- Mourns victims of hunger protests
By Chesa Chesa
President Bola Tinubu on Sunday warned those threatening Igbos in the South West to stop their bigotry even as he moved to assuage frayed nerves over the ongoing hunger protests across the country.
He condoled with families of those who have died in the process while he begged the protesters to cease action and buy into his numerous programmes aimed at alleviating their hardship and boosting the economy.
This is in response to street protests tagged #EndBadGovernance, which have held in almost all states of the federation as angry citizens demonstrate against hunger, inflation and unfriendly economic policies that have worsened their standards of living since the removal of petrol subsidies by President Tinubu in May last year.
In a dawn broadcast to the nation, the President urged those who may be aggrieved not to allow themselves be used to prosecute an unconstitutional agenda that will not augur well for the country.
He warmed that the law will catch up with tribal bigots who have used the opportunity of the protests to threaten ethnic groups in the country.
This is against the background of a faceless group using social media to threaten Igbos resident in Lagos and Southwest to vacate their abodes and go back to the Southeast by the middle of this month.
The President said: “I commiserate with the families and relations of those who have died in the protests. We must stop further bloodshed, violence and destruction.
“As President of this country, I must ensure public order. In line with my constitutional oath to protect the lives and property of every citizen, our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with a clear political agenda to tear this nation apart.
“Under the circumstances, I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity. Nigeria requires all hands on deck and needs us all – regardless of age, party, tribe, religion or other divides, to work together in reshaping our destiny as a nation.
“To those who have taken undue advantage of this situation to threaten any section of this country, be warned: The law will catch up with you. There is no place for ethnic bigotry or such threats in the Nigeria we seek to build.”
The broadcast provided an opportunity for Tinubu to again defend his removal of petrol subsidy last year, and highlight the various interventions his administration has made to turn around the misfortunes of past years of mismanagement of the economy.
According to him: “For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.
“I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress.
“These actions blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighbouring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate.
“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter.”
On the specific steps taken to make life better for all citizens, Tinubu noted that since he assumed office 14 months ago, government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion in the first half of 2024 through blicking leakages; debt servicing has reduced from 97% of revenue to 68%; and foreign exchange obligations of about $5billion have been cleared.
He also recalled the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway projects; while oil production has increased to 1.61million barrels per day, with Foreign Direct Investments reaching over half a billion dollars since then; as well as empowering public transporters with Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (CNG) conversions to reduce operating costs.
Not left out are the students loans scheme for which N45.6billion has already been processed for payment to students and additional N50billion approved; the Consumer Credit Corporation with over N200 billion to help Nigerians to acquire essential products without the need for immediate cash payments,
“Additionally, we have secured $620million under the Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDiCE) – a programme to empower our young people, creating millions of IT and technical jobs that will make them globally competitive… we have introduced the Skill-Up Artisans Programme (SUPA); the Nigerian Youth Academy (NIYA); and the National Youth Talent Export Programme (NATEP).
“Also, more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from our nano-grants. An additional 400,000 more nano-businesses are expected to benefit.
“Furthermore, 75,000 beneficiaries have been processed to receive our N1million Micro and Small Business single-digit interest loans, starting this month. We have also built 10 MSME hubs within the past year, created 240,000 jobs through them and 5 more hubs are in progress which will be ready by October this year.
“Payments of N1billion each are also being made to large manufacturers under our single-digit loans to boost manufacturing output and stimulate growth. I signed the National Minimum Wage into law last week, and the lowest-earning workers will now earn at least N70,000 a month”, he said.
President Tinubu mentioned mass housing projects, incentives like fertilizers and mechanised assistance to farmers to increase food production at affordable prices; among many other initiatives and interventions.
In the end, he assured Nigerians that “I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens.
“But we must not let violence and destruction tear our nation apart. We must work together to build a brighter future, where every Nigerian can live with dignity and prosperity.”
He concluded by charging Nigerians that “let nobody misinform and miseducate you about your country or tell you that your government does not care about you.
“Although there have been many dashed hopes in the past, we are in a new era of Renewed Hope. We are working hard for you, and the results will soon be visible and concrete for everyone to see, feel, and enjoy.
“Now that we have been enjoying democratic governance for 25 years, do not let the enemies of democracy use you to promote an unconstitutional agenda that will set us back on our democratic journey.”
