By Olusegun Olanrewaju
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to act quickly and save the masses from further hardship.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said that the suffering Nigerians are experiencing at the moment has made it mandatory for the President to act faster and employ strategies that would bring instant reprieve.
While speaking with journalists yesterday in Osogbo, the APC chieftain expressed confidence in President Tinubu’s ability to alleviate the suffering of the masses.
However, he suggested adopting strategies that would bring instant relief.
Oyintiloye, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), also noted the economic hardship the masses were currently going through due to the increase in pump prices, which has led to the rise in the prices of foodstuffs, as well as the rise in electricity tariffs and the cost of cooking gas, among other things, thus making life unbearable for Nigerians.
He said the recent increment in the pump price has worsened the hardship Nigerian masses are contending with.
He further said, “Nigerians are hopeful that the country will turn a positive corner, but measures to achieve this must be accelerated.
“There is no doubt that the President is doing everything humanly possible to alleviate the suffering of the masses, but a faster approach must be considered.
“The President should ensure that every bureaucratic bottleneck that is impeding the swift implementation of policies that will put smiles on the faces of the masses is removed.
“The economic suffering the masses are currently going through is becoming unbearable, and the president must act fast.”
Oyintiloye also urged the President to address the delay in implementing the suspension of customs duties and taxes on imported food items two months after the initiative was announced.
The ex-lawmaker also said that since the initiative was intended to combat rising food inflation across the country, its implementation should not be delayed.
Oyintiloye recalled that on August 7, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, assured that the implementation of the policy would commence the following week once the guidelines were ready, lamenting that up till now, the policy was yet to be implemented
He said, “There is no doubt that the President is passionate and willing to put smiles on the faces of the masses, but those who are in charge of implementing these policies should not be seen as roadblocks.
“The President gave a directive to the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Services that a 150-day duty-free window to allow the importation of maize, husked brown rice, and wheat and almost two months after this is yet to be implemented.
“That is not good enough. The President cannot be everywhere, so his foot soldiers must be proactive in taking steps to achieve the President’s desire.
“The masses are angry and hungry. And that is why all measures to facilitate this should be implemented quickly.”
He appealed to the people responsible for drafting the guidelines for implementing the policy to do what is necessary, adding that the initiative, when implemented, would crash food prices without affecting local production.
He urged Nigerians to continue supporting the President, saying that while all the policies implemented at the moment might seem painful, they would be of great benefit in the long run.
