TheCable

John Oyegun, a former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has been unlucky since inception.

Speaking with journalists at his residence in Benin, on Monday, he said save for “careful management” on the part of the current administration, Nigeria would not have recorded some level of progress.

Lamenting the numerous challenges bedeviling the country, Oyegun said those in government are not doing enough to raise hope of “a better tomorrow”, and as a result, Nigerians have become despondent.

“Things have been tough. What I can say confidently is that the basic foundation of our future growth has been laid, no question in my mind about that; but the administration has not been lucky at all,” he said.

“We have had a very tough period of dwindling resources right from the beginning of this administration and I think, but for careful management, we probably would not have gotten as far as we have today. There is no question at all.

“There is hunger in the land; the economy is not growing as it should; unemployment is very high; terrorism has [reared] its ugly head again after initial success and controlling it; cost of production of crude oil now is almost equating what we are getting from selling crude oil. So, the resources are just not there.

“I must say I am sad that things have gotten to this kind of situation, totally outside control.

“The only missing link that I will think is that we are not sufficiently giving the people hope or explaining things to people and giving them hope that tomorrow will be better.

“So, there is despondency in the land; that critical ingredient that makes people say ‘okay, things are bad today, but they are telling us that it will be better tomorrow.’ That is missing. In addition to economic difficulty, economic deprivation, we have not successfully conveyed to them, the picture of a better tomorrow.”