Aregbesola Asks President Tinubu To Address Hunger, Hardship

By Ayodele Oni

A former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has implored President Bola Tinubu’s government to address the prevailing economic challenges to prevent a potential revolt.

Aregbesola, former Interior Minister in the immediate past administration, an estranged political ally of Tinubu, bluntly, warned that Tinubu’s Government may be toppled, if hunger, hardship persist.

The former governor lamented the widening gulf and socio-economic chasm between the rich and the poor saying the troubling and parlous state of the nation could trigger a revolution that may unseat the present government.

Aregbesola stated that the widespread economic hardship and galloping inflation in the country portend serious danger and may spell doom for the President Bola Tinubu government if the situation does not change.

Aregbesola spoke during a panel session at a national dialogue on the Parliamentary Bill, organised by the Parliamentary System Support Group in the House of Representatives in Abuja.

He bemoaned the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, adding that there was even distribution of wealth when he was growing up.

“We have seen worsening economic—even political and spiritual—conditions of Nigerians. You don’t need to be a nuclear scientist to know that a smaller percentage of Nigerians are now prosperous, not that there is no prosperity in Nigeria, but it is decreasing daily.

“When I was born and during my developmental years, wealth was not as limited to the hands of a very few people as it is today.

“So, what does that tell us? It tells us that we are in deep trouble. We would not be here discussing this if things were normal in Nigeria.”

Aregbesola explained that “whatever does not give appropriate opportunity or rights to the people will be resisted no matter what you do.

“If other things fail, people can revolt. If we are conscious of all this and understand the consequences of things getting out of hand, we would be interested in finding the best ways to govern ourselves.”