Senator representing Ebonyi South Senatorial District, Prof Anthony Okorie Ani, has said economic saboteurs operating in the country are the cause of Nigeria’s economic woes over the years.
He however said with Nigerians’ support, President Bola Tinubu would fix the economy to the benefit of every citizen.
Ani, who resigned from academic work to join active politics after twenty-nine years lecturing in universities in Nigeria in the Department of Agriculture, said this during an interview with journalists in Abuja.
Wondering why some Nigerians are into economic sabotage against successive governments, he encouraged citizens to support the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC), under the leadership of Bola Tinubu, stressing that the President meant well for the country.
Ani noted that Tinubu had adopted some economic measures, which have the potency to rejuvenate the country’s ailing economy, and make it productive and attractive, so that foreign investors could come and invest in Nigeria.
His words: “As far as I know, a lot of economic measures are being applied but some individuals in their different ways are trying to sabotage the government. Good enough, just recently, the President set up a tripartite committee that will handle it.
“We have experts in this land. We have people who are very knowledgeable on how to manage the economy. The situation could be arrested if the number of the economic saboteurs is reduced.
“The present administration, under President Bola Tinubu, is doing its best to see that the economy is improved, that the welfare of the people is improved upon but I don’t know what some people derive from sabotaging the government because it is sabotage that is causing all these problems.
“I am appealing to Nigerians to be patient with the government and support President Tinubu in his efforts to change the country’s worrisome economic trend and pathetic narrative, to a positive tale of economic boom and prosperity among the citizenry.
This is very possible with the cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders in the great Project, Nigeria.”
The lawmaker also observed that the government agencies responsible for enforcement of government laws and policies, to ensure implementation and to rid the system of saboteurs were doing their best, noting however, that the number of saboteurs was overwhelming.
“I wouldn’t be the mouthpiece of government agencies, but what I know is that the agencies of government are trying. They are doing their best but the population is overwhelming. A good number of people have turned themselves into saboteurs.
“You can see a lot of efforts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission (ICPC) and the rest of them trying to curtail these excesses. However, I am optimistic that over time, all these issues will be a thing of the past given the resolve of the Federal Government to see that all these economic issues are tackled.”
On the non-productive state of Nigeria, the former University teacher, who turned politician, expressed hope that the narrative had begun to change for better, going by some policies and programmes of the present administration.
“We are already getting it right in the sense that many state governments, local governments and even the federal government engage citizens in agricultural production, because that was the basis of our development as a nation before oil was discovered.
“If you check back in those days, when our mainstay was agriculture, every hand was on deck. I think the best thing to do is that every locality should look at where they have comparative advantage and fully engage in it, so that all will be pulled into our economy, and we will be better for it,” the senator said.
The academic resigned as a university teacher when he had ambition to join active politics, leading to his nomination to stand election as the candidate of the APC in the Ebonyi South bye election which took place on February 3, 2024.
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