Osun CSO urges FG to halt economic hardship

An Osun State-based civil society organisation, The Osun Masterminds, has called on the Federal Government to consider measures that will make life easier for an average Nigerian.

The CSO, which made this known while speaking with journalists in Osogbo on Tuesday during its monthly media parley, observed increasing poverty among Nigerians.

Speaking on behalf of the organisation, its executive director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, said even though statistics from the government indicated improvement in the country’s microeconomics, the reality remains that Nigerians are becoming poorer.

“The current situation in the country does not need any introduction. Survival has become an extreme sport for most Nigerians, and the hardship in the land is almost out of hand.

“While government statistics seem to show improvements in the country’s macroeconomics, the life of the average Nigerian has become tougher than it has ever been at any point in our country’s history,” Oyedokun-Alli said.

He decried rising food prices, insecurity in many agriculturally viable parts of the country and the high cost of fuel and its effect on the prices of basic needs of the people.

Oyedokun-Alli further said, “From food inflation that seems to have gone out of hand, exacerbated by rising insecurity in most agriculturally viable parts of the country, to astronomical fuel costs that have blown the prices of everyday commodities out of control, Nigerians have continued to grapple with biting hardship beyond their control.

“Many civil society organisations, including ours, have spoken loudly about the hardship in the land, yet governments at all levels seem to be uninterested in taking important steps to ease the hardship that Nigerians face every day.

“We are using this opportunity to call on the Federal Government to immediately look at ways to make life easier for the average Nigerian. We must consider ways of immediately lowering the cost of fuel, and holistically address insecurity challenges that continue to cripple and disrupt our food supply channels.”

He specifically challenged the current administration in Osun State to move away from being just procurement offices to becoming real problem solvers that develop policies with direct impact on the people.

On the next governorship poll in the state, Oyedokun-Alli urged parties to be law-abiding, noting a viral video of an Accord Party supporter displaying a cap seized from an APC supporter in a community in the state.

Calling for a peaceful governorship campaign in the state, he warned against the suppression of one party by another, saying that it may spiral into a full breakdown of law and order.