Erudite U.S.based Lawyer, High Chief Owolabi Salis has expressed agitation on the soaring cost of foodstuffs in the country, warning that the poor are groaning under the draconian yoke of acute hunger, misery and squalor.
He lamented that over a year since the advent of the present administration, the high cost of food stuff had been the familiar sing-song of intensely serious concern, by the suffering Nigerian populace, “however,what is new and highly agitating is that rather than abate, it keeps getting worse with every passing day.”
According to him, “while it would have been at least tolerable if things had remained as bad as it was, the situation as presently being witnessed at this particular moment in time, however goes beyond the bound of tolerance to say the least, in view of the increasingly high cost of foodstuff which are fast getting out of the reach of the grossly marginalised poor. Certainly things should not continue this way in order to avert the disastrous consequences.”
The Ikorodu-born lawyer and social reformer, who in 2019 contested for governorship, on the platform of Alliance For Democracy, (AD), argued that the foremost cardinal expectations of any government worth its salt, to it’s citizens, especially the underprivileged poor, are food and health, while the desire for food however excels in order of importance, between the two, because food above every other things imaginable, holds the oxygen to human existence just as it equally sustains good health. “Health is equally important, but unfortunately the poor are dying almost on daily basis,for the inability to buy essential medications like antibiotics among others which are now so costly beyond the reach of the common man.
“Any government which is unable to provide food and medical care for it’s citizens especially the hungry poor, would grossly be failing in this most primary responsibility of government to the masses.”
He recalled that only two days ago, the president, obviously referring to the awry development, had urged Nigerians to embrace agriculture, just as his wife, Remi Tinubu had earlier urged, about three months ago.
“But one is intensely surprised that under-priviledged poor Nigerians are being driven to the farm but ironically, government had been hitherto not pro-active in fulfilling their own side of the bargain.”
“The ravaging onslaught of the Fulani herdsmen who had perpetually ostracized farmers from their own land,making their farms a no-go zone to them,through an unabated spree of savage killing and kidnapping has continued without let or hindrance. More-Over,the soaring inflationary spiral which had sky-rocketed the cost of pesticides and fertilisers to high heaven are also hitherto not tackled to any appreciable effect.”
“I remember about four months ago, in an interview, I did stress the need for the president to cast his focus on security, electricity and agriculture in view of their strategic importance in driving other sectors, while simultaneously harnessing the limited resources to optimum beneficial advantage.”
“And only two weeks ago, I again stressed the need to tackle agriculture with the decisive despatch it deserves, but it appears the powers that be are not taking so much heeds to the wise prompting,” he lamented.
He reiterated his earlier call on the president to emulate the exemplary templates of countries like China and Israel, which were able to surmount every militating odds, to transform their land into an agricultural paradise.
“President Tinubu would do well by looking beyond the narrow consideration of party loyalty to the wider public in the bid to fetch for competent well heeled technocrats with the requisite acumen to team up with him in lifting the country from the doldrums.”, Salis advised.