Says don playing Ostrich
Kwara State Government has berated the renowned economist and public policy analyst, Prof. Tella Aderibigbe, over his allegation that some governors of the 36 states of the federation, and not President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should be held responsible for the excruciating food crisis bedeviling Nigeria now.
Aderibigbe had made the allegation in Lagos last Friday on the sidelines of the yearly colloquium of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Africa, an advocacy group established in 2008.
According to him, while the states’ coffers swell with increased federal allocations since the removal of the vexed fuel subsidy, the benefits are scarcely trickling down to the needy masses.
Aderibigbe pointed to the activities in Kwara State where Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak is reportedly investing N17.8 billion in renovating a state-owned hotel, amid widespread poverty and economic hardship facing the residents of the state.
HOWEVER, a statement by Special Adviser on Media to Kwara State Governor, Bashir Adigun, said the don was playing Ostrich.
The statement reads in part: “A certain Prof Aderibigbe in a recent public lecture shocked us by his surprising apparent ignorance of basic factors igniting the food crisis in Nigeria, nay the world.
“The good professor threw away all empirical indices pertinent for any credible academic essay and went on a voyage of fantasy to accuse state governors of causing the food crisis!
“One wonders if Prof. Tella Aderibigbe truly made the remarks or was misquoted; either way, a clarification is necessary. I am confident that other state governors will address him in due course, provided they even consider it necessary to dignify his generalisation. We take exception in Kwara State because he expressly mentioned the state. This is not only preposterous but a complete figment of Aderibigbe’s imagination.
“Indeed, it calls to question his ability to follow the news and track record of AbdulRazaq both as exceptional governor of Kwara State and performing chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors Forum.
“Is Aderibigbe aware of inspiring compliments on Governor AbdulRazaq by no other person than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
“I do not doubt Aderibigbe’s academic credentials but one cannot fathom his pretence not to know that the food crisis is essentially a global problem and accentuated by local economic factors inherited by the current administration.
“We really wonder if Aderibigbe is not induced by ulterior motives or other extraordinary considerations to make such ignorant and sweeping remarks in his assessment of developments in Kwara State.”
