Former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe says the Federal Government must convey an all-inclusive national summit on proffering sustainable solutions to insecurity.
Okupe said that the summit was a “national imperative” because insecurity must be immediately checked before it snuffed the life out of Nigerians, especially as it has been blamed for the rise in food inflation in the country.
He was reacting to the Consumer Price Index report as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) earlier in the week.
According to NBS, the inflation rate for March rose to 18.17 per cent from 17.33 per cent recorded in February, representing a 0.82 per cent increase.
Similarly, food inflation, spiked to 22.95 per cent from 21.79 per cent recorded in the previous month, translating to 1.16 per cent increase.
Read Also: Ezekwesili petitions IGP against Omojuwa
In a Facebook post on Friday, Okupe said, “I think in ordinary terms inflation simply means, ‘too much money chasing too few goods’.
“In Nigeria however, I can’t fathom where the ‘too much money’ bit comes from.
“May be we can say it’s ‘sustained money supply’ that is, the continued payments for goods and services by governments by all means possible (CBN’s ways & means) that indirectly creates the pseudo increase in money supply.
“Whatever economic model subsists in the country, the fact is our productivity is on a steep decline nationally.
“This is more visible in the agriculture sector.
“Insurgency, Banditry and Herdsmen/farmers clashes have virtually sent farmers away from their farms while open grazing itself have devastated farmlands across the nation.
“Inflation rate of 18+% is a terrible bad news for the managers of our economy. When coupled with ever increasing food prices, a dual evil of hunger and poverty is unleashed on the populace.”
He added that inflation could not be effectively tackled without addressing insecurity.
“The Nigerian government must urgently find solutions to insecurity before it snuffs the life out of our people and threaten our very existence.
“An all-inclusive national Summit on proffering sustainable solutions to insecurity is NOW a national imperative,” Okupe stated.