The Mayor of Urhoboland and a top-notch chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Eshanekpe Israel, a.k.a Akpodoro has called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration to, as a matter of national emergency, reverse the removal of fuel subsidy as he lamented the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
He stated this at a well attended stakeholders forum in Abuja over the weekend as he took a swipe on the economic management team of the current administration.
He added that the president’s handlers aren’t advising him well on what to do in the immediate to cushion the effects of the austerity measure which his administration has embarked upon from the inception.
Only the living, according to the mayor, can have their hope renewed but not the dead saying Nigerians if care is not taken will begin to commit massive suicide all over the place.
He noted that right from when he was sworn in that he issued his anti subsidy statement, Nigeria has never remained the same again with the cost of goods and services skyrocketing every moment.
The Mayor expressed regret that the President removed the subsidy from Petroleum products without adequately preparing for same maintaining that, at this juncture, the president should consider the imperatives of rescinding his decision on the fuel subsidy policy.
The prices of commodities he noted are rising by the moment, leaving the already downtrodden in a helpless situation such that citizens could no longer feed, let alone feed well.
He dared the president to visit the hospitals in Nigeria to see the damage his anti masses policies and programmes have caused.
He seeks an early reversal of the fiscal policies of the administration to cushion the effects of the austerity measures as he lamented the delayed take-off of the operations of already fixed refineries in the country.
According to the Gberegolor Ughelli South Local Government Area-born ex-agitator, were it not for the reason that Nigerians are resilient and understanding people, the entire country would have gone up in flame by now as he warned the government to consider the plight of poor Nigerians before formulating harsh policies that could destabilise the nation.
He called on the president not to allow Nigerians to judge former President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration better than his, adding that Nigerians expect much better than he is giving them in terms of his leadership and governance.
Akpodoro contended that the media agencies of government are not doing enough to sensitise and enlighten the people particularly as it concerns the programmes of his government noting that every policy of his administration must be brought to the notice and understanding of the Nigerian people from time to time for the masses to key into his policies.
He argued that the National Orientation Agency, NOA, and the entire body of the Ministry of Information are docile and not responsive to the plight of Nigerians. They owe the nation the duty of keeping them abreast of information at all times.
Food security, he said, is germain to the growth and development of a nation, adding that the insecurity plaguing the nation, if added to hunger, becomes a twin monster that should be declared emergency situation “When you buy an item today, by the time return to the market next for same commodity the price will rise double from the amount it was previously purchased and these are the reasons for resentment in the land. Nigerians need a government that will protect from hunger and starvation. Darkness is pervading the entire landscape worse than it was before now. The President should rise to the occasion to make life better.
“One may not actually make this call to the President in isolation of other times of government. The state and local government administrators should remember that agriculture is not an exclusive list of the government. Therefore, nothing stops a state or local government from having food reserve for their constituents. FG can not be solely blamed. the citizens should also extend their anger to other tiers of government for their woes. Can’t a state government own a storage facility for food reserve?” He queried while he called on the President to know that those who voted for him are dying of hunger and avoidable diseases.
The Mayor referenced the devastating endsars protest that the President shouldn’t take Nigerians for granted saying if the hunger in the land persists, it could ignite civil disobedient that will dwarf that of the endsars protest of 2020 aking to the Arab spring that undermined civil authority and ultimately change if government. “This government should do the needful to avoid unsavoury development that could undermine our cherished democracy.”
