NEF tells Tinubu, walk your talk, release subsidy removal palliatives
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) to walk his talk and release palliatives to mitigate the collateral effects of fuel subsidy removal now causing citizens to starve.
NEF Publicity and Advocacy Hakeem Baba-Ahmed advised Tinubu to communicate with Nigerians in a manner that makes them understand why it is necessary to go through major pain, and “who and what” is responsible.
“The Forum wishes to advise the administration to consider taking some basic steps to improve the context in which it seeks to achieve short and long term goals.
“The most important at this stage is to communicate with Nigerians in a manner that lets us understand why it has become necessary that we should go through major pains, including whether they are inevitable or avoidable,” Baba-Ahmed pressed in a statement.
“The citizen is entitled to know why it is now impossible for millions of families to feed; why his child may soon be out of school, and why his life has no timeline for recovery.
“Nigerians want to know how we got here, who and what was responsible for the prices we are paying for their actions, and what the administration plans to do to bring the past to book.
“Nigerians know that the virtual civil war going on between anti-corruption and security agencies is related to attempts to bury the past, or create its seamless entry into more of our lives.”
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Interrogating abuse of citizens’ trust
“The administration must take a firm grip over efforts to interrogate the past and make it account for its abuse of our trust and our commonwealth,” Baba-Ahmed said, according to Vanguard.
“Nigerians will be more amenable to tolerating hardship if they see a genuine effort by the administration not to draw boundaries around what can be asked of those who were responsible for our current state.
“Then, the administration should vigorously attempt to assure Nigerians that we are not being processed through questionable economic philosophies and policies designed by people far removed from our desperate existence; people who are not accountable to Nigerians for the value of their advice.
“Next, the administration must hasten to provide relief to millions of Nigerians who are facing imminent starvation and total loss of any means to earn an honest living.
“Time and an informed targeting with a good chance of massive impact are of the essence here.”
Proposed palliatives not sufficient
“It is important to mention here that amounts being handed over to State Governors to design palliatives are unlikely to make the type of impact that should keep hungry and desperate population patiently waiting.
“Finally, the administration must, at all costs, avoid considering its vision and plans of our future as a country as a done deal. A population convinced that its fate has been designed and sealed by an all-knowing leadership is very difficult to govern.
“We advise this administration to cultivate the values of respect for the citizen, humility of the leader and a willingness to build flexibility into policies as great virtues that should serve it and the country well.
“We advise fellow citizens to be patient with the administration, and, at all costs, avoid illegal actions that will merely make our lives poorer and more insecure.”