In a post titled "National Economic Emergency" which he shared on his
Facebook wall yesterday, former media aide to former President Jonathan,
Doyin Okupe, prevailed on former Minister of Finance, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, to have a rethink and lend her support to the APC-led
government towards reviving the economy which is currently in recession.
According to him, issues concerning Nigeria should
not be politicized. He also gave support towards the Economic Emergency
power President Buhari is asking the National Assembly to give him so he
can move speedily towards reviving the economy. Read his post below...
It is a fact that Nigeria as a country is in dire straits in terms of
its economy. It is not too important how we got here or who or what
brought us here. We need an exit plan desperately. Sadly, there is too
much politicking in Nigeria. Our Partisanship is obscenely unhealthy for
our nation. A few of our people are still behaving as if elections are
yet to take place. But the truth is elections have come and obviously
they have also gone. Unfortunately our economy, has slipped into a
recession and that is crippling everybody and everything. No matter what
government and those opposed to government are saying, there is no easy
way out of a recession. When President Obama came in, in his first
term, the US was in recession. He was young, brilliant, and smoking hot,
it took nearly 2yrs to see the tips of the mountain, and almost the
same length of time before the flood of recession started to recede. At
that time the opposition threw diatribes and invectives similar to what
is being thrown at President Buhari now, at him. But he remained
focussed and steadfast. Eventually he succeeded. ‘While wailing, howling
or even cursing from the populace will certainly not help our
situation, pretence, conceit or sheer optimism from government quarters
also is no panacea for the economic infirmity bedevilling our Nation.
‘This situation calls for an end to extreme partisanship in the face of a
major threatening national emergency. ‘We need to, and we must put all
hands on deck. May be President Buhari’s famous quote”….We have no other
country that we can call our own” is more apt now than “the change
begins with me ” mantra, which may not be as bad as it is being
presented, except that the cliche was coming almost 18months late. It
would have been better received if it was part of the inaugural speech
of the president. Dr,mrs, Okonjo Iweala must have a rethink. This is not
about Buhari or Apc, it is about the survival of over 20% of black
population in the world. It is about the continued existence of the most
populous nation in Africa. It is about Nigeria, the only nation where
black history and heritage can be redefined. We must bring in all our
aces, Kalu Ndika Kalu, Soludo, Rewani, Tunde Lemo, Utomi, shanmsudeen,
our revered Emir of Kano and a host of others. Recession is a word, I
agree, but a very challenging word describing a critical problem. But it
is a challenge. Nations have gone in and out of recessions before now,
we can jointly, working together , find answer to this thorny all
encompassing national malaise. Does the President need emergency powers
to deal with this situation ? I answer YES in the affirmative even
though I have reservations . But truth is sacrosanct . Monies must be
spent that cannot wait for the normal process of legislative approvals.
Actions must be taking by the President and his executives that cannot
wait for the usual debates in our hallowed legislative chambers. But
alas, there are fears, genuine fears of abuse of such powers, especially
against political opponents. Perhaps this is what we need to debate and
work on and ensure that all such possibilities are eliminated with
legislative craftiness and deftness that cannot be wanting amongst the
robust body of our legislators . But if the president must lead this
struggle against Recession such legal framework will assist him
greatly.’
Comments
Post a Comment