Abdulsalami Abubakar asks Tinubu’s government to tackle hardship, says palliative isn’t the solution
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Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former head of state, has asked the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tackle worsening hardship, saying palliative isn’t the solution.
He spoke on Tuesday in Minna, Niger state, when he hosted a delegation of Campaign for Democracy (CD), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO).
While stating that hardship appears to be out of control, the former military ruler said he would continue to urge the government to put measures in place to address the hardship that the citizens are currently experiencing.
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He said: “Everybody is crying because of this hardship and it seems to be getting out of control.
“People cannot afford three square meals, the issue of transportation, the hike in fuel price, the hike in school fees for the children and the lack of funds in everybody’s pocket is making life difficult for everybody.
“We will continue to encourage the government to introduce measures to soften the hardship. The federal, states and local governments should see how they can cushion this economic hardship.”
He said as far as he was concerned, giving palliatives to the people was not the answer to the high prices of food and other items across the country.
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“The answer is the need for the government to flood and saturate the communities with food. Let the government buy food and sell it at lesser prices, so people can buy the food items of their choice, depending on their income,” the former head of state said.
He advised those planning to protest against the economic crisis on October 1 to do so peacefully.
“For God’s sake when you demonstrate, do it peacefully,” he said.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation said they were at his former head of state’s residence to rejoice with him on his birthday. They prayed for long life and good health for him.
Jabi solicited the support of the former Nigerian leader for the implementation of some of its programmes, especially in the area of mobilisation of Nigerians for active participation in governance.
He drew the attention of their host to the prevailing hunger in the land and urged him to help prevail on the federal government to solve the problem.
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In the meantime, governors of the 36 states devised strategies for tackling the food insecurity in the country.
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From the drought-prone states of the north to the floodplains of the south, state governments, in collaboration with federal authorities and international organisations, were making concerted efforts to combat hunger and improve agricultural productivity.
In a document signed by Head of Information and Publications of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Halima Ahmed, in the North-west, known for its vast expanse of arable land, states like Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, and Sokoto, focused on bolstering the production of staple crops, such as rice, millet, and sorghum.
Through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which had since been suspended, thousands of smallholder farmers were said to have received financial support and inputs to scale up their production.
For instance, for Kano State, often referred to as the “commercial nerve centre of agriculture,” the main policy thrust was to attain food security and raise the income level of residents of the state.
For agriculture, the report revealed that the administration of Abba Yusuf was working round the clock to transform all farming practices and build a practical agric-value-chain to the benefit of all.
The effort included development of Kano irrigation masterplan, Kano livestock masterplan, Kano poultry masterplan, Kano Small ruminant masterplan, and Kano fisheries masterplan.
Others were the distribution of agricultural inputs, such as improved seeds of rice, maize, and sorghum, to subsistence farmers across the 44 local government areas of the state.
The report highlighted the rehabilitation of Tertiary Irrigation Canals, with 3,288 farmers as beneficiaries, at the cost of N292 million, and introduction of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone programme (SAPZ) by the African Development Bank worth $130 million to promote the production of rice, tomato, groundnut, and sesame seed.
Furthermore, the report revealed that with rice production initiatives that involved expanding irrigation systems with water resources from the Tiga and Challawa dams, farmers could cultivate rice during both the rainy and dry seasons.
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