By Emmanuel Ndukuba
Awka, April 13, 2024 – Onitsha-based legal luminary, Chief Ben Uzuegbu (SAN), has urged the Federal Government to reverse the present economic policies causing hardship, suffering and hunger on the citizens.
Uzuegbu in an interview on Saturday in Onitsha, Anambra state, pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to reverse the harsh policies and implement them gradually inorder not to seriously harm the citizens.
According to him, some of the policies include abrupt removal of subsidy on petroleum products, floating of naira which has massively devalued the currency and recent electricity tariff increment.
“This depict the extent of hunger, starvation, hardship and difficulties citizens are facing.
“It is getting to a stage when people who are going with haulage businesses are being mobbed and looted their goods by the citizens as a result of hunger.
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”The present regime came out on May 27, 2023 and the first thing they did was to remove fuel subsidy. How can you say that you removed fuel subsidy without making adequate arrangements on how to take care of effects of subsidy removal.
“Fuel was sold at N187, but immediately subsidy removal was announced, fuel increased to N500. From N500 to N700 where we are now,” he said.
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Uzuegbu said the government ought to have done subsidy removal installmentally, stressing that as they are removing it, the government should have also increase the wages of civil servants.
He added that FG needed to have ensured that it put in place a control machanism on the economy in such a way that people will not suffer the way they are suffering now.
“The populace are going through a lot of hardship but the way government is running the economy, there will be a time people will start eating from the dustbin which some people have even started doing.
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”There will be a situation people will be dropping dead on the street out of starvation and it will happen because our leaders who are in control of our resources do not know that all these things are happening.
“They don’t even listen to anybody. A lot of people have been airing their views on what to do but government is not prepared to do that,” Uzuegbu said.
He said the subsidy withdrawal on petroleum products, floating of naira and currently increase in electricity tariff have jerked up the prices of food items and other consumer goods beyond the reach of poor Nigerians.
Uzuegbu who is also the Deputy Chancellor, Diocese on Niger in Onitsha, Anglican Communion, Anambra state, said the slide to the economic mess started with the Buhari administration.
“Tinubu instead of working to shore up the economy has worsened the situation, making Buhari to look like a saint.
“We are not asking for magic but let people enjoy the Eldorado the politicians are promising,” he said.
Talking on the people‘s perception of judiciary as having being corrupted, Uzuegbu said the truth is that all the institutions in the country have been virtually corrupted.
“They are not in the best shape. The hope of common man getting justice has been dashed by the longevity of cases. The institutions are not functioning as they ought to. They are no more functioning optimally.
“The politicians have mismanaged it. And the politicians who implemented the constitution the military imposed on Nigerians were worse than the military.
“They are corrupt, greedy. We need to strengthen the institutions to work optimally for the people of Nigeria,” said Uzuegbu added.
