Chairman of the splinter group of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) popularly called the “New PDP” (nPDP), Abubarka Kawu Baraje, has insisted that the country has yet to experience any significant and paramount change over the years as he lamented that the country is a “crumbling edifice”.
According to Baraje in his independence message, the various government policies being executed are anti-people and have been escalated by dearth of good leadership among other multi-faceted problems bedeviling the nation.
He called for a change of direction by the government towards making life more meaningful for the citizenry.
“Let me state categorically without equivocation that I am very sad that it is a pity that 53 years after independence, Nigeria is still a crumbling edifice, wrecked to the seams by corruption, bad leadership, ethnicism, parochialism, sectarian intolerance and childish political recrimination, Baraje maintained.
“Nigeria at 53 has turned into a borderless valley of tears where life expectancy hovers between 40 and 43 years.
He also lamented over the manner in which Nigerians are callously being extorted through various government agencies like the PHCN which today excels in generating darkness and subjecting Nigerians to the highest ever tariff regime.
He added that even the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) which was set up to maintain and prevent mishaps on roads have been degraded into taking up the task of revenue generation for the government.
“FRSC as a well-meaning agency to tame the rising cases of road accidents has become a tool for mindless extortion through the issuing and re-issuing of vehicle number plates and drivers’ licenses at very exorbitant prices.
“The petroleum sector has become an illicit cash cow for the people in government, their friends and relatives who exploit the hapless citizens through sundry means and cleansing the treasury via a phantom fuel subsidy scheme that targets the friends and fronts of the members of the government for enrichment.
“What could best demonstrate the wanton brigandage going on in Nigeria than the fact that the government, which set up the SURE-P programme with the huge N32 increment in each liter of fuel Nigerians purchase, has recorded no known achievement with the huge accruals from the increment?
“Today, SURE-P has sacked the 110,000 youths it placed on N10, 000 monthly allowances on the excuse that there is no money to pay them.
“At 53 years of independence, our educational sector has completely crumbled and our universities have been shut for close to three months simply because a government that celebrates free loading of the nation’s resources cannot meet the agreement it signed with university teachers four years ago” he further grieved over the state of the Nation.
Besides, Baraje also queried the government on how it has been managing “the huge amount it realizes from the inhuman increment in the price of petrol, kerosene and diesel”.