As Nigerians continue to react to last Sunday morning’s Presidential broadcast on the ongoing nationwide protest against bad governance tagged #EndBadGovernmentinNigeria, Muhammad Aminu Tukur, a politician in Bauchi state and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), described the address as not meeting Nigerians’ yearnings and aspirations.
According to him, “The address by Mr. President is an acknowledgment of leadership and responsibility to communicate with the entire citizenry. I wish him well.”
“However, let me be satirical; poison is classified into three known categories based on efficacy: Highly poisonous, Moderately poisonous, and Low/less poisonous,” he added.
According to him, “In an ideal setting, the affliction of the highly poisonous, as in the complete removal of subsidies on petroleum products, was certainly an erroneous approach. It should have been gradual; say, quarterly removal spread over a period of at least two (2) years.”
He opined that, “This would certainly enable the citizens to cope and tolerate it. By this, I am applying the Low/Less poisonous approach. We wouldn’t have been complaining as we do at the moment.”
Aminu Tukur added that, “Of the several incentives mentioned in the Presidential Address, none is having an immediate effect on the restive populace, especially the youths. Provisions mentioned in the address favor the elites over the downtrodden.”
ALSO READ:Protest: Plateau gov alleges plot to destabilise peace
According to him, “The National Minimum Wage is nothing compared to what it was in the early 1980s. The National Minimum Wage of the 1980s, if interpreted today, is above the value of N200,000. This negates the approved N70,000.”
He stressed that, “Everyone is now at the enabling age to access information with the growth in literacy and the computer age. The lifestyle of those presiding over our affairs calls for resentment, apathy, and condemnation.”
He added that, “Nothing is being spared for the commoners, not even civil service placement. Merit in recruitment has been discarded with the advent of the current Fourth Republic, which commenced in 1999.”
“To remedy the stated problems, sincerity, transparency, and accountability must be the watchwords of leadership,” he added.
He further said that, “On the part of ordinary citizens, it’s essential that we elect leaders whom we have absolute trust in, not the highest bidders that have characterized the emergence of most of the leaders currently presiding over us.”
Aminu Tukur concluded, saying, “In conclusion, the restive youths should, as a matter of caution, refrain from destroying public properties and institutions.
They must also refrain from looting the belongings of people, as is noticed in several cities and towns, especially in the Northern part of the country.”
