Immediate-past Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has urged the Federal Government to set aside a monthly National Day for Weeping.
He said that the day would also be used by Nigerians to reflect on the precarious situation the country is in.
Aregbesola stated this over the weekend at a symposium to mark the 50th birthday anniversary of an APC chieftain in Alimosho LGA, Alhaji Abdullahi Enilolobo.
He said that Nigerians were under an illusion that the country is rich.
The ex-governor however said that the country would run into huge problems if something was not done about the rapid population explosion.
Aregbesola said, “We don’t remember that we are poor here in Nigeria. If we have a deep thought, we ought to have a day of weeping every month.
“If we don’t work harder to improve our fortunes, we would continue to be poor. In 2017, Brazil had a population of approximately 200 million people almost about what Nigeria had. That year, Brazil had a revenue of about $600 billion and a budget of $700 billion. Nigeria in that same year made $13 billion and a budget of $23 billion. Are the two countries equal?
“Today, OPEC allowed Nigeria to extract and sell 2million barrel of crude oil per day but we don’t get that quantity. Even if we get 2million barrel per day and if the price rises to $100 per barrel, it means our income will be $200 million.
“If you divide this by 200 million people, it amounts to $1 per every Nigerian. We have to check our population by practicing birth control. If we don’t address this, we would have huge problems to deal with. We would also need every able-bodied person to work.”
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