Ozekhome Cautions President Tinubu to Avert Looming Hunger Protest Against His Wobbling Administration

There’s a palpable tension over proposed protest by Nigerians between August 1 to 10 bothering on the state of economy collapse. Can you make us understand what the problems really are?

The problems are simple but the government is dealing with them adequately. At a function recently where the president was seated, I advised the president that it is in times of crisis that great leaders are known and that the image problems of Nigeria needs to be protected. I told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that in nigeria today; there is hunger, there is starvation, there is abject penury, there is suffering there is national gnashing of teeth, there are no jobs, I reminded him that when he came to office, fuel was about 192 naira per litre. Today, it is between 550 Naira to 800 Naira and that things have since gone from bad to worse, and from worse to worst. And that, when he came to power that the Naira was about 750 naira to the dollar.

Today, 1,500 Naira is to one dollar. I reminded him and in my lecture I told the government and the audience about late Claude Ake’s theory of what he called a disarticulate economy and you consume what you do not produce and I said we produce crude oil which we cannot consume and we consume refined produce gotten from this crude oil which we sell to the outside world and which we cannot refine and therefore cannot produce. So, I therefore advise the government that it must engage the youths because today the Nigerian population has the highest youthful population in the whole world so the Nigerian population of about 229 million people of it 70 percent of it’s below 30 and 43 percent of it is below devil’s worship and I am now repeating it because that day I give the example of Kenya like Nostradamus, the man who saw tomorrow. I normally see things ahead, predict and tell the government what to do so that things do not go bad.

In 1987, I sued IBB the as the President of Nigeria but I must be banging down at the Armed forces ruling Council (AFRC) and the Attorney-General of the Federal against removal of oil subsidy. This is the same oil subsidy we are still talking about 37 years later and I was detained over that case. They said who is this small boy because I was just about 29 years old and they said who’s this small boy daring to sue IBB and AFRC. Now if you read National Concord of December 30, 1987, 37 years ago, you will see this story there.

On the 3rd of July, 2014, at the 2014 National Conference, I moved the motion that Nigeria should revert to its old national anthem ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’ and I did write a book by that title in order to emphasize its titled ‘Nigeria We Thee’. In the National Conference, they carried my motion, unanimously, one of the few instances that the 492 delegates ever had a consensus on any matter. It was consensually carried and we all got up without prompting and you can see that about two weeks ago what I said ten years ago has come to pass. Now to the warnings of the youths as regards the National planned protest. We don’t want EndSARS again. I advised the present government that these youths need to be engaged because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and I am now repeating it that the government should work out a way were the youths can be actively engaged. I had warned Tinubu that I do not want ENDSARS to repeat itself. I said it that day.