Recession: Dogara calls for emergency measures

SPEAKER, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, on Wednesday, called for application of emergency measures to pull the country out of current economic recession.

In a welcome address to mark the resumption of the House after its annual recess, Dogara called for increased consultation with economic experts to deal with the crisis.

He advocated collective efforts to address the challenges, adding that it was unnecessary to trade blames.

“What is required is that the present government takes responsibility and actions to stimulate the growth of the economy.

“As leaders, we must take responsibility for the present economic situation, although we are not directly responsible for it.

“We must admit that this is a difficult thing to do in the present generation that spurns responsibility. Everyone wants to blame someone for something that goes wrong.

“These are no times like any other. I, therefore, call on all of us and, indeed, the National Assembly, to continue giving legislative support to the executive on all well-thought-out and effective solutions to our economic problems,” he said.

He said that Nigeria had gone into recession is a worrisome development which calls for emergency measures to be taken.

“All hands must be on deck to tackle the myriads of problems facing us.This is not the time for partisanship; this is not the time to score political points.

“This is not the time for grandstanding; this is not the time for blame games.The situation and the times call for bold, courageous, enlightened and purposeful leadership,” he said.