Former President Ijaw Youth Council(IYC), Dr. Chris Ekiyor, has called on President Bola Tinubu to review his economic policies noting that majority of Nigerians are pauperised and could barely put food on their table.
He urged the President to rejig his economic advisers noting that churning out statistics and figures without impacting on the lives of the ordinary Nigerians is deceptive and appealed to Tinubu to save the country from further drift.
He lamented that after voting for the All Progressives Congress(APC) led administration Nigerians could barely afford to put food on their table nor meet other basic needs adding that the country is on auto-drive to Somalia situation.
The Delta State born Dental Surgeon however advised the federal government to encourage the establishment of smaller refineries with banks supporting such investment to address hike in PMS prices.
He said, “why is food expensive? It is simply the mismanagement of the economy by the leading team. People around the president have him to believe that things are working. You can churn out statistics, put figures in places, put figures in software and doctor it to provide statistics that are globally accepted.
“The average Nigerian is not interested in statistics because if you can’t put food on your table then you have failed. Economic success is measured by the amount of food you can put on your table. Just a year ago, a loaf of bread was N300 but today it is N2000. The same bread today is being bloated over and is just mere bubbles and air.
“Rice, beans and bread are the most staple food for all Nigerians but these are out of the reach of the common man. We wait for the government to do palliatives but even the palliative rice is for the satisfaction of the politicians and their cronies.
“So, you cannot tell me the economy is working anymore, business cannot operate anymore. The government needs to take steps and rejig on its economic policies because they are not working. We don’t have a refinery working. The government should look at smaller refineries and support them, and get banks to support refinery investment.
“The reality is that the President need to rejig his advisers and those around him. They need to be practical with him. They need to have a presidential pally. Nigeria is on auto drive to Somalia. I had a lot of hope when I went out to vote for the President. This is my party, the policies are too draconian.”
