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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
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Former governor of Cross-River State, Donald Duke, has claimed that utilisation of energy, gas that Nigeria is flaring, is enough to crash the rising inflation in the country.
Duke, equally attributed the myriads of problems ravaging the country to quacks disguising as political leaders that have hijacked Nigeria politics.
He spoke at a programme organised by Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), The Everlasting Arms Parish, Abuja, tagged the power of music, arguing that with high energy cost the inflation is expected.
While defending his claims that every problem in Nigeria is resolvable, the former Cross-River governor said: “There is absolutely none. You see this inflation you are experiencing, you know why you have inflation? It is because of high energy. So, if the cost of energy, fuel goes up, inflation will go up, because we are going to transport food.
“I just gave that to you as an example. For instance, if fuel was N700 per litre, and it is now N1,000, inflation will almost double. If the cost of electricity increases, it will also inflates. But let me look at this.
“This is a country that flares gas. That is energy. It’s a country that has oil. We can fix the price of our oil. We don’t have to allow the rest of the world determine the price of our oil for our own consumption. This is how we are going to do it, and monitor it in such a way that it serves us and not go to other countries.
“The second thing is, all this energy, gas that we are flaring, did it occur to us to use it for the sake of our own people, just that alone will crash this inflation we are talking about. So when you look, there is no problem that cannot be solved,” he argued.
On how quacks have taken over Nigeria politics, he described politics as an elevating vocation that could be used to stem the tide of Nigerian youths leaving the country in droves.
Duke further argued that the selfishness of the Nigerian political class and the quacks that have hijacked politics in Nigeria did not allow them to put things into productive use.
He said: “Religion is a human organisation, I am not religious, I am striving to be spiritual, because the core of any human being is a spirit. Religion, at best, is a vehicle in that direction. But like everything, every endeavour of human beings, you have quacks. You have quack doctors, quack engineers, and quack religious people, but the answer is not with them.”
“Politics could be the most elevating vocation, but a lot of quacks are involved in it, so they have brought it down to the lowest level. But look at it, when politics is right, it elevates everything. It elevates medicine, and livelihood. When we complain about the country not being good, it is the politicians. So if you have the right politicians, you have the right country. It is the most noble of all vocations,” he argued.
On what could be done differently to restore the confidence of young Nigerians leaving the country in droves, he said: “We need to reflect, it is a two way thing. People see politics as a means of livelihood rather than a means of service.
“If we begin to see it as a means of service and then politicians become role models and create hope, an eternal effervescent power, in the young ones that their tomorrow will be better than today, just as that today ought to have been better than yesterday.
“That is a failure of our system. And unfortunately, when I look at the horizon, I don’t see the political class ready for that. They think of themselves. But anyone that has common sense will know what they call enlightened self interest.
“When Christ said, love thy neighbour as thyself, it is enlightened self interest, because what you do for your neighbour, if your neighbour is hungry, you are threatened. One thing I learnt from Professor Aluko, when we are in the National Economic Intelligence Committee, was when he will always say that when the poor didn’t eat, the rich won’t sleep. That’s where we are today,” he lamented.
