Atiku Abubakar, presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says if care is not taken, the
entire Nigerian population will fall into poverty.
Reacting to a United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) report on 98 million Nigerians living in
multidimensional poverty, Atiku said even Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man,
has been touched by the “wave of poverty sweeping through the country”.
The former vice-president accused
those “who put Nigeria in this crisis” of nonchalance, adding that the greatest
national security threat the country is facing at the moment is not Boko Haram
or banditry but the “creation of the
largest wave of poverty in human history in the country”.
He called on all stakeholders to
come together and device solutions to the issue.
“The failure of our economy over
the last four years affects everyone from top to bottom. Four years ago, Aliko
Dangote, Nigeria’s richest man, was worth $25bn. However, his net worth in 2019
is less than half that. He joined thousands of industrialists whose wealth and
their ability to produce, had eroded in recent years, and continue to do so,”
he said in a statement issued on his behalf by Paul Ibe, his spokesman.
“With the National Bureau of
Statistics reporting a net job loss of over six million since 2015, we see that
if industrialists have their wealth eroding, it affects their ability to create
opportunities, which means that the trickle-down effect gradually dries.
“And in the wake of this report
by the UNDP, we are greeted with nonchalance by those who led us into this
crisis. It is as though they think that as long as they and their families are
not amongst those 98 million extremely poor Nigerians, things can carry on as
before.
“But that cannot be allowed to be
the case. Those who have the ability, including the Council of State, all
former leaders, elder-statesmen, and especially the other arms of government,
must begin to collaborate for solutions, before the number increases from 98
million, to all 198 million Nigerians.
“We must remember that we are
stakeholders in the Nigerian project; stakeholders who must speak up for those
98 million people who are losing their voices to poverty.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
But you, who's not as rich as Dangote or richer than Dangote has not been affected. Go and learn how to play opposition in politics.
ReplyDeleteAtiku is just blabbing around.
Delete