Senator Ajagunnla Olubiyi Fadeyi, representing Osun Central, has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently organize a national stakeholders engagement forum to address the pressing issues facing the country, such as the cost of living crisis, rising insecurity, and currency devaluation.
According to The PUNCH, Fadeyi, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, said that he was concerned about the effectiveness of the palliatives provided by the President to Nigerians, as they were not reaching the intended beneficiaries.
He said, “I would say, it’s dire, and I can confirm that with all sense of responsibility. As representatives of our people, we are closer to the masses at every level, so we feel the peoples plight much more easily than any other politician. Is it the escalating cost of living or growing insecurity or weakening local currency, which invariably worsens inflation or even the biting impact of removal of fuel subsidy.”
He added, “I think, the president needs to call for a stakeholders engagement as a matter of urgency, a no-holds-barred, non- political but frank conversation. A national stakeholder’s engagement of this nature needs to be led by the president himself. Actionable points must be agreed at such a forum to address the most urgent predicaments that face the country at this time.”
The Senator also suggested that the government should review the implementation of the palliatives and consider reversing the subsidy removal policy, which he said was contributing to inflation and hardship.
He said, “To be honest, very courageous decisions may need to be reached, if we must save our men and women from starvation, businesses from shutting down, and unemployment from worsening.
“For example, if it requires reversing the subsidy removal policy, so be it! Why not reverse it, and fix the corruption along the supply chain instead? If this happens, this will stem inflation.
“We all know that energy cost is the most significant cost incurred by any business, regardless of size. Food costs will be reduced, so at least people can eat. The labour unrest will also reduce as the conversation around salary increment would be unnecessary.”
Fadeyi, who is a Harvard Senior Executive Fellow, acknowledged that there were no easy solutions to the problems, but stressed the need for decisive actions to prevent further deterioration.
“There are no quick fixes, no doubt. Some of the inconveniences we are going through did not start overnight, it’s been building up, so you can’t expect any quick results, the present leadership is not going to turn to magicians, but we can keep things from escalating at least and then walk backward from there,” Fadeyi said.
He also praised Tinubu for saving about N200bn monthly from the federal allocation, and proposed the establishment of a National Subsidy Fund, which would subsidize food, agriculture, transportation, education, and other vital sectors, as well as provide income support for the unemployed youths.
