A
delegation of South-east and South-south professionals yesterday paid a visit
to the Presidential Villa in Abuja and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
declare a three-year state of emergency on the economy.
The president of the
group,
Emeka Ugwu-Oju, who headed the group to a meeting with Vice President,
Yemi Osinbajo, later told State House correspondents that the nation’s economy
was in a terrible state.
He said his delegation
advised President Buhari to declare the state of emergency after due
consultation with the National Assembly.
Oju said his
delegation made the vice president to understand that in view of the current
economic situation, public officials must make sacrifices and forgo unnecessary
expenses.
He said, “On the
current stage of the economy, we strongly suggested and advised that Mr.
President, as a matter of urgency in consultation with the National Assembly,
declare a three-year state of emergency on the economy.
“And this is not about
APC and PDP. It’s something that is non-partisan; our economy is bad, people
should realise that because we’re making it seem like it’s something that’ll go
away.
“We were having $100 a
barrel and now, we might not have $50 a barrel in the next three years and
we’ve to factor it in.
“This issue of fuel
scarcity is a typical example of what has happened. We didn’t plan for it
before, we now have to get every citizen not a question of Mr. Bad or Mr. Good,
the total leadership has to realise that all Nigerians have to come together,
we’ve to roll up our sleeves so that everyone has a role to play.
“We’ve to sacrifice,
it’s not just the poor that should be sacrificing alone. For example, I see no
reason why any minister, governor or whoever should be travelling outside
economy class.
“We’ve to show that
things are bad. You can’t tell me things are bad and I see you drinking
champagne, flying first class or private jet. Same goes for the private sector.
“These were the things
we tried to make the vice president know and then communicate. We had a good
engagement and as you know, he is very intelligent, very hardworking, very
cerebral and we’re happy he is the vice president of the country.”
Oju, who revealed that
his group was planning a second South-South/ South-East Forum on April 28,
pointed out that though they might be seen as a geo-political group, they have
“a pan-Nigerian outlook”.
He added, “We try to
interface with South-west professionals and others from other geo-political
zones on how we can get the Nigerian economy out of the woods.
“We believe each zone
has some to bring to the table. We don’t have to wait for the federal
government to do things for us. We, the professionals, want to see what we can
bring to the table.
“We, from the
South-south, South-east, are bringing the energy corridor project to the table
and we can say we’ve the most comparative advantage on that.”
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