…Say Nation’s Prosperity Is Threatened By Hunger, Insecurity
Assessing Nigeria at 66, Prof. Itse Sagay, former chairman Presidential Adversary Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) and Comrade Yinka Folarin, national president Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), have said that the country hasn’t made any progress, despite 27 years of uninterrupted democracy.
The duo in separate interviews, urged the government of the day to ensure that there’s improvement in the areas of food security and general security of the citizens, lamenting that the country is grappling with poverty and insecurity at a high scale
Sagay said, “We’re still far away from what we should be. If you look at the standard of living, there’s poverty. The cost of living is very high. The fact that the removal of the subsidy was such an absolute disaster. The government is not ready to admit that they made a mistake.
“We were managing, things were not that good, but we were covered by subsidy, keeping prices down so that we were surviving. But the removal, so drastically, was brutal. It crushed us. We haven’t recovered from it. The cost of living is so high. The whole economic and social atmosphere is harsh.”
He noted that transportation is unaffordable, as well as food. You can’t buy food. Everything is so harsh. It’s like a permanent winter.”
Speaking on insecurity, he noted that darkness shouldn’t meet anyone outside. “The country is so dangerous now. So risky. The people doing these things are uncontrolled. They have more powers than the established military and police. So, it’s a very unsafe situation.
“I thought when this government came to power this issue of insecurity would be tackled. How can private armed people be more powerful than a government that is funded by the whole country? Illegal people will be taken over and the government will be denied. It’s not acceptable. I’m not impressed by what is happening. Government should do something urgently”
Folarin lamented that our years of uninterrupted democracy and independence do not justify what we are, stressing that our growth doesn’t justify our years of existence.
According to him, Nigeria is supposed to be a state of prosperity. “If not a zero poverty nation, it should be a state that is near zero poverty level. But unfortunately, we have increased poverty, unemployment, looting of our commonwealth, and abuse of opportunity. We’re a country that is so blessed with agriculture, with so many things. But we have refused to grow. I would say it should be a solemn celebration. It should be a time for sober reflection. We don’t have much to celebrate.”
According to him, a country that has claimed to have been under democracy for 27 years with so many years of independence, yet its citizens’ right to life is still under serious threat.
“Freedom of movement is under threat. Even governance is on trial. There’s not much good governance. We haven’t grown according to our age. There’s a need for the country to redeem itself politically. The number of out-of- school children is not impressive. The rate of unemployment is high.
“We have to talk about sustainable security, sustainable peace. We can’t be so proud of our country to say that we’re excelling in line with what is expected of us. For me, we haven’t grown as expected. And there’s so much to be looked into. Our electoral system, the conduct of the players.”
