… Never again shall we entrust our common wealth to thieves – Lauretta Onochie
By Nwafor Sunday
As Nigeria records N25.7trn debt as at June 30, a former social media aide to Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Pastor Reno Omokri on Thursday jeered at the country, quizzing if Nigerians are better off now than in 2015.
However, like every other country, there is hardship in Nigeria and the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is seriously engaging people, empowering youths for a better tomorrow.
The eloquent Reno who describes himself as ‘Buhari tormentor’, had in the early hours of Thursday, visited his twitter handle to ask the following questions:
…Are you better off today than in 2015?
…Do you earn more?
…Are you more secure?
…Do you have improved power?
…Do you have freedom of speech?
…Are you hopeful for the future?
Reno who has been letting out a stream of invective on Buhari opined that the above were the reason he torments Buhari and his presidency.
However, having seen the achievements and perhaps sets a benchmark for comparison, the social media aide to President Buhari, Mrs Lauretta Onochie, vowed never to allow thieves in the society to take the mantle of leadership in the country.
Her words, “A hungry man is an angry man. It’s over 4 years since we voted them out. Nigeria has still not recovered from the heist of 16yrs. Never again shall we entrust our common wealth to thieves who are always angry about everything because they are hungry and eager to loot. Never”, she said.
Some revelations during the week
The Debt Management Office, DMO, has said that as at June 30, Nigeria owes N25.7 trillion in debt both domestically and externally.
DMO equally said that as at December 31, 2018, Nigeria’s total debt stock stood at N24.38 trillion.
The present figure shows an increase in debt stock of N1.32 trillion. The DMO said that the current total debt stock comprised both the Federal Government debt, that of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
For the Federal Government, the DMO said it owed N20.42 trillion, while the states and FCT owed N5.27 trillion. Of the Federal Government debt, N7.01 trillion was categorised as external debt, while N13.412 trillion was categorised as domestic debt.
For the states and the FCT, N1.309 trillion was owed externally, while N3.966 trillion was owed domestically, the DMO said.
On defence:
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Mohammed Ndume, has faulted the N100 billion budgetary allocation to the defence sector, noting that such amount was insufficient to tackle insurgency in the country.
He equally accused Boko Haram of killing over 840 soldiers, who were collectively buried in the military cemetery located in Maiduguri, Borno capital.
847 soldiers killed by Boko Haram ― Ndume(Opens in a new browser tab)
Though he was challenged by the Nigerian army who asked him to substantiate his claim, but Ndume seems to know what he said. “If he says so, then he should substantiate. What is his source? Let him provide it”, said Army spokesperson.
Agriculture:
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono has quashed canards making rounds that Nigerians are hungry.
Nanono who spoke at a news conference on Monday in Abuja as part of activities to mark the 2019 World Food Day being celebrated internationally on Oct. 16, averred that Nigeria is producing enough to feed itself, contrary to the narrative in some quarters that there is hunger in the land.
But in a swift reaction, an Agriculturalist, Prince Wale Oyekoya, challenged the Minister to tell the country how he arrived at the conclusion that the country has enough food to feed the populace.
He said that said the minister’s statement was political.
On Corruption:
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said that no country in Africa can boast of a low level of corruption, adding that only a few countries across the world can boast of such.
“Only a few countries in the world can claim to have low levels of corruption and none of these countries are in Africa”, he said.
Recall that fighting corruption is the number one priority of President Muhammadu Buhari. May God help him achieve all his campaign promises for a better Nigeria.