President Bola Tinubu has questioned the rationale for a protest on August 1, insisting that he is already addressing most of the challenges confronting the nation, especially those concerning youths.
The President spoke through the Minister of Information and
National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who confirmed that the issue of the
proposed protest came up for deliberations at the Federal Executive Council
meeting.
According to Idris, the recent student loan policy of the
federal government was targeted at the youth population, such that no Nigerian
child who secures admission will drop out on account of fees.
His words: “The position of FEC is that most of the demands
that the protesters are making are actually being addressed by the federal
government and therefore it is the view of the government that there is really
no need for the protests again because most of those things that the protesters
are putting forward have already actually been addressed or are being addressed
by government.
“Like we have said repeatedly, this is a listening
government. The President has listened to the voices of all those who are
planning this protest and the message is that there is no need for it.”
The Information Minister further noted: “The last council
meeting here at the briefing, we announced that a number of trucks, 20
precisely, had been given to the state governors for onward distribution to
those who actually are in need of them, the poorest of the poor in society and
those who are actually in need, but government did not stop there.
“There is also rice that is being sold at about 50 per cent
of its cost, a bag of rice is being sold as we speak now. This rice has been
taken to various centres across all the states of the federation and is being
sold at N40,000. Centres have been created, so that those who need this rice
can go there and buy this rice at N40,000.
“In the first instance, about 10 trucks have been made
available to each of these states and indeed, this is just to begin, I know
that some of the comments you hear are that ‘it is never enough’.
“Government has not pretended that these supplies are indeed
enough. But these are the necessary first steps that are being taken, and more
such interventions are being made in the interim. Of course, this is, like I
said, an interim measure because there is so much investment going into the
agricultural sector.”
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