Clark tells Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on food security

Chief Edwin Clark, a former federal commissioner for information and South-South leader, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a state of emergency over food because Nigerians are starving and enraged.

Speaking at his Asokoro home in Abuja, Chief Clark said that the populace was starving during a visit by High Chief Benjamin Tamaranebi, the President of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM), and a delegation of his staff.

Speaking about the latest demonstrations by Nigerians, the elder statesman stated that it is the people's right to protest and that President Tinubu had organized a several-week-long protest against the then-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Tinubu should not be held accountable for the elimination of the fuel subsidy, according to PANDEF's leader, as the funding allocation for it expired in June 2023.

Nonetheless, he cautioned the government to identify workable ways to reduce poverty, noting that the elimination of gasoline subsidies is hurting Nigerians. In Nigeria, oil subsidies are a significant issue. Not only is Nigeria not the only country that receives oil subsidies, but bad leadership and management make everything in Nigeria dysfunctional. It's true that everyone learns later on that the oil subsidy was a hoax. For this reason, in January 2012, during Jonathan's administration, the government eliminated the oil subsidy.

In the course of the 2023 presidential campaign, every major party discussed eliminating subsidies. However, President Buhari, Minister of Finance Ahmed, and Minister of State Petroleum Timipre Sylva informed Nigerians that subsidies were no longer available in their country in 2020 and 2021. Chief Clark added that even though the Petroleum Industry Bill was enacted quickly and lacks strong leadership, it is still not functioning two years after it was signed into law.