By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has carpeted the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in the country for embarking on ‘needless vicious policies’ which have exposed Nigerians to untold hardship and poverty.
The National Chairman of ADC and former Senate President, Senator David Mark, who said this on Monday in Abuja, noted with regrets that while the APC government has continued to aggravate the citizen’s tax burdens, insecurity has also continued to disrupt the peoples social and economic life.
Mark spoke while inaugurating a 50-member Policy and Manifesto Committee for the ADC at its headquarters in Abuja.
The committee, which consists of eminent Nigerians, has former APC National Chairman and erstwhile Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as Chairman.
Nigerians, the former Senate President pointed out, are suffering now, perhaps more than any other time in our history, with poverty staring the people in the face.
His words, “Nigerians are suffering today perhaps more than any other time in our history. Poverty stares us in the face.
“Yes, poverty and hardship have always existed but the hardship and poverty that Nigerians are experiencing under the APC administration has gotten worse.
“This situation has been brought about and compounded by government needlessly vicious policies.
“What Nigerians are therefore desperately looking for are credible alternative ideas, actions and policies. “They want policies that would improve their lives today and lay a solid foundation on which they can improve their future. They want policies that show compassion.
“Nigerians are not looking for clever arguments. They want policies and actions that show that government understands what they are going through and is prepared to act with clarity, courage and most importantly with compassion.
“This is what the African Democratic Congress represents, a party that puts the people first”, he said.
The ADC National Chairman made it pointedly clear that a country that cannot secure its people cannot grow its economy, no matter how impressive its plans appear on paper.
He stressed that Nigeria does not need rhetorics, saying “She needs honest thinking and workable solutions”.
Continuing, Mark said, “Across the country, families are working harder and earning lesser and lesser, food prices rise faster than wages, salaries and incomes can cope.
“Power supply remains epileptic even as tariffs increase astronomically.
“Strangely, the APC government continue to aggravate the citizen’s tax burdens. Insecurity continues to disrupt the peoples social and economic”, he said.
The ADC National Chairman stressed further that Nigerians are not looking for who to blame for their suffering as they already know who is responsible for that.
According to him, “They (Nigerians) are looking for who will ease the pains. They want real, practical solutions that address the challenges of today, not policies that expect them to continue to give and give and give.
“One thing I have noticed over the years and I am sure most of you can attest to is that Nigeria does not suffer from shortage of ideas. What we suffer from is a failure to connect ideas to reality. “Too often, policy in this country has been an academic exercise detached from the very people it is meant to serve.
“Documents are produced, committees are set up, reports are written, white papers are produced, yet nothing changes in the lives of the people which is what matters most.
“Policy is not about sounding intelligent. It is not about volume or complexity. You must resist the temptation to treat symptoms while ignoring causes.
“You must go beneath the surface. You must think outside of the box. You must ask hard questions about why things are not working in this country. This is the burden before you.
“In recent years, government has continued to regale us with statistics about increased revenue, economic growth, and GDP performance. These figures are meaningless when they do not positively affect the lives of the people.
“A growing economy that leaves the majority behind in poverty is fundamentally flawed. Economic progress must be measured by its impact on people’s lives, not by statistics alone”, he said.
Responding on behalf of the committee, its Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun assured that his committee will help ADC to develop policies that will help the party come out with manifesto, that we make everybody in this country happy.
His words, “We are going to, through your (David Mark’s) leadership and the message you have so eloquently passed on to us today, do our very best to ensure that the path that you have now clearly enunciated will become the mantra of this party
“That will bring the entire nation to know, finally, that yes, they are watching us. Are they serious? Are they going to be different from the others who, some of them, are the same faces?
“But I think that with the manifesto, we hope the party will finally adopt, in a language that the ordinary man can understand and see how he himself fits into it, will change the dynamics of politics in this nation”, he said.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
