Former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar said the hardship in Nigeria is getting out of control and that the distribution of palliatives is not the way out but sustainable action to end the people’s suffering.
The former Nigerian leader spoke at his residence in uphill Minna when he received the leadership of the Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights led by Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Jabi.
General Abdulsalami said, “The hardship in the land is getting out of control. Everybody is crying about this hardship, and it seems to get out of control. People cannot afford three square meals. The issue of transportation, the hike in fuel, the hike in school fees for the children, and the lack of funds in everybodys pocket make life difficult for everybody.”
“I would like to inform you that in some of the proposals we have given to the government on another platform (He did not mention the platform), giving Palliatives is not the answer to the high prices of food and other items in the country,” he added.
While saying that “There is need for government to flood and saturate the communities with food, let them (Government) buy food and sell it at lesser prices to the people so that people will try to buy some of these food items depending on their pockets/ income,” he reiterated that palliative is not sustainable.
He said their forum (Did not state the name) had made recommendations to the federal government on the way out of the economic hardship in the land.
He said, “We have passed these recommendations to the government; we hope they will implement them”.
Speaking also on the #Endbadgovernance protest slated for the 1st of October, Gen. Abdulsalami said, “For God’s sake, when you demonstrate, do it peacefully”.
He recalled that “in the last demonstration, we saw unnecessary, uncalled for carnage, theft and criminalities, 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,” he said, while advising the government to listen to the demonstrators because “You cannot beat a child and prevent it from crying.”
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Comrade Abdullahi Jabi, said they were in his residence to rejoice with him on the celebration of his last birthday and prayed for a long life and good health for him.
Jabi solicited the former Nigerian leader‘s support for implementing some of its programmes, especially in mobilising Nigerians for active participation in governance.