Olisa Agbakoba, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says the administration of President Bola Tinubu is not communicating hope to Nigerians.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Agbakoba said the presidency is not leading by example by cutting down on the cost of governance.
The senior lawyer said the empathy of the government in view of the current hardship in the country is not apparent.
Agbakoba, who expressed fear about the future of Nigeria, said there is a rapidly growing revolt across the country owing to the high cost of living.
“I agree with those saying the presidency is not leading by example by moderating their lifestyles and cutting down on the cost of governance. It is very clear. The empathy of the government is not apparent,” he said.
“There is something that former US President, Franklin Roosevelt, said in the Great Depression years of America in the 1930s. The thing to do about making people happy is not to give them a job, you first give them hope.
“So, the government ought to be communicating hope. They ought to be saying ‘we are going through this difficult period but there is light at the end of the tunnel’. This government is not communicating that at all, which I think is a big error.”
‘FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE HOPE’
Agbakoba said that while Nigerians can manage in difficult times, the failure of the government to give them reassuring words is worsening the situation in the country.
“Failing to communicate hope makes Nigerians depressed. It is not that Nigerians cannot live with high food prices. They will always find ways to manage difficult situations. Even IBB (Babangida) said he doesn’t know why Nigeria has not collapsed,” he said.
“The problem we have is that the government is not communicating hope. If you communicate hope and say to a person who has malaria that ‘don’t worry, in two weeks time you will be well’, that will lift the person’s spirits because he has that hope.
“But right now, the government is not telling us that in two or three months, we are likely to be in a better state. That is the biggest problem that the government is not communicating properly.
“The second one is that the government is not even telling us how we can come out of this problem. That is why as we are beginning to see, there is a slow revolt around the country, pointing to a protest of costs of living. It is everywhere.”
Agbakoba called on the government to take action to address the disgruntlement being expressed by Nigerians.
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