A former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ibim Semenitari has beseeched President Bola Tinubu to tackle the issue of food inflation, bemoaning the fact that impoverished Nigerians can no longer afford a daily cup of garri to drink.
“The first thing therefore was the issue of food security. If people can even eat,” she said.
Semenitari disclosed this during a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Sunday.
She declared, “Nigeria needs recalibration,” adding that someone needs to realize that things are not going well and take immediate action.
The President had to reflect on the kind of legacy he wishes to leave for Nigerians, she remarked.
She noted “The President should think in terms of legacy: ‘When I’m done, what would I be remembered by?’ And the truth is that his aides can’t determine that because legacy is a personal thing. It is not something that sycophants can give you.
“Nigerians are literally unable to eat. I’m not talking about three-square meals. We are not even talking about three-round meals; we are talking about one meal a day because the cost of garri which is a staple has gone up.
“People are paying N22,000 for a basin of garri; they used to buy it at N6,000. Garri was something that if you didn’t have money for soup, you would give your children garri, and they would drink it without sugar. Now, they can’t.”
The former Commissioner for Information in Rivers State added Tinubu need to show leadership and refrain from using the nation’s limited resources on a brand-new private jet during the austerity period.
Hunger has been cited by young people as one of the reasons for their protests since Thursday, when they began the nationwide #EndBadGovernance marches.
Nigeria is currently grappling with one of its greatest economic crises in recent memory due to increased living and energy cost, which was attributed to the government’s dual policies of eliminating the petrol subsidy and the unification the foreign exchange windows in May 2023.
