Politics:

STATE OF THE NATION:

Senator Ekong Sampson Canvasses Solutions at Senate Plenary, says the Street is Hungry, Tense; Raises Economic Sovereignty

By Samuel Udoma

Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South in the National Assembly, has canvassed strategic and sustainable interventions that will rescue Nigeria from its current economic crisis. Senator Sampson stated that the ‘street is hungry and tense’ due to the current depressed state of the economy.

Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic times, with rising inflation, skyrocketing prices, dwindling currency, food scarcity, insecurity, increasing social hopelessness and unrest. Already, there have been pockets of protests in parts of the country, over the situation.

The President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration has called for calm, assuring on plans to remedy the situation in the nearest possible time, but citizens appear to be running out of patience, as they grapple with widespread hunger and inflation.

Alarmed at the worrisome economic situation, the Senate, it would be recalled, had mandated its Committees on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Finance, National Planning, Agric and Appropriations to interface with the Federal Government Economic Management Team in a bid to find ways out for the country.

Following the presentation of the Joint Committees’ Report by Senator Tokunbo Abiru at plenary yesterday, Senator Ekong Sampson in his contribution, noted that the elaborate report ‘mirrored the state of the nation’. Senator Sampson bemoaned the uninspiring state of the economy as captured in the report, saying that a ‘weak and poor economy puts pressure on democracy’.

The Akwa Ibom South Senator observed that the nation’s current situation raised issues about the country’s adherence to the principles of economic sovereignty. ‘Why are we so dependent on the dollar? Why have we left out issues of production?’, the legislator queried.

Dr. Sampson hinted that Nigeria would have found its way round the dollar if the country could adhere to the underpinnings of economic sovereignty. Sampson lamented that the dollar had become ‘a big masquerade, overtly over celebrated’ in Nigeria.

Senator Sampson, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, also expressed worry over Nigeria’s failing security, noting that insecurity was one of the major factors affecting poor agricultural production in the country.

Senator Sampson canvassed the involvement of the Local Government Administration in tackling insecurity in the country. He said that insecurity will be significantly reduced once the grassroots took ownership of the security architecture.

On food security, Senator Sampson, a former Commissioner for Environment and Petroleum Resources in Akwa Ibom State, said Government must devise sustainable means to ramp up agricultural production. He warned that the street was very tense, due to hunger in the land.

Senator Sampson rounded up his submissions by admonishing all hands to be on deck in order to help salvage the country, adding that this was no time for blame games.