Hunger Protests: Pharmacists Call for Constructive Dialogue

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has called for constructive dialogue between the government and the citizens to avert the consequences of violent protests in the country.
The President of PSN, Prof. Cyril Usifoh, who blamed the economic situation in the country on decades of poor economic planning by successive governments, said PSN was concerned that protests may lead to unprecedented violence and ugly consequences which the Nigerian economy was not primed for.
He appealed to the agitating citizens to shelve the demonstration and embrace dialogue as “protests can be vulnerable to becoming a consuming evil of unimaginable destructive magnitude.’’

PSN said that although “Nigerians have been subjected to the extremes of deprivations and sufferings albeit in unprecedented dimensions in the last few months, it calls for caution to avoid more economic setbacks that may result from the violent actions of the protesters.’’
Usifoh said it could be argued that economic hardship appears to be a global phenomenon, but that Nigeria’s situation appears self-inflicted due to decades of poor economic management.

“Nigerians have been subjected to the extremes of deprivations and sufferings albeit in unprecedented dimensions in the last few months. It has been argued by some schools of thought that Nigeria cannot be an exemption because this hardship appears to be a global phenomenon. But the reality about Nigeria remains that we are paying for defective planning of over 60 years of nationhood which has manifested in hardship like never before within the short life of this incumbent administration,’’ he said.

PSN expressed its displeasure at the insensitivity of some arms of government to the economic sufferings of the masses, who are ready to heed government’s calls for sacrifice and understanding of the peculiarity of the prevailing circumstance in governance.
 “We reason without ventilating invectives that even when the current administration has called for more sacrifices from the citizenry, a clarion call which the downtrodden appears to have heeded but the leaders at the executive and legislative arms have not responded directly with proportionate measures by making sacrifice.

“Insensitivity and high-handedness characterise the attitude of the leadership with National Assembly members improving on the impunity of their predecessors with state-of-the-art SUVs which cost an average of N200 million, while also not disguising their posh and luxurious living styles to the chagrin of a poverty-stricken followership. Adding that, “Governors and CEOs of MDAs all still enjoy humongous security votes which have only imposed more insecurity on the very people who ought to be secured,’’ he said.