- He said it was a misnomer for government to be sharing rice and beans to the people instead of creating an environment that allows people to thrive, work and confortably fend for themselves.
An elder statesman, Aare Afe Babalola, says President Bola Tinubu government’s programmes and policies have exceedingly impoverished Nigerians to the point that they now have to resort to begging to feed.
Babalola, who is the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, said the federal government practice of sharing palliatives only serves to further plunge Nigerians into penury and turn them to mendicants.
Babalola spoke when the Prestige Sisters League came on a thank-you visit to him at the ABUAD campus.
He said there was widespread hardship in the country, adding that everyone could attest to the hunger and suffering in the country and the recent nationwide protest was engendered by Nigerians dissatisfaction with the unpalatable state of the nation and governments’ utter insensitivity to their plight.
He said it was a misnomer for government to be sharing rice and beans to the people instead of creating an environment that allows people to thrive, work and confortably fend for themselves.
He said: “Those who are complaining about hunger are doing so sincerely. They are hungry. A hungry man can go to any length to show his anger. We do not need anybody to tell us about hunger in the country. The protest was genuine and the government should listen to them.
“The duty of government is the welfare of the people. The problem we have now is that people cannot move freely. They have abandoned the farms. People are being killed in their farms and everybody wants to stay where they are safe. It is because the government has failed in this regard that we have hunger.
“It is wrong for the government to be sharing garri, beans and rice as palliatives. They are turning the people into beggars. The government that is giving the people rice and beans is leading us to poverty. The government is discouraging people from working, whereas, the government must provide the people enabling environment for people to work and feed themselves.”
He also supports the Patriots’ call for a new constitution.
He stated Nigeria does not have to go through any constitutional conference but the parliament should reenact the 1963 constitution.
Babalola said: “I read the publication of the Patriots visiting President Tinubu and I am in full agreement with them. We need a new constitution. But I do not agree that we should go through any constitutional conference.
“Recently, you are aware that President Bola Tinubu asked us to go back to the old National Anthem; there was no conference for it before it was passed by the National Assembly and assented by the President. The 1963 constitution was the one made by all of us. By the same token, the parliament should bring back the 1963 and reenact it.”