Palliatives Not the Answer to Nigerians’ Problem, Says PRP National Legal Adviser

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Professor Mahmood Aliyu, at the weekend, faulted the recent palliatives being distributed by state governors occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.

Aliyu, however, said: “Palliative is not the answer to Nigerians’ problem, but having jobs to do is the best form of palliative that the government can give to the masses.”

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin during the personality programme of the Correspondents Chapel of the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) tagged: ‘News Keg’, the PRP chieftain said: “Nigerians are being insulted by the palliative measures. I don’t cherish palliatives. Let the masses have access to good life.”

He added that: “The government at all levels should create the enabling environment for job creation, to make citizens self-reliant.

“Having jobs to do is the best form of palliative that the government can give to the masses.”

The legal adviser said successive governments in the country had been telling masses to fasten their belts without accruing benefits.

Professor Aliyu noted that: “It is disturbing that the Nigeria political class has turned governance in Nigeria into the ‘Barber’s Chair’.

“The country remains stagnant in terms of development, only keeps rolling without making progress. The majority of the citizens remain in abject poverty to the extent that Nigeria was declared the poverty centre of the world during Buhari’s presidency.

 “All that this crop of ruling class believes in and practices consistently over the years is to massively acquire wealth while in office at all cost and use a small portion of it to buy their way through all the election period to maintain their political position or even move higher positions.”

The PRP chieftain, however, criticised Nigeria’s involvement in the planned military intervention in the Niger Republic impasse.

He said Nigeria has a myriad of challenges that need urgent attention instead of wasting resources on a foreign mission.

Aliyu, however, welcomed the involvement of ECOWAS in resolving the Niger crisis but added that the development should not be a priority for Nigeria.

According to him, “We’ve not been able to take care of our own security issues adequately. What wisdom do we have to wage war against our neighbour? Honestly, from my mind, I’m completely against it. It’s morally, economically and spiritually wrong.

“If this question was asked on the first day, what I would say is that that is not supposed to be our priority as a country. But if it’s ECOWAS, it’s ok. The matter has even taken political and ethnic dimensions.”