A delegation of South-east and South-south professionals yesterday paid a visit to the Presidential Villa in Abuja and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a three-year state of emergency on the economy.
The president of the group, Emeka Ugwu-Oju, who headed the group to a meeting with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, later told State House correspondents that the nation’s economy was in a terrible state.
He said his delegation advised President Buhari to declare the state of emergency after due consultation with the National Assembly.
Oju said his delegation made the vice president to understand that in view of the current economic situation, public officials must make sacrifices and forgo unnecessary expenses.
He said, “On the current stage of the economy, we strongly suggested and advised that Mr. President, as a matter of urgency in consultation with the National Assembly, declare a three-year state of emergency on the economy.
“And this is not about APC and PDP. It’s something that is non-partisan; our economy is bad, people should realise that because we’re making it seem like it’s something that’ll go away.
“We were having $100 a barrel and now, we might not have $50 a barrel in the next three years and we’ve to factor it in.
“This issue of fuel scarcity is a typical example of what has happened. We didn’t plan for it before, we now have to get every citizen not a question of Mr. Bad or Mr. Good, the total leadership has to realise that all Nigerians have to come together, we’ve to roll up our sleeves so that everyone has a role to play.
“We’ve to sacrifice, it’s not just the poor that should be sacrificing alone. For example, I see no reason why any minister, governor or whoever should be travelling outside economy class.
“We’ve to show that things are bad. You can’t tell me things are bad and I see you drinking champagne, flying first class or private jet. Same goes for the private sector.
“These were the things we tried to make the vice president know and then communicate. We had a good engagement and as you know, he is very intelligent, very hardworking, very cerebral and we’re happy he is the vice president of the country.”
Oju, who revealed that his group was planning a second South-South/ South-East Forum on April 28, pointed out that though they might be seen as a geo-political group, they have “a pan-Nigerian outlook”.
He added, “We try to interface with South-west professionals and others from other geo-political zones on how we can get the Nigerian economy out of the woods.
“We believe each zone has some to bring to the table. We don’t have to wait for the federal government to do things for us. We, the professionals, want to see what we can bring to the table.
“We, from the South-south, South-east, are bringing the energy corridor project to the table and we can say we’ve the most comparative advantage on that.”
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