A renowned Social Entrepreneur, Alhaji Yakubu Layi Gobir, has decried the level of hunger ravaging the country, warning that the situation must not be allowed to degenerate.
Gobir said available reports had shown that majority of Nigerians are feeling the adverse effects of hunger in their various households and urgent measure must be taken by the Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government to cushion the effects on the masses.
He spoke to Journalists at the weekend shortly after he participated in the just concluded local government election in his Gambari Ward of Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Gobir, a frontline pharmacist, described what he called “pervasive hunger” as a threat to national security while government cannot afford to close its eyes in line with change mantra and catalogue of promises it made to the people during the 2015 electioneering processes.
“I think it is high time our government led by the APC listens to the people and take urgent measures to address this pervasive hunger in the land. People are really hungry, and that is why our people say an hungry man is a potential angry man.
“There is no need to hide this menacing situation. Our people expect that things would change positively as soon as government came on board. Of course, government is addressing other areas and these have manifested.
“But this issue of hunger should be seen as a menace that requires urgent attention. Available reports showed that people are actually feeling the adverse effects of this hunger. Because people believe in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, that is why they massively supported him in 2015 general elections. It is therefore high time to act so that the ravaging hunger would be swept away in the land”, Gobir said.
Speaking on local government administration, the social entrepreneur appealed to the Federal Government to reconsider direct payment of monthly allocation to the third of tier of government from the federation coffers, saying the current mode of paying them through joint account with the state should be reviewed.
He said local government areas remain the closest to the grass root while efforts should be made to ensure their viability like it was in the past.
On the just concluded local government election in Kwara State, Gobir lauded the turnout of voters for the exercise but called for introduction of card readers into the process in subsequent elections with a view to making it more credible and acceptable to the electorate.
“One thing that I think we should fix ahead of the next election is card reader. The fact that we are not able to use card readers in this election, I think it’s a serious constraint. It is something that should be addressed ahead of next election. Because the last election that brought the change agenda to fruition was on account of new technologies introduced into electoral processes.
“If we are to continue things the way they were in terms of old system, I do not want a situation where things would begin to digress. So, I think the electoral umpire needs to really reconsider and do something about the technologies behind the electoral process”, Gobir said.
