Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Thursday berated the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, for claiming that the labours of Nigeria’s past heroes are presently in vain.
He called on Obi to resolve the crisis in the Labour Party before aspiring to become the president of Nigeria.
Akpabio made the remarks during a valedictory session for late Edwin Clark in the Senate.
The former Anambra state governor had on Wednesday, while making a speech at Pa Edwin Clark’s memorial lecture in Abuja, questioned the silence of those who protested against the administration of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.
Obi queried whether they are now dead, saying they protested against Jonathan when he increased fuel from N87 to N120 and a dollar exchanged at N900.
Obi argued that the labours of our heroes’ past are now in vain.
He said: “For somebody like me who had just been part of the 2023 general election, he lived a life of courage, a life of sacrifice, a life of justice, a life that is valued. But most importantly, he continued living that life to the end. So why are we saying it (labours of heroes past) should not be in vain?
“I listened to my brother Mike when you talked about, ‘may the Labour of our heroes past not be in vain’. I’m happy that Jonathan is here. But I can tell you their sacrifice is in vain.
“They have sacrificed for nothing. We were in this country when people were protesting, when there was no need to protest under Goodluck Jonathan. Where are those protesters? Have they died? Where are they?
“So why are we saying it (labours of heroes past) should not be in vain? Jonathan increased fuel from N87 to N120, and people were protesting in this country. And when it was the N900, they weren’t protesting.
“Again, so why are we saying it (labours of heroes past) should not be in vain? UNICEF two days ago announced that Nigeria now has over 2 million malnourished children, the second highest in the world. Are they de-marketing Nigeria? That’s just the reality. Their labour is in vain.
“We have a country now that’s not democratic. We are not a democratic country, let’s tell ourselves the truth.
“Elections that happened in Edo, are they democratic? Everybody knows who won that generation. So why are we keeping it and saying let their work not be in vain?
“It’s in vain. So we can start picking the pieces now because they’ve destroyed everything people have sacrificed for.
“Look at what is happening in Nigeria today, all we do today is stealing, stealing, stealing, and stealing, you know, and we have to do something.
“He lived a courageous life. May God Almighty, who called him home, grant him eternal rest. And grant us the courage to look into what a father lived for and start picking up our pieces. May God bless all of us.”
However, Akpabio, in his reaction to Obi, said the Labours of Clark cannot by any means be said to be in vain.
