A former Governor of Cross Rivers state, Donald Duke has said that the current economic hardship the country is grappling with is solvable.
He added that since the major cause of inflation in the country is high energy, he sees no reason why the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should be the one fixing the price of fuel for local consumption.
Duke stated this on Sunday in Abuja at Teens annual conference with the theme, “The Power of Music” organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), The Everlasting Arms Parish”.
He said: “You see this inflation you are experiencing, you know why you have inflation? High energy. So if the cost of energy—fuel goes up, inflation will go up, because you’re going to transport your food, you’re going to transport other people. I’m just giving you that as an example. Say, for instance, fuel was N700 per litre, today is N1500, inflation will almost double. If the cost of electricity increases, it will also inflate.
“This is a country that flares gas, that’s energy. It’s a country that has oil. We can fix the price of our oil. We don’t have to allow the rest of the world determine the price of our oil for our own consumption. This is how we’re going to do it, and monitor it in such a way that it serves us and not go to other countries. That’s very important.
“The second thing is, all this energy, gas that we’re flaring, doesn’t it occur to us to use it for the sake of our own people, just that alone will crash this inflation you’re talking about. So when you look, there’s no problem that cannot be solved.”
Duke also lamented that quack politicians have brought the lowest level in the country.
His words: “Politics could be the most elevating vocation, but a lot of quacks are involved in it, so they have brought it down to the lowest level. When politics is right, it elevates everything. It elevates medicine. It elevates your livelihood.
“When we complain about the country not being good, it’s a politician. So if you have the right politicians, you have the right country. So it is the most noble, the most noble of vocations.”