By Otori Ozigi.
There is no gainsaying that the country is presently entrapped in the throes of unprecedented hardship,hunger and multidimensional poverty that have become the major issues in the country today.
The aforementioned challenges are being compounded by the prevailing security quagmire in the country that have assumed a notorious dimensions, attracting global attention and outrage.
Little wonder therefore, that thousands of innocent lives and properties worth billions of naira have been lost to the lingering insecurity challenges in Nigeria.
True, criminal elements like bandits, kidnappers, murderous Fulani herdsmen, ritualists and Boko Haram insurgents are currently on rampage killing and causing havocs and mayhem in their trails.
For unprecedented dimensions under this democratic dispensation, Nigeria is facing food insecurity quagmire and a major crisis in the forex exchange market,as the currency is facing the worst devaluation ever in recent history.
The inflation index is galloping while prices of basic commodities have skyrocketed with hunger and acute hardships assuming an alarming proportions.
Nigerians are confused and helpless about these appalling situations.
The response so far from the federal government and the subregional governments is a far cry from what is urgently needed to frontally address the alarming situation in the country.
There is no gainsaying that the federal government should quickly complete the ongoing wage increase negotiations with the organized labour and begin the process of it’s immediate implementation without further delay.
Members of the tripartite committee should show total commitment and dedication to the enormous tasks before them.
This is not the time for unnecessary grandstanding and showmanship by any of the concerned members of the committee.
Nigerians are waiting with bathed breath
Life is becoming more and more unbearable for the less privileged and the vulnerable segments of the country, by the day.
The federal and the state governments should scale up their various efforts on the distribution of palliatives across the country .
This is the time for genuine implementation of dividends of democracy and the commitment to Agricultural programs and policies with a view to achieving food security for local consumption and possible exports in order to generate enough revenue to shoreup the value of the naira.
On the whole, all hands should be on deck to defeat hunger and acute hardships in the country.
This is the time for Nigerians to embrace agriculture and play their supportive roles to defeat the monster of hunger and multidimensional poverty.
We should be more productive, going forward.
The government can not solve our problems alone.
It is our collective responsibility to defeat hunger and multidimensional poverty in the country.
Otori Ozigi, a veteran journalist and PR Consultant, writes from Okene, Kogi State.
