By Akinwale Kasali

Afenifere, Pan Yoruba Socio-political Group has told Nigerians not to blame the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration for the present economic hardship the nation is undergoing. It stressed that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible.

The foremost Yoruba Group in a Statement signed by the Group’s Publicity and Organising Secretaries, Jare Ajayi and Kole Omololu, said that the immediate past administration, dug political and economic holes for the administration of his successor.

It added that the Buhari administration “did not make provision for oil subsidies in last year’s budget which made Tinubu cancel the regime of oil subsidies in his inaugural speech.

It added that the “economic downturn was caused by Buhari’s administration which was built on a platform of hope and a defective federalism saying promises made were not fulfilled.

The group said that “Under Buhari’s watch, terrorists and banditry were operating effortlessly. Law and order broke down.

“Many innocent citizens including the daughter of our leader were killed and or kidnapped.

“President Buhari could not rein in his critical officials like the then Governor of CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who was printing money rather than facing the reality of taking the difficult decisions, which were postponed till the evil day.”

The group said a probe panel accused Godwin Emefiele and his team of printing N22.7 trillion through ways and means and the federal government was borrowing to pay salaries and pensions during the years of the Buhari administration.

It added that some ministers suggested the removal of subsidies, among other economic decisions but President Buhari did not agree until his last year in office to lay a booby trap for the incoming administration of President Tinubu.

“ It was, therefore, obvious that we were simply postponing the evil day. The CBN Governor denied leaks flying around that the books were being doctored. He reassured the federation that all was well.

“ He even wanted to contest the presidential election! There were no penalties for his infractions by President Buhari.

“These inactions and false lives continued till May 29, 2023, when the new helmsman, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was sworn in as President.

“President Tinubu wasted no time amending his inauguration address and declared the subsidy regime over! This was obvious as there was no appropriation for subsidy from June 2023.

“He quickly followed up with the deregulation of the forex regime, which resulted in the free fall of the Naira.

A man who is not shy about making difficult decisions, he probably underestimated the capability and capacity of the beneficiaries of the old order to make things ungovernable for his administration.”

Afenifere noted that “those sleeping and snoring during the eight years of Buhari suddenly woke up forgetting that these remedial actions should have been taken many years back.

“The major sin of President Tinubu was in his contesting and winning the presidential election and making these decisions, which will hurt in the short term but bring us back to reality in the long run.

Afenifere, therefore, suggested a vibrant Ministry of Information to regularly stay in touch with the people, as a way out of the economic downturn.

It also suggested regular town hall meetings across the country where ministers would go back to their constituencies to engage with the people.

The group said “there should be the realignment of the National Assembly budget and launch of operations go back to the people by the legislators and each member must take palliatives back to the constituency.

” Governors receiving almost double allocations due to the removal of subsidies and readjustment of the exchange rates should deliver to their people. The allocations of each state of the federation should be published monthly.

“Implementation of operation grow what we eat and eat what we grow policy. Make banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism a capital offence punishable by death.

“Return to true and fiscal federalism with state police, for which we commend the President and Governors’ endorsement, and state ownership of mineral resources.

“This is not the time for some elder statesmen to make incendiary comments that can put our unity in jeopardy. Rather, it is a time to deepen peaceful co-existence to navigate through our current challenges.

Afenifere noted that” Orchestrating anarchy will be resisted in our dear nation. We fought through our blood to achieve democracy. We will also vigorously defend it, as it is here to stay.”

By Akinwale Kasali

Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communications to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted what he called the shambolic policies of President Bola  Tinubu. According to him, it has plunged the nation’s economy into this deplorable state.

Shaibu said if hunger doesn’t reduce Nigeria’s population, President Bola Tinubu’s “shambolic policies” will.

He said that the fallout of the shambolic policies of President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC, administration, and Federal Government are killing Nigerians even as there are no efforts to stem the tide.

Shaibu said, “The unprecedented hunger, poverty, and hardship in Nigeria are part of Tinubu’s ultimate plan to decimate Nigerians and pauperise them until they have no shred of dignity left.

“Tinubu is like a quack doctor trying to treat a cancerous patient. But the quack doctor is likely to kill the patient even faster than the cancer itself. This is the dire situation that Nigerians have found themselves in.

“Rather than get to work, he continues to blame his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, for handing him an empty treasury and a weak economy and the opposition for instigating mass protests. He talks as if Buhari was not a member of their diseased All Progressives Congress. He also forgets that his own kabukabu policies and its fallouts are what is instigating the mass protests across the country.”

