Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday warned that the Nigeria’s population is gradually out striping the country’s economic growth.
Okowa made this remark at the PDP retreat for members of the newly elected National Working Committee (NWC).
He said that the latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics that showed that the economy grew at 2.8 percent per annum when compared to the population rate at 3.5 percent is worrisome.
According to the Delta State governor: “It is true that by 2050, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world, but to what extent is the country taking advantage of population growth.
“Are our youths productive or are we as a nation breeding a bunch of criminals,” while tasking the incoming PDP National Executive to research on how the party should benefit from the growing population in the country.
He also asked the PDP come out with a policy look at the viability of a state police as crimes is daily on the increase.
Okowa said: “What is the viability of a state police. What are the issues that would motivate a police man or woman to be loyal to the extent of putting his life on the life in the course of duty.”
Also, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, has called on leaders of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to commence articulation of economic recovery strategies that will lead to single digit or at democratically takes over governance come 2023.
The minority leader, who described the PDP as a government in waiting, insisted that such rapid economic recovery is achievable under the right leadership direction which only the PDP could offer under the prevailing circumstance.
Elumelu, who spoke at the opening of the on-going two days retreat organised by the PDP National Working Committee-elect maintained that Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and natural resources but lamented that the nation is currently in the woods due to the misrule of the corrupt and rudderless All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
He stressed that working along the vision of the PDP for a new Nigeria, the nation has the potential for rapid economic renewal that could lead to “a single digit unemployment rate, single digit bank lending rate; a double-digit fuel price and drastic drop in the cost of food, healthcare and other necessities of life.
“These feats are achievable if Nigerians collectively vote out the APC and exert themselves along the line of PDP’s vision for a new Nigeria. Nigeria is blessed with abundant resources and we always excel under the right leadership direction.”
The minority leader stressed that the nation’s problem is the APC adding that Nigerians are eagerly waiting for the APC to vacate office in 2023.
“Nigerians cannot wait for the APC, a party of barefaced liars, swindlers, treasury looters and accursed oppressors, to go in 2023, so that our country can again experience the peace and economic prosperity they once enjoyed under the PDP.
“The APC is fascist-minded party. It does not believe in the prosperity, freedom and personal liberty of citizens. It does not believe in development and even distribution of resources. It is at best, a cartel of power mongers and political bandits seeking only to devour the nation for their selfish gains.
“The APC and its administration have no answers to the myriad of problems they created for our nation. In fact, APC’s inability to conduct a national convention and achieve a structured leadership at all levels across the country underscores its rudderlessness and explains why our nation is in shambles under its watch.
“So, the APC cannot be part of the new Nigeria our citizens yearn for. It should therefore fizzle out of our political atmosphere, come 2023,” Elumelu stated.
The minority leader, however, cautioned that despite its failures, the APC would fight to keep its “claws in the neck of our nation” by deploying “its stock-in-trade of propaganda, fake promises, false performance claims, intimidation of citizens and electoral manipulations in a desperate attempt to cling to power.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to unite in resisting APC’s shenanigans and rigging plots ahead of the 2023 elections.
Meanwhile, a group known as the PDP in the Diaspora, yesterday, commended the national leadership of the party for coming up with a retreat for newly elected national officers, saying the development would help champion a fresh course for the country.
This is even as they bemoaned what they called the poor management of the nation’s diversity in the past six and a half years by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a press statement made available to media by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Chidi Igwe, the group lauded the PDP for “setting the right tone and target to rescue Nigeria from the current state of emergency.”
According to the press statement, founder of Diasporans for PDP, a not-for-profit organisation, Honourable Victoria Pamugo, emphasised that the group is “pleased with the tone PDP is setting,” adding that “members in diaspora agree that PDP is sending the right message to all Nigerians, a message to unite the country, restore the economy, and rescue Nigeria from the nearly eight years of damage done by APC and President Buhari’s administration.”
The statement read in part: “When you look at all the political parties cropping up in Nigeria today, there is no doubt that PDP is the only party that can save Nigeria from this damage being caused by APC’s incompetence and President Buhari’s bad administration. So Nigerians have to choose wisely and be strategic with their votes in 2023.
“Just by looking around from state to state, local government to local government, city to city, town to town, and village to village across Nigeria, one cannot help but be dismayed by the prevalence of misery, poverty, hardship, hunger, dilapidation, and complete degradation of the cultural, political and economic fundamentals of the country.
“The fabrics of our nation have been totally weakened by the bad political and economic decisions of the APC and Buhari administration. As a result, Nigeria is in a state of emergency,” Hon. Pamugo said.
The group, however, urged Nigerians not to be deterred by current happenings but to resolve to dislodge the APC out of power in the 2023 general election.
The US-based organisation saluted the party’s resolve to focus on rebuilding Nigeria and making it once again a country that “all of us can be proud of.”
According to Pamugo, “2023 will provide an opportunity for Nigerians to change direction and elect PDP to undo the damage and retrogression APC and President Buhari have caused in the past six and a half years they’ve been in office.
“We want a Nigeria we can all call home, where there will be job opportunities, social support systems, security, good roads, good health-care system, good educational system, world-class infrastructure, reliable power supply, adequate food and portable water supply channels.
“We want a modern and booming economy that can compete with other western countries, not one that is marred by mismanagement, corruption and lack of vision, as we currently have it today under this APC administration.
“We want a Nigeria that is prosperous and values the life of every citizen. A Nigeria that creates things, manufactures and exports things to other countries and builds national wealth, not a dumping ground for foreign manufactured goods and services,” she stressed.
She continued: “Nigerians are smart people. Look at us living in foreign lands! We are the ones helping to build economic progress in other countries. Look at us! Imagine if all the skills we are deploying in other countries are brought back to Nigeria!
“All you need is a government that has a good vision, one that can focus on building an empowering economy and not a corrupt system that frustrates citizens and force brain-drain upon itself, with its citizens leaving for other countries in search of greener pasture,” she lamented.
The organisation further re-emphasised its mandate to promote the civic and social welfare of all Nigerian peoples, promote objective learning and literacy, patriotism, women, children and youth empowerment, and promote opportunities for strong civic and political participation in Nigeria.
With members in America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa, Diasporans for PDP is head-quartered in Houston, Texas, United States of America.
