A former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has said the year 2020 is time to work for a better future, adding that government should respect the rule of law and initiate policies that would benefit Nigerians.
Atiku, in a statement by his Media Office on Tuesday, said the year heralded a brand new decade and required all to stay together more than ever before to take on, head front, the common enemy of insecurity bedeviling the nation.
Atiku, the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the government should not pretend to be democratic, but rather act according to the fundamental principles of democracy.
“The reality of this new decade requires of us to re-calibrate our approaches and to pursue some tough choices. If failure is not an option, then we must let go of our egos and conveniences.
“It is incumbent on government at all levels to pursue policies that will provide decent housing to the mass majority; put food on the table; provide healthcare and education. We cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different outcome.
“At the individual level, this moment calls for more empathy and sacrifice. The New Year and a new decade come with the opportunity to make better impressions in our lives and in the lives of people around us.
“It is therefore, high time we caused a rejig of economic policies that will promote an expansion of the economy and create jobs opportunities aplenty.
“I wish to restate that our collective call for rule of law and our history about the struggle for democratic rule did not envisage a situation where judicial pronouncements would be worth less than the paper upon which they are rendered.
“It is a bad advertisement for the country and its democracy if declarations made by the court are not respected without the executive arm of government agreeing to same. Any democracy is not worth the appellation if the principle of separation of power is not ingrained in it.
“I do not share the sentiment when some people claim that the outgone 2019 was a successful year for Nigerians. Such sentiments is reductionist and does the harm of making us have a false sense of victory,” Atiku said.
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