The Atiku aide further noted that on Tinubu’s watch, poverty has reached an all-time high, with food inflation at 33%. He noted that the resulting effect would be a drop in unemployment, a rise in suicide levels, an increase in crime as well as a spike in the number of out-of-school children.

According to him, operators in the private sector of the economy continue to complain about how the Tinubu administration has led them into uncertain times, resulting in about 10 million small and micro businesses being closed.

He further stated that the free fall in the exchange rate and haphazard nature of government policies under Tinubu’s administration have made a rubbish of projections made by businesses during the last quarter of 2023.

He noted that in the past, garri and beans were considered food for the poor but even today, the poor cannot afford to buy beans which now costs N1,500 per mudu and with no prospects of a stop in the rising prices. SMA baby formula now costs N8,000 from N2,200.

He said, “Just over a year ago, a 50kg bag of rice was N47,000, but today it is N77,000. Beans used to be N36,000, but now it is N42,000. Bread was N700 for a loaf, but now it sells for N1,200. A single egg now costs N150. Imagine how much a crate costs? Even the agbado corn that Tinubu used in campaigning is also expected to go up by over 25%, according to AFEX.

“The tragedy now is that a vast majority of Nigerians whose means can’t afford decent meals, unfortunately contend with staples meant for animals.

“A recent BBC investigative report says that many people consume rejected rice gains by millers. The report specifically says that those rejected grains are purchased by fish farmers to feed their fisheries.

“In a similar context, a random visit to the Garki Market in Abuja will behold a large number of people queuing for maize shafts which they now turn into solid food. Normally, these shafts are sold to livestock farmers, but now Nigerians resort to these forms of staple as human food.”

To underscore how dire the situation has become, he quoted the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Lagos, as saying in December that the hospital recorded a 100% increase in the number of psychiatric patients admitted in the hospital.

Shaibu added that, “Just last month, a female banker committed suicide inside the banking hall, claiming that the economic hardship is unbearable. Indeed, as it is stated in Proverbs 29, verse 2: When the righteous rule, the people rejoice. But when the wicked rule, the people suffer. That is Nigeria’s current quagmire where life is brutish, short and nasty and kidnappers have taken over the land.

“When the Nigeria Economic Summit Group asked him last year to explain how he would pull out over 128 million Nigerians out of the poverty that his political party, the APC, had plunged them into, Tinubu responded by saying that he would not reveal his strategy because he didn’t want the other candidates to steal his plan. But his secret plan has now been revealed, which is to pauperise and decimate Nigerians.

“This was a man who advised the government in 2021 to recruit 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army in order to tackle unemployment. His balabu economic prescriptions have gradually brought Nigeria to its knees, putting the Naira as the worst performing currency in Africa, according to Bloomberg. This is just less than one year in office.

“After removing petrol subsidy abruptly and forcing the CBN to float the currency, he promised to provide succour to Nigerians and then went ahead to approve N3bn to review the social register. Monies meant for poor Nigerians were stolen by his appointees.

Shaibu also said, “At a time Nigeria was facing its worst fiscal crisis, this man decided to waste the country’s resources by appointing the largest cabinet in the history of Nigeria with 48 ministers even though 36 ministers would have met the constitutional threshold. Many of these ministers have been seat warmers and have achieved nothing in the last six months.

“Some ministries were split into three, and three ministers were appointed to head each new unit. Even though Nigeria’s revenue shrunk, he decided to buy a yacht, renovate the Presidential Villa and that of the Vice President, sent a delegation of hundreds of people to Dubai for the COP28, and then approved over N120bn for SUVs for National Assembly members in order to win their loyalty over.

“He was doing all these while asking Nigerians to endure and sacrifice. At least even his own personal praise singer, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), is now among those lamenting that the suffering is too much. He should be patient, Tinubu still has three years and three months to increase the poverty level.”

Atiku’s aide said Tinubu clearly knew little about Nigeria’s economy as he had been limited only to Lagos, which had always had a formal economy.

He said the President knew nothing about security or building a national economy, hence his over-reliance on IMF and other multilateral organisations.

Shaibu said, “Tinubu rode to power on the lie that he transformed Lagos economy. The truth is that Lagos had been the country’s commercial capital even before he was born. All banks, telecommunications firms, and oil companies are headquartered in Lagos. About 70% of Lagos’ revenue comes from income tax paid by staff of these companies.

“All Tinubu did was to enforce tax payment which the military government had neglected. This was the financial miracle he claimed to have performed. Now, he has been brought to the national level to repeat the so-called miracle, but the failed magician cannot rework his artistry.”