Ekweremadu to President: Raise new economic team now
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Fred Itua, Abuja
Again, the President has blamed the economic recession on the global meltdown and the failure of past administrations to plan for the rainy day.
He said: “The present recession is as a result of cumulative effects of worldwide economic downturn and failure in the past to plan and save for difficult times. It is impossible to separate the present from the past to appreciate the extent to which mistakes of the past are affecting everyday life today”. In his Sallah message, President Muhammadu Buhari commended Nigerians for their steadfastness in spite of the difficult economic times. He assured that his administration was working round the clock to remove the hardships.
He said: “The lessons of the Eid el-Kabir are piety and sacrifice and, my dear brothers and sisters, you have exhibited these in equal measure.
“Rail and road construction, projects in the housing sector, support for farmers and for small and medium-scale industries, youth and women’s empowerment programmes, support for revival of industries are all designed to reinvigorate the economy and enhance living standards of ordinary people.
“We are getting security right. We are stopping corruption in its tracks and we will get the economy right by the Grace of God,” he said.
“I enjoin Muslims to live by the dictates of Islam, to keep good relationships with their Christian brothers and sisters and as patriots to maintain the spirit of the Nigerian nation. I wish everyone happy holidays,” the President said.
In his own Eid-el-Kabir message, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has called on the President to immediately assemble a team of economic experts to come up with workable ideas that will take the country out of the woods.
Ekweremadu called on Nigerians to use the occasion of the Sallah to pray for the nation’s quick recovery from her current economic recession, expressing confidence that Nigerians, working together, could heal the nation’s economy.
He, however, noted that prayers alone, were not enough. Since Islam advocates both work and prayer, Ekweremadu urged President Buhari to look beyond party affiliation to constitute a Special Economic Squad to rescue the nation from present economic meltdown.
Ekweremadu noted that the present economic challenges were not beyond redemption, but could actually become the nation’s turning point away from an oil-driven economy to real prosperity if the right policies and structures were put in place.
He said: “I warned long ago that elections had come and gone and we should move from politics to governance. It is time for governance and we must bring all capable hands on deck, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic backgrounds.
“Nigerians are facing hard times; and all they are interested in are positive results and urgent succour. They don’t care whether you are All Progressives Congress, APC, or Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and whether you are North or South. The good news is that capable hands abound in the country. We must assemble them and give them both the mandate and liberty to help the president’s team to revamp the nation’s economy.”
The Deputy Senate President also commended the security agencies for the arrangements put in place to ensure a hitch-free Sallah.