General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), the former chief of state of the Nigerian military, has issued a warning that the hardship in the country is out of control and has asked the government to take immediate action.
At his Minna home yesterday, during a visit from Abdullahi Mohammed Jabi, the leader of the Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights, he declared, “The suffering in the land is getting out of control.”
General Abdulsalami added, per The Sun: “Everybody is crying about 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, the hike in school fees for the children and the lack of funds in everybody’s pocket is making life difficult for everybody, Nigerians are suffering.
“We will continue to encourage the government to introduce measures to soften the hardship” adding that” the federal, states and local governments should see how they can cushion this economic hardship.”
The former head of the armed forces did reveal, though, that he was a member of a council that had advised the national government on how to escape the current economic crisis.
“I would like to inform you that in some of the proposals we have given to the government on another platform that giving Palliatives is not the answer to the high prices of food and other items in the country.
“There is a need for the 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.
“We have passed these recommendations to the government, we hope they will implement it”, he added.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli
