LAGOS/ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to enter into partnership with genuine private investors to build refineries in Nigeria.
The CNPP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said that the measure remains one of the viable means to engage millions of unemployed youths in the country.
It further maintained that the repair of the refineries would save trillions of naira and harvest scores of derivative products, which manifest from the refineries.
Commending President Buhari on his resolve to handle with care the contentious issue of oil subsidy, the CNPP reiterated its position to be on the page with the President’s resistance to all manner of temptations to remove the oil subsidy.
It noted: “CNPP is of the candid view that President Buhari has the political will to plug most of the leakages, scams and unbridled corruption which enveloped the oil subsidy, a supposedly pro-people initiative.
“Removing the oil subsidy for us is like throwing away the baby and the bath water; as records clearly show that the fantastic figures gazetted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its agencies in the last five years cannot stand the test of genuine forensic audit.”
In another development, President Buhari has directed law enforcement agencies to step up efforts at curbing the menace of piracy in Nigeria’s entertainment industry so that artistes can enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Buhari’s directive coincided with that of the Director-General of the Centre for Black African Arts and Culture, Ferdinand Anikwe, who urged Africans to develop templates that would ensure cultural growth.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Femi Adesina, President Buhari gave the directive after receiving a briefing from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan and her directors.
According to Buhari: “Nollywood is making progress, we should work with them because unless they are backed, pirates who want to reap where they have not sowed will ruin them, and they have built an industry with their own sweat, it is therefore incumbent on us to give them the necessary support.”
Anikwe, who commended Nollywood on the film Aluta continual that showcase the rich African culture to the world, said most African leaders do not want democratic change as they want to be in power for life.
He said: “The neo-colonial programme is worse than colonialism because with that we think, we are liberated, while we are deepening the colonial process, there are simple things we must do to prove to the West that we are no longer for them, speak the African language, wear African attires and so on.
“We must once in a while produce a template on how to ensure that we graduate from one cultural development to the other and eventually emerge as total Africans.” He said that African children must be taught and made to speak the African language in schools.
