Nigeria’s foremost Northern mouthpiece and pressure group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), rose from its meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday, warning that the country might witness social chaos across the country, particularly in Northern region due to the unrelenting economic hardship.
Stating that times have continued to be tough and challenging for the average citizens, the ACF lamented that Nigerians were daily confronted with crisis of inflation, unemployment, rapid deterioration in standards of living coupled with incidents of insurgency, terrorism and banditry.
In a communique issued and signed by its national Spokesperson, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, ACF regretted that the problems have remained dire, acute and chronic, in some places in the North in particular.
The Northern mouthpiece largely blamed the economic hardship on fuel subsidy removal, introduction of taxes and levies by the Federal Government, saying that the policies were responsible for the rapid decline in living conditions of citizens.
According to the communique: “With grave concerns, we regret and decry the continuing deterioration or escalation in the spate of insecurity-related incidents in all three geopolitical zones under which the northern states are grouped. These problems reflect on the region’s cascading political, social, and economic challenges. The NEC reiterates ACF’s earlier expressed position that the emerging protracted dimension of these problems, if untamed, are harbingers of citizens’ discontent, and social chaos.
“Equally worrisome is the widening regional disparities in social demographic factors, such as access to education, health, infrastructure, economic inclusion, political participation, living conditions, etc. Governments must move to curb such disparities so as to ensure that Nigeria does not become two-states-in-one. Factors that unify rather than divide citizens along any lines should attract the attention of all concerned, government and citizens alike.
“As it has severally reiterated in recent public outings, ACF calls for urgent action and definitive attention, by governments at all levels, to confront rapid decline in living conditions of citizens. The addition of new taxes and levies are becoming increasingly burdensome and too heavy to bear for ordinary Nigerians. The need for a roll out of public policy programmes and projects aimed at addressing low purchasing power challenges is clearly indicated
“On the national front, and specifically applicable to the Northern states, NEC notes that the times continue to be tough and challenging for the average citizen, who is daily confronted with runaway inflation, unemployment, rapid deterioration in standards of living in the face of incidents of insurgency, terrorism and banditry; problems that have remained dire, acute or even chronic in some places in the North in particular.
“The immediate causes of the problems have been policies put in place by the government over the past months, including but not confined to removal of subsidies from the prices of petroleum products, floating of the Naira, and astronomical hike in the cost of poorly supplied electricity, increasing tariffs and taxes against the seemingly insensitive profligacy in spendings by public officials, to list a few.
“ACF acknowledges the efforts the federal, state, and to a little extent, local governments, have been making to tackle the problems identified above. However, overall, it is undeniable, perhaps, due to the quantum and widening dimension of the problems, that public policy response to the problems remains weak and ineffective at best.
“ACF calls on citizens to rally around the government and offer prayers for God Almighty’s intervention in our various tribulations, such as will translate into a new, prosperous Nigeria where justice, equity, love, righteousness and hope emerge to replace the current despair and hopelessness.
“To inspire the spirit of needed sacrifices by citizens, ACF calls on public functionaries to shun profligacy and recklessness in spending the public funds.
“As always, we unequivocally support Nigeria’s security agents in their determined efforts to rid the country of criminality, insecurity and instability, and pray that very soon enough, they prevail over insurgents, terrorists and bandits.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”