Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, has expressed concern over the recent response by the President to the economic challenges facing Nigeria, saying that President Tinubu’s proffered solutions to the nation’s economic crisis are going to further worsen the state of the nation.
George made these remarks during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, while acknowledging that he was initially pleased to hear the President’s statement that he had “heard Nigerians,” but quickly noted that hearing the citizens is not enough and should be coupled with profitable decisions.
He said, “When I heard the comments, the response by the President that he has heard Nigerians, I was happy that he said he has heard Nigerians. But the solutions that he has proffered would further land us in an Intensive care unit. He is not giving solutions that are going to be palatable or acceptable to the people of this country.”
George criticised the government’s plan to spend large sums on palliatives, arguing that such measures would not be effective in addressing the needs of Nigeria’s over 200 million citizens. Instead, he suggested that the government should focus on long-term solutions, such as providing microcredits to farmers. By supporting farmers and boosting agricultural production, George believes that the country could see a significant increase in food supply within six to nine months, leading to lower prices through increased competition.
He further emphasised that the current approach of distributing palliatives and appealing to traditional leaders is outdated and insufficient for the modern, digital world.
“They need to go back to their drawing board and access. It is better to teach the people how to fish rather than spending all that money buying palliatives. Over 200 million people. How are these palliatives distributed?
“This is a modern world now. It is a digital world. Try and give micro credits to the farmers. Farmers are known and those areas where they do production, in another six to nine months from now, there would be so much production that there would be competition. We’ll lower the prices among the farmers.”
According to George, there is a widespread acknowledgment, even within the presidency, that something has gone wrong, and a reassessment of strategies is urgently needed.
“So it is the approach now. Everybody has accepted that something has gone wrong including the presidency.”
Melissa Enoch
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