Oladipupo Awojobi 
The Nigerian Youths For Atiku (NYFA), a support group of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said that the reforms of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government required holistic reviews, saying they not yielding any positive results.
The group’s Director of Communications (Nigeria and Diaspora), Mr Dare Dada, made this remark in a statement, on Tuesday in Lagos, after the NYFA’s bi-monthly strategic meeting, which was held on Sunday.
Dada said that the group, as part of its resolution in the meeting on Sunday in Lagos, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to also take steps towards reforming the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police and other security apparatuses to deepen Nigeria’s democracy.
“Nigerian Youths for Atiku in its bi-monthly strategic meeting held in Lagos on December 1, 2024, reviewed the economic situation in the country and came to the conclusion that the APC-led government policies are not yielding any positive results.
“It has become imperative to remind the APC government of a number of policies previously implemented which have left Nigerians in a more devastating economic situation.
“Nigerians are still living with the consequences of those policies and the government must take a break from further reforms that could inflict more economic injuries.
“The APC-led government seems, no doubt, to enjoy formulating policies that have no bearing on the economic realities of Nigerians.
“The government has a right to make policies and review such policies when they seem not to be working. The government has grown confident in neglecting the groaning of Nigerians as they believe it is their usual style,” Dada said
He urged the President not to disregard public outcry but to be sensitive to the people’s plights.
According to him, given the current economic hardship in Nigeria, the government’s priority should be aimed at reducing the unemployment rate.
“It is saddening that the employable female population tops the unemployment chart. This should give any serious-minded government some concerns.
“If the female population is not employed, what will they be preoccupied with? The government should, as a matter of urgency, manage this ugly trend.
“The business of governance comes with huge responsibility and it has become important for the APC-led government to focus more on alleviating the suffering of Nigerians.
“We cannot continue to fold our arms and allow things to degenerate. The issues of high inflation rate, unemployment, naira devaluation, which has denied Nigerians value to their disposable income, remain unresolved.
“It is high time the government came down from its high horse and be honest with policy formulation,” he added.
He said that Nigeria had suddenly become one of the worst places for businesses to thrive due to multi-taxation from different agencies within the government.
According to him, the high cost of running businesses has compelled many multinationals to leave Nigeria, while laying off millions of Nigerians.
“While we await a holistic review of the past reforms which have not brought economic prosperity to millions of Nigerians, we implore the government to withdraw its current tax reforms from the National Assembly, while they conduct proper public debate to deliberate on its sustainability and suitability on Nigerians before passing it into law,” he said.
