A civil society organization in Osun State, the Osun Masterminds has described the recent economic woes by scarcity of fuel and Naira as being unbearable, stating that it’s messing up the already fragile productivity of Nigerians.
The Executive Director of the Organisation, Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli while addressing the National and State’s affairs in the February edition of the State of the State Address on Wednesday in Osogbo, said the instability was planned by certain enemies of the people of Nigeria, to throw the society into serious crisis.
Oyedokun-Alli stated that “We must say about the scarcity of fuel and Naira notes, that there appears to be a grand and very sinister plan by certain enemies of the people of Nigeria, to throw our society into serious crisis. If this were not so, the baseless scarcity would not have been allowed to tarry for this long. There indeed appears like some persons are playing on the emotions of the totality of Nigerians, using fuel and Naira notes as whip”.
“The hardship is unbearable and it is messing up the already fragile productivity of Nigerians, who now have to suffer untold difficulties to go about their daily activities. This is totally unfair and we condemn very strongly, the lackadaisical disposition of every person concerned, to finding lasting solutions to these problems”.
“We call for speedy resolution of this crisis before it snowballs into a National disaster that may not only affect the conduct of the coming elections, but may also throw the country into unprecedented chaos”, he enjoined.
He also condemned the irresponsibility of men of certain security agencies in dealing with protests that broke out in some areas of the country, adding that the Government cannot fold its arms and watch Nigerians languish in hardship, and security agents will again maim and kill them for venting their anger.
He called on all organs of government to immediately take on a more responsible posture in dealing with the present crisis and attendant reactions to it by Nigerians.
Subsequently, the Organisation also addressed the activities of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, he said “The refusal of government to pay salary arrears to lecturers of Universities across the country, is in bad faith and should be addressed immediately, in the best interest of academic activities in our schools”.
“The recently suspended industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities is one that we must not allow to repeat itself when all parties can act responsibly and with utmost concern for hitch-free study duration for our students”.
“We call on the Federal Government to immediately clear all salary arrears owed our Lecturers and ensure that the welfare of everyone involved in building critical human resource in our country”, he said.
The group also commended the Osun State Governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, for his recent approval of the payment of salary arrears owed civil servants in the State by the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
“We particularly commend him for the willingness he has displayed in righting the wrongs that may have been done in the far and near past”.
“We want to reiterate that the decision by the Aregbesola government to modulate salaries in such manner was in the first place not pro-people and it was a direct consequence of the administration’s well known penchant for profligacy, which the innocent workers should not have been made to pay for”.
“We sincerely commend Mr. Governor for righting this wrong and we anticipate that he will set up a policy framework that will ensure the implementation of payment according to the schedule outlined in the circular that we sighted so that the payment instruction does not end up in the dustbin”.
Reacting to the election tribunal petition judgement, he lamented on the negative reactions that happened after the judgement was delivered.
“First, it was protests that had pockets of violence in several locations across the State. Then, series of media campaigns against the Judges of the Tribunal and against perceived opponents of the Adeleke administration”.
“We condemn these approaches to protesting against the judgment of the Tribunal. A judgment against which the Governor and his Party has the rights to appeal, should not be reason for anyone or group of people to go about intimidating people and inciting violence against persons who are perceived to be in support of the opposition”.
“Again, the simple fact that all political parties that participated in the 2022 Governorship election had a certain number of votes, mean that it is not all Osun people who preferred the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. Such diversity of interest is the beauty of democracy and no person must attempt to make their own interests superior to that of others through intimidation or harassment”.
“We call on the Osun State Governor to ensure that persons loyal to him act in the best interest of this society and are not seen terrorizing our communities in the name of protesting a court judgment. Violent protests do not win court cases anyway”.
“We also sincerely appeal to Mr. Governor to quickly tighten the State’s security architecture to stem the rising tide of insecurity in Osun State which is unprecedented. Government’s first role is security of lives and properties and we ask the Governor to kindly live up to this responsibility”, he appealed.
In preparations to the forthcoming general elections, he urged residents to troop out to vote their preferred candidates and they should avoid any acts that may incite violence.
The Organisation also used to medium to tell the Government of Adeleke not to play politics with education, as University of Ilesa was already approved by NUC, JAMB and other related education bodies.
“We call on Gov. Adeleke to work with the submission of the steering committee that birthed the university, so that the university will admit its first set of students this month”, he concluded.
