Former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Tuesday, took a critical look at the living condition of most Nigerians and concluded that “the hardship in the land is getting out of control”.
However, as Nigeria grapples with the challenge of food insecurity, governors of the 36 states have responded with unique strategies tailored to their specific agricultural strengths and vulnerabilities.
According to him, giving palliatives to Nigerians without addressing the root cause of the hardship is not the answer to the problem.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, urged Nigerians to take full advantage of the various intervention programmes introduced by the federal government, to overcome the current economic hardship.
Abdulsalami spoke in Minna, the Niger State capital, when he received the leadership of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), led by Abdullahi Mohammed Jabi, who paid him a birthday visit.
The CD delegation had asked him to prevail on President Bola Tinubu to find a solution to the hunger in the land.
The former head of state lamented, “Everybody is crying 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.”
Abdulsalami declared, “We will continue to encourage the government to introduce measures to soften the hardship.”
He added that “the federal, states and local governments should see how they can cushion this economic hardship”.
The former ruler said he belonged to a forum that had made recommendations to the federal government on the way out of the economic hardship in the land.
He stated, “I would like to inform you that in some of the proposals we have given to the government on another platform, giving palliatives is not the answer” to the high prices of food and other items in the country.
Abdulsalami said, “There is a need for government to flood and saturate the communities with food, let them (government) buy food and sell at lesser prices to the people so that people will try to buy some of these food items depending on their pockets/ income
“We have passed these recommendations to the government; we hope they will implement it.”
The former military leader urged those proposing for the #EndBadGovernance protest on October 1 to conduct it peacefully and prevent it from becoming a platform for carnage, theft, and criminalities.
According to him, “People, instead of demonstrating, went about looting even private houses, private individuals suffered in the hands of the demonstrators.
“If at all we are going to demonstrate let us know this is why we are demonstrating, let us not inflict hardship on fellow Nigerians.”
Abdulsalami said the government should listen to the demonstrators, stressing,”You cannot beat a child and prevent it from crying.”
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.
In the meantime, governors of the 36 states devised strategies for tackling the food insecurity in the country.
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.
