Ex-IYC President Seeks Review Of Economic Policies

Former president of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Chris Ekiyor, has called on President Bola Tinubu to review his economic policies, saying that majority of Nigerians were pauperised and could barely feed their families.

Ekiyor who urged the President to rejig his economic advisers, noted that churning out statistics and figures without impacting on the lives of ordinary Nigerians is deceptive and appealed to Tinubu to save the country from further drift.

He lamented that after voting for the APC, Nigerians could barely afford to feed and meet other basic needs adding that the country is on auto-drive to Somalia’s situation.

The Delta State-born APC chieftain advised the federal government to encourage the establishment of smaller refineries with banks supporting such investments to address hike in PMS prices.

He said, “Why is food expensive?  It is simply the mismanagement of the economy by the leading team. People around the president have made hi believe that things are working. You can churn out statistics, put figures in places, put figures in software and doctore it to provide statistics that are globally accepted.

“But the average Nigerian is not interested in statistics because if you can’t put food on your table, then you have failed. Economic success is measured by the amount of food you can put on your table. Just a year ago, a sizeable loaf of bread was N300 but today it is N2000. The same bread today is being bloated over and is just mere bubbles and air.

“Rice, beans and bread are the most common stapple food for Nigerians but these are out of the reach of the common man.

We wait for the government give palliatives but even the palliative rice is for the satisfaction of the politicians and their cronies.

“So, you cannot tell me that the economy is working anymore; businesses cannot operate anymore.  The government needs to take steps and rejig its economic policies because they are not working; we don’t have a refinery working. The government should look at smaller refineries and support them and get banks to support refinery investment.

“The reality is that the President needs to rejig his advisers and those around him. They need to be practical with him; he needs to have a presidential parley. Nigeria is on auto-drive to Somalia. I had a lot of hope when I went out to vote for the president; this is my party but the policies are too draconian.”