*Tell Aggrieved Persons to Meet Their Elected Representatives

By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja

Governors on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria have frowned at the call for revolution by a group describing the action as condemnable.

Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, in an interview with State House correspondents on Tuesday, in Abuja said “it’s wrong to protest in a democratic setting.

An organization called the “Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria” had planned a “revolution” march on Monday with the aim of bringing “regime change” in the country.

The initiator and lead of the protests, Omoyele Sowore – a publisher of Sahara Reporters – a popular online news platform was arrested last weekend by the DSS and may be charged to court.

Governor Bagudu said that the protesters should have waited for the opportunity to express their grievances through the ballot boxes in the next general elections.

In the alternative, he said that the protesters would have done better by following due process by making their grievances known to their representatives either in the state or National Assemblies who will in turn channel same to the appropriate authorities.

He said: “Any call for disorder in a democratic setting is condemnable because the democracy, as the saying goes, is not the best form of government but it is the best that we have, because it gives opportunity periodically for the electorates to exercise their mandate in affirming or rejecting leaders.

“We have just come through a general election in march this year where Nigerians embraced the leadership of president Muhammadu Buhari and he has been elected for a second term with a little more votes than they have in 2015. “Also state governors were elected in different states; a lot of them second termer and a number of them first termers and interestingly enough we have seen all kinds of democratic outcomes which hitherto what we have thought differently, particularly in a democratic setting.

“We have first termers defeating second termers and in the case of one state, the supreme court exercising their rights as the highest court in the land to determine what should be and it is respected by the government.”

The Kebbi governor said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has done well having been able to manage the nation’s economy through the global recession even when the price of crude was at its lowest in the niter national market.

According to him, the shortfall in the nation’s revenues compelled the government to do more with little resource available especially when oil prices took a plunge from $140 per barrel to $27 when Buhari took over in 2015.

He noted that in spite the dwindled revenue and the attendant recession that hit the economy, the Buhari’s administration has been able to put together progressive policies with infrastructural projects being executed across the country.

“Rail-lines are being constructed, second Niger bridge is being constructed, infrastructural work across the entire six geopolitical zones are taking place, power is improving steadily,” he stressed.

The Kebbi governor noted what gets critics angry most remains the size of the nation’s economy which is very small when compared to her peers particularly Brazil an South Africa.

He said even though the population of Nigeria and Brazil are relatively close, Brazil 2018 budget is $657 billion, South Africa, with less population, is about $100 billion while Nigeria with her population of 200 million is having less than $30 billion as her budget for 2019.

Speaking further, he said that the nation could not attract support from the other parts of the world like her counterparts in Europe and America because it is located in the sub sahara.

“We are a bigger population, bigger economy but we don’t receive such money. Ireland, another European nation get support from the European Union to get them out of economic crisis in excess of Euro200billion. Nigeria is not so lucky, we have not received support of Euros10billion but ofcourse we have borrowed more, we have issued Eurobond,” he said.

Bagudu noted that even though the challenge of Boko Haram had been curtailed, there are still pockets of other crimes in the country occasioned by the the limitation of the nation’s economy.

Asked whether he sensed foreign conspiracy I the call for revolution, Bagudu said such has always been the worry of developing countries world over. Citing Amilcar Cabral and Walter Rodney, the governor said people have always worry about effect of foreign actors.

Asked to comment on the controversies that surrounded the suspended Ruga policy, Bagudu  said “The federal government did not request any state to provide land for Ruga, I am not aware of it. The federal government requested states that have Fulani settlements, like Kebbi, to indicate how much support they want so that we can have more hospital, water, veterinary services, school in those places.”

Governor Bagudu revealed that Kebbi State has over 3000 Ruga settlements in the state.

On agriculture, the governor said that the prices of food in markets have dropped significantly adding that farmers anticipate a bumper harvest this year.