OPEN LETTER
To: His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR;
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Your Excellency,
*The Way Forward After The Mass Protests – Lest They Labour In Vain*
I am writing to Your Excellency as one of the citizens of Nigeria, and one who is passionate about good governance, and has consistently demonstrated the passion over the years. Not only have I always belonged to the Awolowo school of thoughts on life abundant for all deriving from good governance, I have either subscribed to or led physical groups and social platforms on good governance globally.
Lest the labours of our heroes past (especially those lost during both the #EndSARS and the immediate #EndBadGovernance) and even heroes yet in the struggle, be in vain, attention should drawn at what the yearnings of most Nigerians are today, including those of the protesters.
Not only for posterity, but for immediate action as well, we hereby appeal to Your Excellency to immediately announce and act to :
1. Stop action on Paragraph 29 of your speech in response to the mass protest, indicating your government’s intention to cut tarrifs on rice, wheat and other foodstuffs, to increase their import. This should please NOT even be contemplated, so as not to destroy the feeble food crops production still struggling to survive in Nigeria. Let’s rather protect and encourage local food production please! The same 180-day window indicated for the tariff cuts is the same window for growing and harvesting rice and wheat… There are speculations that the intended tariff cuts are targetted at some favoured beneficiary. Please let no evil be adduced to probably good intentions.
2. Embark on a “Security For Famers” of “Safe Farms” Program in collaboration with State Governors, so that the many farmers still in IDP camps can return to their farms. Within six months of the farmers being safe on their farms, rice, beans and wheat should be abundant in our local markets.
3. Stop the diversionary “palliatives” of grains trucks and monies to legislators. They have never reached beneficiaries without the prebendalist bent. Supposed humanitarian affairs should stop being avenues for further personal aggrandisement for the rich and powerful. The best palliative for Nigerians now is the bridging of the huge gap between political office earnings and peasant dole out of wages to the masses.
4. Announce a National Minimum Wage that would make Nigerians afford new costs of fuel, electricity, food and other basic necessities of life. All prices are now about four times what they were before you were sworn in as President of Nigeria. Any Minimum Wage less than ₦140,000 per month to the least paid worker in Nigeria today, may one day lead to a spontaneous uncontrollable mass protest!
5. Encourage State Governors to negotiate with Labour Unions in their respective States for Minimum Wages necessarily at par or higher than the National Minimum Wage. For instance, Ekiti and Lagos State workers should not be earning the same wages as they have markedly different costs of living.
6. Announce an immediate cut in the number of your cabinet Ministers to thirty-seven, that the Constitution of the Federal Republic tied your hands to and therefore cannot be lower.
7. Announce other cuts in costs of governance, including cuts from the salaries and allowances of your esteemed selves, the President, First Lady, Cabinet and others in the Executive arm of Government.
8. Invite the Senate President and Speaker of House of Representatives respectively, to announce cuts in their members remunerations, and such cuts to be vired into funding security for farmers and the masses of Nigeria.
9. Announce halting of all transactions related to procurement of new Presidential jets, yatch and Vice Presidential Castle. Indicate intentions to channel the funds into better life for the masses of Nigeria.
10. Announce a stoppage of the Students Loan Scheme and replace same with Free Education up to First Degree and HND levels. All the funds saved from the excesses of the ruling class and unnecessary religious pilgrimage sponsorships would be available to facilitate this!
11. *Last, but not the least… perhaps the only one that is for the long run pathway to good governance… Announce profound indicative steps towards political restructuring of Nigeria, for more devolution of powers to the Federating units of Nigeria!* Let constitutional reforms be pushed from the exalted desk of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, or a totally new constitution be facilitated to indicate more resource control and more responsibilities for the States or Regions (whatever the Federating units would be called!).
12. In pushing for the political restructuring of Nigeria, let cursory attention be paid to the spirit and letters of the 1954 Oliver Littleton Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
We look forward to your kindly acting upon what The Spirit is saying that you do for posterity today.
Yours Sincerely,
*Arc Goke OMIGBODUN*
1. Convener, Good Governance Globally, Nigeria.
2. Osun State Governorship Candidate of the SDP in the 2022 Gubernatorial Elections.
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