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- Says Renewed Hope mantra is not for the masses who are dying of hunger
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Garus Haruna Gololo, has tongue lashed President Bola Tinubu, alleging that the President is running the country like a ‘family government’.
Gololo also faulted the much publicised Renewed Hope mantra of the APC, saying there is no hope for the masses as they are dying of hunger on daily basis because of economic hardship in the land.
Speaking in an interview with select journalists in Kaduna, the APC Chieftain who boasted that he had never dumped the party, knocked President Tinubu for taking his two sons, Yinka and Seyi to Qatar for an official visit, questioning if his two sons are officials of the government.
“Imagine what’s happening, the Federal Government is preaching on cutting down cost but the President’s children are part of official entourage to Qatar when they are not cabinet members. What took them to Qatar?
“This government of President Tinubu is just a family government.”
Gololo warned the President against turning the All Progressive Congress led government to a “family government” while noting also why the office of the First Lady should be allocated budget in the 2024 national budget.
He also kicked against the appointment of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Olayemi Cardoso, alleging that he does not possess the qualification to head the apex bank.
The APC chieftain said, “The CBN governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso has no business to be there. That he was a Commissioner of Finance in Lagos was not a criteria for him to assumed the governor of the Apex bank.
However, he appealed to President Tinubu to put relevant measures in place, including reopening of borders to ensure free flow of commodities in order to crash prices and make food available for the suffering masses.
He also commended the Service Chiefs for bring down the tides of insecurity in the country, adding that Nigerians should support and give them more time to rid the country of insecurity.
“As a chieftain of the APC and campaigner during the general elections(Presidential and Governorship elections). I have been a chieftain of the party and I have never decamped to any other party since my retirement from the military. As far as I’m concern, the hardship affects everybody(Nigerians) because the price of every commodity has skyrocketed. Before now, I used to buy sugar, grains and other commodities for sharing during the holy month of Ramadan but I cannot afford that now because sugar alone is about N80,000 per bag from N8,000 and the guinea corn that I used to buy and keep for N20,000 is now about N70,000.
“The prices of commodities change every now and then. If you buy something and come back later, you find that the prices have changed. I think this renewed hope is not for the Nigerian masses at all because for the past nine months, the ordinary Nigerians have been bearing the brunt of the current hardship because they can no longer afford one square meal not to even talk of two square meals per day.
”The CBN governor, Dr Okayemi Cardoso has no business to be there. That he was a Commissioner of Finance in Lagos was not a criteria. Just imagine what’s happening, the Federal Government is preaching on cutting down cost but the President’s children are part of official entourage to Qatar when they are not cabinet members. What took them to Qatar? This government of President Tinubu is just a family government,” Gololo said.
On what should be done to cushion the effect and spread of hunger, the APC stalwart said, “if you come to Abuja, you will know that the Minister of FCT, Nyesome Wike is working. If you go to the Ministry of Health, Professor Pate is working and also the Minister of Works, David Umahi is working too. We have about 43 ministers and only three are working.
“My appeal to President Tinubu is that the masses cannot eat three square meals. As they voted for Muslim Muslim ticket, they did not vote for hunger, and fasting has come. It is not for somebody to fast today, and tomorrow he dies because he cannot eat three square meals.It doesn’t make sense like that.
“Let President Tinubu open up everywhere, open up borders so that food can flow from Benin Republic, other countries to everywhere. I think it will help us. And kudos to EFCC for arresting some smugglers in Borno State with vehicles load of goods heading to other African countries. This is a good move”.
Commending the Service Chiefs on security challenges, Gololo said, “You know, issue of security is a continuous process, when you are fighting a Gorilla war, it is not easy to win the war by fighting, in the battle there is what is called firefighters, you must try by all means to win, it is not possible for you to win the war one time. But I believe that we are heading somewhere, comparing with what we formally have when we cannot ply Kaduna road because bandits blocked it, and now I go to Kaduna several times without following the Train. I don’t even know where the Train Station is again. People are also moving to Zamfara.
“So security issue is a continuous exercise. We should give them a little time, they will do it. The Service Chiefs are doing their best to take the country to where we should be. Even the Inspector General of the Police (IGP), the paramilitary, they are trying, we should give them time, they will do it.”
