By: Ismaeel Aleem
Hon. Bamidele Salam, the member representing Ede South, Ede North, Egbedore and Ejigbo in the House of Representatives, has issued a public challenge to presidential candidates, urging them to move beyond the fuel subsidy debate and provide concrete solutions to Nigeria’s most pressing problems.
In a statement released on Friday, the lawmaker declared that the fuel subsidy issue was “no longer topical” and accused candidates of “flogging a dead horse”.
He called for clear, practical answers on four critical fronts.
First, he demanded detailed plans to end the wave of kidnapping, banditry and terrorism that continues to devastate communities across the country.
Second, he asked how candidates intend to generate employment for Nigeria’s large and growing youth population.
Third, he pressed for a realistic strategy to cut the number of out-of-school children from an estimated 15 million to fewer than two million within a single four-year term.
Finally, he called for concrete measures to restore integrity and credibility to the electoral system, ensuring that money, violence and trickery can no longer override the will of the people at the ballot box.
Salam framed these demands as the new yardstick by which presidential hopefuls should be judged, shifting the national conversation away from subsidies towards security, jobs, education and the integrity of elections.