No Quick Fix For Nigeria’s Economy – Osun APC

The All Progressives Congress in the state of Osun has advised labour and workers in the state’s employment to have at the back of their minds the hard fact that Nigeria’s economy will take some time and some belt-tightening with creative engagement before things can return to normal.
‘The damage done by the PDP’s corrupt, reckless and horrifying mismanagement in the last seven years is such that except most states of the federation have sustained lifeline from the Federal Government, things may not return to normal soon.
According to the party, a creative new thinking as to how this problem could be solved, moving forward, should be the challenge of everybody.
‘Narrowing ? our thinking to self interest may not work because the country is not only broke, it also faces the huge problem of exiting (not alleviating) poverty’.
The party ?was reacting to the understanding reached between the state government and labour that ended the six-week old workers’ strike.
In a statement made available to the media in Osogbo today, the APC noted with satisfaction that labour categorically distanced itself from the actions? of rabble- rousers who purported to be protesting against government’s inability to pay workers’ salaries in the last six months.
‘Those protests, which the labour itself described as ‘politically motivated’ ?came in the wake of a vicious propaganda campaign which Osun PDP mounted to denigrate the APC government and Gov Rauf Aregbesola.
‘What Osun PDP stands for is to continue in poverty or at best lie about alleviating poverty; so they become agitated when Aregbesola started to implement programmes that will make Osun exit poverty’, the party said.
‘This was the principal reason the state was targeted before, during and after the governorship and presidential elections.? But before these events, not only were salaries paid on schedule, workers had 13th month salary bonus between 2011 and 2013′, the APC argued.
‘It was therefore, totally misplaced anger that was directed at Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for the crisis. Those who sponsored and propagated the misplaced anger did so out of envy that Aregbesola was raising Osun above their ignoble pedestal of impoverished ideas’, the party declared.
‘Now that it is open secret that PDP government led by Goodluck Jonathan was the thief that stole the nation broke, it calls for greater understanding from both labour union and the workers to help the state address the aftermath of this PDP crime against our country,’ the party urged all stakeholders.
The question of Internally Generated Revenue is again not being properly understood by our people. A man who was able to raise Osun IGR from N300 million to N1.6 billion monthly without increasing tax on workers is five times superior to the PDP people who stagnated at N300 million.
Secondly, the federal government would not allow Osun to develop and profit from its natural resources and generate revenue to run the state. All kinds of shady characters have authority of the federal government to mine gold in Ilesha but Osun government is not allowed to do so. And ignorant people are still talking about IGR when in fact the constitution and the federal government have prevented all the states of the Federation from exploiting their own resources, the APC further stressed.
The party therefore, admonished all stakeholders that the days ahead will be difficult but with an understanding APC federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, we shall eventually overcome.
‘However’, the party warned, ‘everybody will have to be prepared to make significant sacrifice’.
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