This is exactly what President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to tell Nigerians by the end of his term, when he must have sorted out all the mess of the past administration/s. But as you would expect, as a blame game government which has no single iota of economic policy or knowhow, more than one year into a four year term, he is still in the business of blaming his predecessor.
Here is what president Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday, according to premiumtimesng.com, while receiving United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director and Under Secretary General of the United Nations, Prof Babatunde Osotimehin. He goes, ''the sudden drop in the price of crude oil has left Nigeria poor, leaving it to struggle economically and it people suffering. Mr. Buhari however said his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability was serving the country in good stead, despite severe shortage of resources in the country.''
Continuing, he said; “It has been a very difficult year for Nigeria. Before we came to office, petroleum sold for about $100 per barrel. Then it crashed to $37, and now oscillates between $40 and $45 per barrel. Suddenly, we’re a poor country, but commitment to transparency and accountability is not making people know that there is severe shortage,” Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted the President as saying.
Asking UNFPA to bear with Nigeria in whichever area the country could not live up to its responsibilities for now, President Buhari said exploding population and different cultural practices in the country provide fertile ground for research to organizations like UNFPA.
The He thanked the UN agency for its commitment to saving lives in Nigeria, particularly of women and children. On food security, President Buhari said reports from the North-East of the country were encouraging, as people were returning to their farmlands, with the guarantee of relative security. Prof Osotimehin, a former Nigerian Minister of Health in Nigeria, said UNFPA was determined to promote health care facilities across the country, noting that reduction of maternal mortality was doable, if the country paid more attention to access to health facilities, and human resources to run them.
He also encouraged Nigeria to commit to providing resources for health care, on a rollover basis, pledging that the UN would work with the country to provide humanitarian assistance not only in the North-East, “but even extended to the Lake Chad basin.”
One question we will continue to ask is; when will the blame game stop for the government to come to realise that it has a duty to rewriting the wrongs of the past?
Comments
Post a Comment