists, bandits, militants, and herdsmen.

He added, “Killing of servicemen, arson on police stations and judiciary facilities, and setting prisoners free are condemnable acts that have brought Nigeria to a new low.”

(NAN)