**News Report:**
The Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has criticized the Federal Government’s approach to distributing palliatives, labeling it as an attempt to reduce Nigerians to beggars and deepen poverty. He made these remarks during a visit by the Prestige Sisters League to the ABUAD campus.
Babalola expressed his concern over the ongoing protests across the country, which he believes are driven by genuine hunger. He urged the government to listen to the protesters, emphasizing that the primary responsibility of the government is to ensure the welfare of its citizens.
“The problem we have now is that people cannot move freely. They have abandoned the farms. People are being killed in their farms, and everybody wants to stay where they are safe. It is because the government has failed in this regard that we have hunger,” Babalola stated.
He condemned the government’s distribution of food items like garri, beans, and rice as palliatives, arguing that such measures discourage people from working and contribute to poverty. Babalola called for the creation of an enabling environment where citizens can work and sustain themselves.
In addition to his criticism of the palliative distribution, Babalola also expressed support for the Patriots’ call for a new constitution. However, he disagreed with the idea of convening a constitutional conference, instead advocating for the reenactment of the 1963 constitution by the National Assembly.
Babalola pointed to President Bola Tinubu’s recent call to revert to the old National Anthem as an example of how changes can be made without a conference. “The 1963 constitution was the one made by all of us. By the same token, the parliament should bring back the 1963 and reenact it,” he concluded.
