APC Chieftain Ayiri Emami Says ‘Hunger In The Land, But Tinubu Not Responsible’

…Blames successive bad governance for food inflation

…Says Tinubu inherited wrong foundations, needs time to fix Nigeria

Chief Ayirimi Emami, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State, has taken a swipe against those attacking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the prevalence of hunger and food inflation in the country, absolving the President of blame.

BIGPEN NIGERIA (https://bigpenngr.com) reports that Chief Ayirimi Emami made the assertion on Wednesday while addressing newsmen after performing prayers for Itsekiri nation and her people during the Ologbotsere Day of prayers ceremony held at his palatial Ubeji residence, as part of his traditional obligations as Ologbotsere of Warri Kingdom.

Chief Emami said that the current economic challenges are a result of successive bad governance and not a product of Tinubu’s administration.

Emami said, “A lot of people are saying there is hardship in the land and I agree. There is hardship, but this hardship is not been caused by Asiwaju. These were wrong foundations that were laid, and I pity the President that he inherited a very wrong foundation and he is struggling with it to make sure Nigeria moves forward.”

Emami said; “So to me, I just want people to exercise patient. Protest is part of democracy, it is part of life but the way you go about it matters a lot.

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“As for me, I am always protesting and agitating because sometimes if you don’t agitate the leaders may not know what we’re passing through.

“I have always been a champion of different protests and agitations. I can still remember vividly in 2012 when Jonathan was still the President I led part of a protest that our community must have light but there is one thing I always take into cognizant and I tell people not to do.

“Don’t break pipe because if you break the pipe the government will use that same money you are agitating that they use to develop your community to go and build a new pipe so if you destroy any government infrastructure they will use our money to go and rebuild it because government must continue but if we choose to protest and say tomorrow we’re moving to government house Asaba and we want to sleep with the governor, we can have our pillow and mattresses and go to the government’s house gate but I will not encourage anybody to throw stone.

“Let me tell you a simple example. The current governor of Delta State and myself led a protest to NDDC about 15 or 20 years ago when Timi Alaibe was the MD. When we got there we cautioned ourselves that what we are going for is to let the people know that they abandoned our area and that you must come and develop our area and that in going to that place, no matter how stubborn we were we cautioned ourselves that, don’t break anything.

“We had a team that monitored everybody because some people will take ‘colos’ and tomorrow they go and destroy things and people that have good intention, you just spoil their name and terms of agitation so to me we know Nigerians are yarning, there is hunger in the land but this hunger is not been cause by Asiwaju. And these are not things you can fix overnight.

“Those of us in the Escravos area have been buying fuel for N3000 per liter since. I challenged the NLC Leadership that whenever they are fighting they’re not even considering us in the river. If you go to my village you will know, we have been buying fuel at a very high price long time ago because none of those stations are in our area and these are the places that laid the golden eggs.

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“We will come and buy fuel in Warri and transport to Escravos, add all these together you will know that we have been buying fuel for N3000 over the years. Then people will go under river and come back without catching any fish.

“Today the fishermen in our area buy fuel for credit and probably because of climate change they don’t get fish and when they return those they buy fuel from will seized their engine so you can see what our community people are facing but people uptown will just be shouting hunger, hunger.

“We are the real people suffering the problem of these country especially those of us from the Niger Delta. Every money we get in this country as far as I know comes from the Niger Delta.

“What have been keeping this country is the oil. Oil producing areas are actually suffering but we just say let give this government a change but some people in one place will just wake up and say protest.

“These are political motivated protest so we are watching them. So for me, I don’t say don’t protest but you should be cautious of whatever you say or what you’re doing because Asiwaju is not the person responsible for what we’re facing today. All he is doing is trying to fix and my own is that we should try and be patient with this government.

“As for us the Itsekiri people we have made a lot of choices before Mr. President. I have mentioned the Omadino – Escravos road that will cut across many communities including our neighbours.

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Chief Emami noted that the Minister of Niger Delta had last week assured him that some of the issues he had presented before Mr. President were still been look into and will be attended to.

He called for unity and peace in Itsekiri nation and urged the people not to throw away their culture and tradition, saying, “our culture and tradition should not be thrown away, one must stand by the culture and tradition, we don’t have other identity, anything outside that culture and tradition it means you have lost it and derail from what our forefathers left for us. My own is that we must keep to the culture and tradition because that’s the identity of the people.

“As far as I am concerned anybody not here and doesn’t send a representative is not part of our family. Maybe there are some.judias among the 12 out there but as far as I am concerned we are very united as Ologbotsere descendants and we will keep Itsekiri nation strong and verile”, he enthused.