Covid-19: N’Delta group slams Buhari over poor leadership

The Niger Delta Youth Association (NDYA) on Monday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari for alleged failure to provide true leadership for Nigerians in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

A statement signed by the National Coordinator of the association, Comrade Victor James, a copy made available to journalists in Asaba, stated that the inability for President Buhari to provide firm leadership during this precarious time had further exposed the nation to ridicule before the international community.

Part of the statement reads: ” President Donald Trump of the United States of America approved $2trillion for its citizens to stay at home as welfare package; what did our President do for us? He only reduced the price of fuel by N22.

“The question now is, what economic significance is the fuel price reduction to the survival of Nigerians during the lockdown? People are living in hunger, people cannot feed and you expect them to buy fuel?

“Over 95 per cent of Nigerians are petty traders, farmers, carpenters, fishermen, mechanics, vulcanizers, spare parts dealers and many more who earn their living based on daily sales and now they have been confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

READ ALSO: NHRC orders probe into torture of man by magistrate in Calabar

“How would they feed their families now that they are not doing business? A true leader is supposed to make provision for its citizens before ordering the lockdown; It’s only in Nigeria that our leaders make policies without putting the led into consideration.”

The statement further argued that a case in point was the ban on motorcycles and tricycles by the Lagos state government without making alternative means of transportation for the people, which clearly is a failure in leadership.

“It is therefore, serious and we call on President Muhammadu Buhari to rise up to these vhallenge by living up or give way to capable hands to run the affairs of Nigeria,” it concluded.