IBB suggests political solution to subsidy crisis – Ask Jonathan to stop listening to bad advisers (Did you not ignore Soyinka’s advice and executed Vatsa?)

Posted by admin Ibrahim Babangida (1985-93), Presidency Friday, January 6th, 2012

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has suggested a political solution to the subsidy removal crisis plaguing the nation. He also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to devote more time in thinking out solutions to the problems of the country instead of listening to bad advisers and attention-seeking public affairs analysts.

In a statement entitled, “State of the Nation,” signed on his behalf by Prince Kassim Afegbua, his media spokesman, Babangida said that although Jonathan has the capacity to suppress the challenges facing his government he would achieve better result if he engages in “deep and reflective thinking.”

The former head of state advised politicians to learn to accept the outcome of elections, while stating that Nigerians must “imbibe the spirit of forgiveness and promote the essence of our nationality without reference to tribe, religion, clan or regional considerations.”
Babangida said that the “spate of bombings and other untoward acts in the country have thrown up the greater need for all of us to be more retrospective, introspective and proactive on issues of our common interest and nationality,” insisting that “all well-meaning people must be in agreement as to the urgent need to arrest this drift in our national psyche to keep our federation streaming.”

He said that since some of the problems the country is facing today have been in existence for some time now, there is the need to “invent new ways to suit the sophistication of crimes and violence.”
The retired General said that one of the ways to solving the problem was to “ move away from fanning the embers of disunity by the kind of messages we relay for public consumption,” adding: “Our emphasis should be to proffer solutions to these challenges so that they do not weigh down governments at various levels in delivering their promises to the people.

He advised that the country should be refocused “on the path of peaceful co-existence, in spite of our manifest tribal configurations,” adding: “We must begin to revisit our value system and provoke platforms, where this becomes the central theme of our collective discourse. Rather than leaders competing on the basis of who owns the latest house, automobile or jet in town, they should compete in the faculty of ideas to drive good governance and accountability. Any government that is able to deliver the tangibles and intangibles to stimulate wider audience participation in governance will be on the positive reckoning of the people.”

On the issue of fuel subsidy removal, Babangida said that government action was ill-timed, insisting: “The issue of subsidy should be seen more as politics and not economics, because the sole purpose of government is for the good of the people and not to create hardship. It is better to seek political solution to the subsidy discourse than invoking the sentiments of economics. Government should have kept its word till April by which time better explanation would have been given before implementation takes effect.”
He said that the National Assembly should have been part of the decision relating to subsidy removal, “since the 2012 budget is yet to be discussed and passed by the Legislature.’
According to him, “every government should ordinarily take the interest of her people at heart so that the reason for its existence would be justified.”

He suggested a political solution to the problem, “so that a mutually agreeable position would be reached between the leaders and the ‘people. This exclusive decision of the Executive arm of government does not speak well of the tenets and principles of participatory and all-inclusive democracy.”

The former head of state called on religious leaders, political leaders, traditional rulers, opinion moulders, the media and others to “unite to arrest this ugly phase of our political life. We must desist from name-calling, name-dropping and apportioning blame on anyone when faced with a challenge. Our capacity to live together must be demonstrated at all times, so that the country can nurture its national objectives without equivocation. We must therefore share in the national aspiration and be more forthcoming in our anti-corruption crusade.”

-Sunwp_posts