Hardship: Legal Practitioner, APC Chieftain Task FG on Policies Affecting  Masses

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin and  Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

A legal luminary and Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), Chief Seni Ibiwoye at the weekend tasked federal government to have a rethink on the various economic policies that have  continued to bring hardship and hunger to the masses of the country.

Similary, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu, to act very quickly and save the masses from further hardship. 

 Ibiwoye said that the masses of this country are groaning and suffering  as a result of  the recent hike in the prices of premium motor spirit(PMS) popularly called petrol. 

Ibiwoye, who is also the National President of Old Boys Association of Government Secondary School ( GSS )Maraba, Ilorin, Kwara state spoke with journalists in Ilorin on the sideline of the 50th celebration of 1979 set of the institution.

About 50 of them in late 60s and 70s  gathered together in their school uniform to celebrate the occasion while 27 of them are late

He, however,  cautioned President  Tinubu against taking Nigerian masses for granted over the increasing hardship as further protest could lead to a revolution nobody can predict its end.

Ibiwoye, who gave several copious references of people’s experiences about the current hardship, expressed sadness that  Nigerian masses are really suffering, stressing that there’s nowhere anyone has said that the current administration is doing well.

He said: “By virtue of my training and philosophical disposition, we are supposed to hope for the best ,as they say when there’s life there’s hope.

“That is what I want to preach because I can see a lot of discord among the people and resentment among Nigerians. I ran into the protest and I can tell you live that people are not happy. The present situation is very unfortunate but we have to hope for the best .

“What I keep telling people is that we should be careful of people not to protest, because the protest of the masses could mean what they call revolution and it’s never planned. I am not talking about NLC or NANS calling for protest, everyone would be involved and no one can ever predict the ultimate end.

 “I went to a gas station   and met one man who came to buy gas that he was buying with his last money to cook the last food he has at home. You could see in his face that he wasn’t lying, things are so bad.

“President Tinubu is there to serve us, isn’t it? But Nigerians are groaning. I have not gotten anywhere and they say he’s doing well.

“What we are hearing is that people should be patient that the hope is going to be renewed. If you’re asking people to sacrifice you should live by example .

“I remember during campaign that President Tinubu promised to bring down the price of PMS and reduce the exchange rate, what has happened between then and now.

“President Tinubu should therefore reduce the price of PMS and ensure reduction of foreign exchange rates, and stop taking the suffering masses for granted.”

The senior lawyer  also called on the federal government to ensure total reorganisation and reorientation towards education in order to rescue it from its parlous state.

He said for education to attain its rightful place like in the olden days, the federal government must ensure that the budget for education should henceforth top the priority list followed by health and then others.

In his remarks, Chairman of 1979 Set of Old Boys Association of GSS,Mallam Abubakar Olarongbe  appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to construct perimeter fencing of the school in order to ensure adequate security of the students, particularly the border students of the college.

“The governor has been assisting the school with infrastructure upgrading,but we are seriously appealing to our amiable Governor to construct the perimeter fencing of the school to ensure adequate security of the students, particularly the border students who sleep in the school premises.” he said .

He also urged the state government to post trained teachers to the school in order to ensure that the students who leave the school are adequately trained for a greater future.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osunjela State, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has appealed to President Bola Tinubu, to act very quickly and save the masses from further hardship. 

Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker said that the suffering Nigerians were passing through at the moment has made it mandatory for the president to act faster and employ strategies that would bring instant reprieve.

The APC chieftain, while speaking with journalists yesterday  in Osogbo,  expressed confidence in President Tinubu’s ability to ameliorate the suffering of the masses but suggested that strategies that would bring instant relief should be adopted. 

Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), also noted the economic hardship the masses were currently going through due to the increase in pump prices which has led to the rise in prices of food stuffs, as well as, rise in electricity tariff, cost of cooking gas, among others thus making life unbearable for Nigerians.

He said the recent increase t in the pump price has worsened the hardship Nigerian masses were contending with.

He said:”Nigerians are hopeful that there will be positive turn around in the country but measures to achieve this must be accelerated. There is no doubt that the president is doing everything humanly possible to ameliorate the suffering of the masses, but a faster approach must be considered.

“The president should ensure that every bureaucratic bottleneck that is impeding the swift implementation of policies that will put smiles on the faces of the masses is removed.

“The economic suffering the masses are currently going through is becoming unbearable and the president must act fast.”

Oyintiloye also urged the president to address the delay in the implementation of the  suspension of customs duties and taxes on imported food items two months after the initiative was announced.

The ex-lawmaker also said since the initiative was said to be part of measures to combat rising food inflation across the country, there should not be any delay in its implementation. 

Oyintiloye  recalled that on  August 7, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, assured the people  that the implementation of the policy would commence the following week once the guidelines were ready, lamenting that up till now, the policy was yet to be implemented

He said: “There no doubt that the president is passionate and willing to put smiles on the faces of the masses but those who are in charge of implementing these policies should not be seen as road blocks.

“The president gave a directive to the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Services that  a 150-day duty-free window to allow the importation of maize, husked brown rice, and wheat and almost two months after this is yet to be implemented.

 “That is not good enough. The president cannot be every where and that is why his foot soldiers must be proactive in taking steps to achieve the president’s desire.

 “The masses are angry and hungry. And that is why all measures to ameliorate this should be implemented very quickly.”

He appealed to people responsible for the drafting of the guidelines for the implementation of the policy to do the needful, adding that the initiative, when implemented would crash food prices without affecting local production.

 He urged Nigerians to continue supporting the President, saying that all the policies implemented at the moment might seem painful but would be of great benefits in the long run.