The 2023 Governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC in Abia State, Bishop Dr. Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha, has charged the Federal Government to address insecurity and hunger in the country before increasing the pump price of petroleum product.
Recall that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on Tuesday, raised the pump price of petrol to N897 per litre from the official price of N617.
This came days after the national oil company said it was heavily constrained by the huge debt it owes international suppliers. The debt is estimated to be $6.8 billion.
Reacting to the disheartening situation in a statement he personally endorsed on Thursday evening and made available to newsmen, titled, “Address Hunger and Insecurity Before Increasing Petroleum Pump Price”, Bishop Onuoha who is also the President, Vision Africa International, said the federal government has acted in a manner that portray them as a government that is insensitive to the plights of the people.
The Methodist Bishop wondered why the federal government will allow the masses pass through hard times, stressing that the hikes in prices of these energy sources have astronomically increased the costs of services and commodities, reduced the disposal incomes of average Nigerians, and heightened people’s health risk.
He decried that people are beginning to develop high blood pressure on daily basis, due to the hardship in the country, reiterating that Nigerians have never had it this difficult apart from the civil war era. He said the situation now is terrible because the country is not in the civil war era yet, the gnashing of teeth can be likened to a war era.
Bishop Onuoha advised the federal government to come up with human faced policies and programmes to assuage the hunger in Nigeria , maintaining that this should be of serious concern to the Nigerian government than multiplying the sufferings of the poor through the astronomical increment in price of petrol also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
He advised the ruling class not to take the quietness of poor Nigerians for granted, emphasizing that it may not go down well if the federal government through draconian policies, anger the people, insisting that it may lead to serious disorder in the country.
“The statement reads in part, “It is insensitivity of the highest order for the federal government to astronomically increase the petrol pump without considering that the masses are already suffering. I want to advise the federal government to treat the masses with dignity, people are finding it very difficult to meet their daily needs. It is indeed insensitivity on the part of government to multiply their sufferings”, he said.
The Global Peace Award Winner 2013, also enjoined the federal government to address the insecurity in the land, stressing that tackling these quagmires should be the priority of the Nigerian government than constantly increasing the sufferings of the masses who are already wondering where they got it wrong by electing people to represent them in different capacities.
