Apparently taking a critical look at the state of the nation, almost three years into President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, former governor of old Kaduna State and National Chairman of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, yesterday said the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) rode to power on the back of false and empty promises.
Musa added that the ruling party, which he said is saddled with internal crisis, has nothing to offer Nigerians than hardship.
He noted none of the promises made by APC before coming to power in 2015 has been fulfilled, rather, “hardship has overwhelmed the masses of this country.”
The PRP boss spoke on the state of the nation at the 54th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in his opening remarks.
He said since 2015, when the APC came to power, economy has remained comatose just as unemployment has assumed critical proportion, while insecurity, among other issues, has become life threatening and worrisome.
The former governor, who said his party will remedy the situation if voted into power, added that APC has worsened the political environment in the country.
He said: “As you are all aware, our nation, today, remains in a very sorry state despite all the lofty promises and flowery speeches made by the ruling government of the APC at the inception of the administration in 2015.
“The economy remains comatose; and, in some sectors, particularly in industry and commerce, it is even getting worse.
“Monetary and fiscal management has continued to lack coherence and consistency, or even predictability and strategic planning.
“Unemployment, particularly amongst the youth, who constitute the bulk of our population, has assumed critical proportions and is, now, for all practical purposes, a national emergency.
“Yet, this APC administration, which rode to power on the back of false promises to this generation of hapless young men and women, seems to have no answers to this ticking time bomb beyond slogans such as N-Power.
“In fact, instead of creating jobs, the administration is busy cutting existing ones in the name of ‘rightsizing’ or ‘downsizing’.
“This government, both at the centre and in the states that it controls, has proved that it has little or nothing else to provide Nigerians other than further mass impoverishment, frustration and hardships.
“If we turn to the security front, the same sad picture confronts us. Perhaps, President Muhammadu Buhari’s greatest appeal for many in 2015 was the belief that he was capable of dealing a death blow to the insurgency, particularly as manifested by Boko Haram.
“In almost three years that the APC has been in power, the reality has been otherwise.
“Yes, the Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa forest may have been wiped out, but the security menace that the group poses continues to manifest, with suicide bombs exploding almost on a weekly basis, particularly, in the north eastern parts of the country.
“Apart from the Boko Haram insurgency, others have emerged in different parts of the country.
“Recently, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) unleashed mayhem in the South East.
“Similarly, the militants in the Niger Delta are yet to sheath their swords.
“And even more ominous is the threat to public safety and the security of lives and property posed by the marauding gangs of cattle rustlers, killer herdsmen and armed kidnappers.
“We ask, ‘where is the security promised Nigerians by this APC administration’?
“In so far as the political environment is concerned, again, the story is a sad one. Lacking any internal cohesion within itself, the APC administration has only spawned and promoted institutional political decay in the country.”
“In the name of an anti-corruption campaign, the government has been consistently assaulting due process and the rule of law.
“Court orders are flagrantly disobeyed by the very institutions that should enforce them.
“Basic democratic rights are being cynically abused. While talking glibly about fighting corruption, the government shamelessly looks askance where corruption is exposed within its own very ranks, closets and cocoons”.
Balarabe Musa said the state of the nation is sad because things do not have to be so sad given the natural and human endowments of the country.
He, however, appealed to the masses to endure the challenges, saying that PRP will be their last hope if voted into power to build a strong political, social and economic platform for the country.
|Sun