President Bola Tinubu has appealed to organizers of a nationwide protest to shelve their plans, assuring them that he is listening to their concerns and working diligently to address them.
The protest, being scheduled to hold across the country between August 1 to 10, is said to be a way of registering the impact of food scarcity and the inability to afford common needs.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris conveyed the president’s message while speaking to journalists at the State House on Tuesday, July 23, after a routine briefing of the President on developments around his ministry.
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Idris said President Tinubu takes the protesters’ grievances seriously and is committed to ensuring a better future for Nigeria.
The minister highlighted the swift passage of the National Minimum Wage Bill by the National Assembly as evidence of the President’s commitment to swift action.
He urged young people to give the President more time to implement his plans, emphasizing that a protest is unnecessary as the government is already responding to their pleas.
“We also discussed the issue of the country generally and Mr. President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people who are trying to protest, Mr. President is listening to them, he takes what they say seriously and he is working assiduously to ensure that this country is good, not just for today, but also for the future.
“The issue of the planned protest, Mr. President does not see any need for that, he’s asked them to shelve that plan and he’s asked them to await the government’s response to all their pleas. He has listened to them, like I said, and a lot is happening.
“Only today, the National Assembly has expeditiously passed the Bill on National Minimum Wage, you can see how the President is working. It was transmitted only yesterday, today it has been passed.
“A lot of other interventions that the President has put in place are also going to be looked at expeditiously, in the interest of Nigerians. So there’s no need for a strike, the young people out there should listen to the President and allow the President more time to see to the realization of all the goodies he has for them.
Idris also reeled out more of the interventions being pushed to the public, aimed at supporting vulnerable Nigerians, students, and young graduates.
According to Idris, the government is committed to ensuring that its interventions reach the intended beneficiaries directly, without intermediaries.
He highlighted the recent approval and delivery of grains and rice to state governments as a first step in this direction.
“For example, you saw that the federal government approved grains and rice for state governments, it was delivered to them expeditiously also.
“Like I said the other time, it is just the necessary first step, the government is going to continue in that direction, supporting them and ensuring that whatever interventions the federal government has put in place go to those that should benefit. It is very important that is being put out.
“The federal government is looking at strategies that every intervention would go directly to those who benefit from those interventions, not middlemen intervening along the way”, he said.
The Minister also emphasized President Tinubu’s passion for the newly launched Student Loan Board, which aims to ensure that every eligible student can access tertiary education regardless of financial constraints.
“Number two, you heard about the student loan board that was launched by the President, Mr. President is very passionate about deepening that. Everyone that should go to school will have the opportunity to go to school.
“It is no longer a time for all of us to stay back and see our young able-bodied men and women that have passed the examinations to go to tertiary institutions that have not been able to do that because their parents are not able to pay for their fees.
“This is a thing of the past, the government is very desirous of ensuring that happens. You know the provision that was made to the NELFUND, already we have in excess of what is required today, and the more the people are requiring that the more the President will also give”, the Minister said.
Furthermore, the government is perfecting a scheme to support young graduates who are yet to secure employment after completing their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.
This initiative is part of the administration’s commitment to leaving no one behind in its quest for progress, according to the Minister.
“There is also the intervention the President is working out for those young men and women who have finished school, but who are yet to get employed, post-NYSC for example, there is a scheme the government is perfecting now and that is also going to be pushed fast so that all those young men and women who have finished school, graduates of universities and polytechnics that are unable to get jobs, they will continue to be supported by the government until such a time that those jobs are offered to them.
“The whole idea is that no one is left behind, it’s an all-inclusive government and the President is determined to ensure that no one is left behind in this his attempt to march Nigeria towards progress”, Idris said.
Speaking on his reason for visiting, Idris said: “It’s a regular meeting that all ministers hold with the President, I met with him and discussed with him, especially in areas under my supervision; the issue of NTA, for example, FRCN, NAN and VON. We have discussed all that and we have also arrived at situations that will help their position as public information platforms of the country.
“They should be in the forefront and they are, we are doing everything possible to make sure that they are being repositioned so that they can serve Nigeria very well”, he said.
