More criticisms on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 continued to trail the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, with the Labour Party (LP), insisting that “Nigerians have made the greatest mistake” electing him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to power.
The party which was of the opinion that the President has placed Nigeria under siege, said, “Nigerians have entered one chance with the election of Buhari.”
The National Chairman of LP, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam (Baraden Paiko), in a statement in Abuja entitled: “Nigeria under Siege”, said the country is in serious economic crisis.
According to him, Buhari “must challenge the status quo and perform a 360 per cent turnaround by becoming the father of the nation.”
He said, “Siege defined is the encirclement of a fortified place with persistent attempt to gain control and overcome opposition. The system entails the isolation of a territory and people from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making dominion possible.
“In a simple context, a nation under siege is bombarded by series of troubles, annoyances, illnesses and general dissatisfaction with great inability to widen the scope of understanding of neither travails nor simple solutions needed to forestall gargantuan depreciation
“APC’s “CHANGE” has only been successful in the furtherance of the siege mentality, a shared feeling of victimization, defensiveness and defenselessness — a collective state of mind whereby Nigerians are been oppressed, isolated, manipulated, disoriented, dejected and disjointed in the face of the negative manouvering of the ruling Party
“The last ten months of the Buhari administration in retrospect has not brought “JOY” to the land but instead dramatic element of fear and trait of political and Economic siege that has created a nation without a coherent practice of ethics, values, processes but excessive action, taxes and laws that prevent growth with the appropriate amount of government intervention in the economy remaining highly controversial.
“The APC government despite purposeful intervention by well meaning Nigerians, Labour Party, civil societies, the NBA has created a corridor of consistent flouting of the ethics of good governance, participatory democracy along sacred laws of the land in the pursuit of perceived and contrived idealism, thereby making effective opposition low and multi-lateral thinking deficient, consequences being a siege mentality with a black and white pattern of thinking, social non-conformity and lack of trust within the populace.
“This inadvertently, has polarized the country, created social disconnect and broken the necessary cohesion needed at this time of our history to enable derived greatness and catalysed economic growth with greater dimension of public welfare
“What we see is the efficacy of the government’s propaganda bakery which has consistently manufactured and produced excuses and lies to defraud the people’s mentality, cover up economic misfortune and give reasons for the appointment of misfits into government in a bid to satisfy local and regional pressure of party block-heads at the expense of the greater interest of the country. Thus generating a social disorder of ideological isolation arguably and purposely encouraged by the leadership to help justify their continuance in power despite poor showing in managing the economy and the peoples several unquantifiable need.
“Perhaps the president does not know that Poverty in the Country has reached “unprecedented levels” with the number of Nigerians living in “deep poverty” almost doubled. As at today, more than 46 percent of public sector employees do not have enough food to meet their basic needs, with 53 percent of households reporting decline in their incomes. And equally would not know how difficult it has become for peasants and the majority of the populace to send their wards to school particularly when his acolytes have succeeded in destroying the quality of education in their desperate and wicked desires to make their private schools thrive and particularly as their children school abroad. Even when the president has used the better part of the last ten months running around the universe with stop-over in the UK for his medical needs rather than visit our own hospitals in other to promote medical tourism in Nigeria,
“Everything seems to be about corruption with no credible alternatives for transformation projected. But rather, the government, legislature and judiciary creating signs of political instability and therefore not allowing a deeper analysis on the working of the different branches of government which is leading to the supremacy of the executive and weakening the Judiciary and democratic principles: A contributing factor to the volatile legal systems and undue recklessness exhibited by the judiciary which the Supreme Court is trying hard to repair. Even much more worrisome that a sitting senate will direct the reversal of hike in electricity tariff and the minister refuses to honour the directive of the law making chamber
“The President should know by now that with Nigeria in economic crisis and the lack luster attitude of the government in power to setting up a powerful economic machine, there are only two courses open to the government which are the “monetarist, deflationary course” and “the protectionist course”, Unfortunately an economy under heavy government regulation cannot function properly but rather be exposed to a lot of unpleasant things like: Killing, Kidnapping, Warfare, Waste, Padding, Delay, Purposelessness, Economic downturn, selfishness, greed and impunity becoming linen and ephod for the mainstream expression of governance. Altogether, someone needs to remind the president that there is presently No Fuel, Power, Electricity, Gas, Work, Food and Peace in the land but lies, pretences and negative propaganda.
“Or how on earth do we explain months of salaries owed and unpaid despite bailout funds, unpaid salaries which is and has caused severe hardships in some cases death in the lives of average Nigerians, particularly the civil servant who bears the greater share of the brunt. Just how, do we explain several months of unpaid arrears of pension due to loyal, committed and aged Nigerians that served this nation with their productive years while the ruling class lives in wanton affluence?
“Incidentally, everything is becoming more stagnant, unmoving, immovable and incurable with the atmosphere like an animal kingdom where only the fittest can survive. Fittest in the eye of the world which unpleasantly connotes vigorous unhealthy competition and transgression with untold and undeserving pains manifesting in the life of the citizens
“Mr President therefore need to understand that leadership is a creative enterprise and as such allow same to speak and be seen without unnecessarily playing the “I am in-charge” mentality or flagrant display of righteousness which for instance could not to forestall the padding of the 2016 budget. He must accept his weaknesses and allow participatory democracy by enlisting spiritual wisdom, greater understanding and absolute knowledge while seriously looking beyond immediate Political horizon to involve men of honour with practice in contributing to the rebuilding of the Nation and Economy as a matter of urgency as no man is an island
“We in Labour Party believe that Nigeria definitely should not and cannot continue like this which makes it mandatory for PMB to forsake his delight in fundamentalism and embrace political and economic liberalism with the countless opportunities it offers and enthrone socially responsible programmes devoid of ethnic or tribal egocentrism for the socio-economic freedom of Nigerians. Remembering that those that live in glass houses must not throw stones and that it is foolhardy for a General to think of fighting a war from several sides of the battle field at the same time
“Meaning that the Nation, at this point seriously needs more than “bravadoism” but carefulness and greater wisdom especially now that even the president’s financiers are beginning to use their cohorts to throw stones and mud at him from all divide in other to make him cast more harm upon the people. He must challenge the status quo and perform a 360 per cent turnaround by becoming the father of the Nation rather than friend to the same lot that stole the wealth of the nation even when they belong to his same party.
“We therefore as a socially responsible democratic party with great manifesto for the social-economic freedom of Nigerians unequivocally restates our stand on the present “STATE OF THE NATION” that all is not well and so urgently with all due sense of respect for the office of the president call upon the president to immediately organise a Socio-Economic Summit that allows the participation of all and sundry–Mr. President. For a sustainable democracy –The envisage “CHANGE” must start.”
Alh. Abdulkadir Abdulsalam (Baraden Paiko)
National Chairman, Labour Party (LP)
