Saraki: Nigerians not interested in who is responsible for current predicament

Senate President Bukola Saraki says Nigerians are not concerned about who is responsible for the present economic hardship, but about how to end it.

However, he admitted that the present economic problems were caused by past administrations.

“During this year’s Sallah as it is my tradition, I had close interaction with a cross section of my people in Kwara central, including the aged, youths, market women, and leaders of thought,” he said on Tuesday at the resumption of the senate.

“I believe many of you did the same. I recall unforgettably, how one of the women came straight to me with a look of utter desperation and all she could mutter out was, ‘please our senator, do what you can to put an end to this suffering; it is becoming unbearable’.

“I don’t know what your experience was, but if your experience mirrored mine, then the challenge before us could not have been made clearer.

“The words of this woman reverberated across the hall with such unison that it was impossible to underestimate the desperation in the land. In the last couple of days, I have interacted with many of you here, and it has become even clearer to me that the situation is virtually the same all across the country.

“During my interaction, which I described above, I remember trying to explain to my people that this kind of thing does not happen overnight; that the seeds for the condition that we suffer from today must have been planted by past administrations that refused to do what was necessary.

“However, I soon realised that my people are not so interested in how we got here or who to blame for our current situation. They only wanted to know that government has plans to get them out of this current predicament. To them, the only explanation that makes sense at the moment is that which puts food on the table, reduces price of rice, garri, salt, sugar, meat and saves jobs.”

Saraki said it was clear that “desperately” hungry Nigerians were in need of urgent solutions to their problems, and as such, leaders must be visionary.

“It is clear to me that when people are desperately hungry, what they need is leadership with a clear vision, leadership whose daily actions reflects the very urgency of the people’s condition,” he said.

“Therefore, our response to the current challenge must be dictated by the urgency of the hardship that the people suffer on a daily basis.”