Adamu Garba, a former presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that Nigeria’s worth is in consumption rather than production.
According to him, anyone who discusses consumption vs production does not grasp the dynamics essential for a country to be productive.
Recall that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the previous general election, insisted on moving Nigeria from consumption to production.
However, Garba disagreed, stating that the country must generate value in its consumption and that individuals must spend money.
He said:
“Nigerian demography is green and supposed to be an asset, but it is gradually turning into a liability.
“Young people’s propensity to save money as opposed to spending is higher. Young people have to spend what they earn for value to be created.
“The truth is, Nigerian value is in its consumption, not production. Whoever is talking about consumption to production doesn’t understand the dynamics required for a country to be productive. Our HDI (Human Development Index) is pretty low, and you need about two decades to build a strong HDI. We don’t have that luxury of time now.
“We must create value in our consumption. Guys must spend that money.
“Another issue is that our younger demography doesn’t want to enroll in military service. This is not good. We need a large military, up to a million-fighting force, between now and 2030 to build a force that is capable of fighting and winning. This is needed to protect our supply lines and guarantee the flow of food and energy we need.
“Nigeria must grow to be an effective military power to continue to protect the interests of the hundreds of millions of Nigerians who will need the food and energy we need to be stable and grow as a nation.
Young Nigerians need to join the military in droves. This is critical for the future of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Muhammad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, has once again expressed concern over the hunger and hardship in the country.He bemoaned that the country’s economic crisis has spiraled out of control and that Nigerians are starving.
The traditional ruler addressed the 6th executive committee meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC), which was held in Kaduna State on Wednesday.
He stated that instability and poverty are the main causes of problems for the people of the north.
“To make matters worse, we are faced with rising levels of poverty of most of our people; a lack of normal sources of livelihood for the common man to have even a good meal a day,” he said.“But I believe talking about insecurity and the rising level of poverty are two issues that we cannot fold our arms and think everything is okay.“I have said it so many times and at so many fora that, things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the north.“To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party.“So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves.”
“Education is important, so whatever issue you want to bring here, you must talk about education, you must talk about health issues and of the two monsters that have been harassing all of us here that is insecurity and poverty,” he said.“And let’s not take it for granted; people are quiet, they are quiet for a reason because people have been talking to them.‘We have been talking to them, we have been trying to tell them things will be okay and they keep on believing.“I pray to Almighty Allah that they will not one day wake up and say we no longer believe in you, because that would be the biggest problem because we can’t quieten these people as traditional, spiritual leaders and diplomats forever.“We have reached that level, people are very agitated, people are hungry, they are angry, but they still believe there are people who can talk to them, they believe in some of their governors, some other traditional rulers, and some of their religious leaders.“Fortunately, some of us double as traditional and religious leaders.“So, we have this onerous task of reaching out to everybody, calming them down, and assuring them things will be okay, and they should continue to pray and pray and still do something good because prayer without work will not bring anything.”
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