Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said that Nigeria’s future looks bleak and that its survival remains unpredictable.

The Governor said that without conscious efforts by those in authority to ensure regional autonomy, true democracy and fiscal federalism, no one can really tell the future of the country.

The Governor spoke at event to mark the 60th Independence celebration of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

“Nigeria’s misery index remains one of the worst in the world.

“Never in our history since the end of the civil war have Nigerians been so divided, despondent and distressed with prognosis that clearly point to the fact that the cracks are getting deeper in the much-strained,” Wike said.

He noted that the walls that have managed to keep the country together have been abused and debased.

“As things stand now no one can really predict the future survival of this nation if we continue to maintain this nebulous, rigged and generally rejected federal system through corruption, repression and the abuse of both legitimate and illegitimate state institutions”.

The governor said leaders’ resistance to heeding the voices of reason in confronting and resolving knotty issues quickly amounted to postponing the doomsday.

Wike pointed out that Nigeria can be strong and progressive if political leaders decide practice true democracy, fraud-proof electoral system.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday announced a new price for the pump price of petrol in the country during his Democracy Day nationwide address.

He berated previous administrations from 1999 to 2015 for criticising his administration when they allegedly presided over the near-destruction of the country.