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EndBadGovernance: The Presidential address, I think we missed it again
The strike or protest that grounded economic and commercial activities in Abuja and many Northern States for three days has left Nigerians with another scar or wound to heal.
Protesting is a right of citizens to tell the government to do the right thing, but violent protests are not the right way in any clime across the globe. However, it is expected of our security agents to be professional in their conduct when citizens demand their rights.
Killing protesters should not be a way to curtail the excesses of protesters. In situations where protesters are murdered like chickens, it shows that the government of the day has no value for human life, and it is very barbaric.
If I am not mistaken, the recent protest yielded no results, and the reason is not far-fetched. The politicians hijacked the protest, thereby deviating from the original plan of the organizers.
The main aim of the protest was to address the hardship in the land, but we were surprised to see protesters calling for the military to take over a legitimate government.
Is that the solution to the high cost of commodities?
Is that the solution to insecurity and banditry?
The protest, rather than uniting us, divided us further. When you heard people shouting “Igbo must go” in Lagos, is that the solution to hunger?
The thirty-six State Governors should search their minds and tell us if they are actually fair to the citizens.
With the increase in their monthly allocations, almost all the State Governors are busy building bridges on dry land.
I think these executives need some training on what to do with the big allocations. Bridges cannot put food on citizens’ tables. The amount spent on constructing one overhead bridge could definitely build and put into operation one food processing industry or another medium-scale factory.
President Tinubu’s Sunday morning address once again shows that the ruling class in Nigeria doesn’t know the needs of the citizens.
I will start from item 14 of Mr. President’s speech, where he mentioned the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway projects. Honestly, if we must be sincere, these two projects are a misplacement of priorities. (Shop for the Boys or Friends) Presently, many federal roads are calling for attention.
For instance, the road from Benin to Warri Junction through the Bypass is a no-go area for road users. From Ogala to Sapele Junction to Warri is so terrible that many commuters sleep on the road daily. These roads to Rivers State deserve urgent federal government attention, as Rivers State is more or less cut off from other Southern States. Between Sapele and Ibioma Junction in Bayelsa State, motorists spend hours due to bad roads. Motorists pass through bush roads where some youths collect tolls before allowing you to pass.
From Ibioma to Ahoada, it has become an annual occurrence that the road usually cuts off during the rainy season. Almost all the federal roads in Ondo/Ekiti State need government attention, and the same goes for Lagos, Kwara, and Oyo States.
Item 27 of the President’s speech is clear proof that both the rulers and the ruled in Nigeria are clueless. Low-cost housing? A trip around Abuja would reveal multiple completed large estates across Abuja without occupants. A trip from Diedie Junction to Gwarinpa would show nothing less than 50 different completed, abandoned, and ongoing constructions of Housing Estates on both sides of the road in Kagini, Dawaki, Katampe, etc., to Minister Hill.
During the NPN regime of Shehu Shagari between 1982 and 1983, many low-cost houses were built across the country. The government called it low-cost housing, but how many civil servants could afford the houses then? Entering Ibadan from Ile Ife, many of the houses became residences for hemp smokers. In Ondo State, moving from Akure to Ondo town, on the left-hand side after the correctional center, you will see many of the houses wasting away in the forest.
What a sensible government should do in Abuja is investigate the ownership of those estates wasting away and make them useful for those in need of accommodations.
I sincerely suggest to President Tinubu that the money for the Karsana 3,212 units of houses should be used to establish a food processing factory in Niger State, where food crops will soon need storage or Processing.
I was expecting the speech to tell us about the government’s plans to make farm environments safe for our farmers. A lot of anchor borrower farmers are in serious debt because of insecurity in farm environments.
Mr. President, sir, make a serious pronouncement on the security situation on farms and let our farmers feel free to produce food. Food prices are rising because farms are no longer safe. The government should do everything possible to encourage farmers and make farm environments safe.
I will repeat again, that what we need is sustainable empowerment and not food palliatives.
God bless Nigeria.
Lai Gidado August 5th, 2024