By Hadiza Suleman
President Bola Tinubu, Tuesday, urged the masterminds of the planned August 1-10 protests to shelve their plans. He assured them that he had listened to their concerns and was working towards addressing them.
The president also assured that his administration was working on a social intervention scheme to accommodate all unemployed graduates nationwide.
He prayed the youths to exercise patience, adding that he was already addressing the issues raised and assured that his government would promptly react to all their concerns.
The position of the president was stated by the minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Mohammed Idris.
According to him, “Mr President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people that are trying to protest. 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.
“On the planned protest, Mr President does not see any need for that. He asked them to shelve that plan and await the government’s response to all their pleas.”
The minister added that intervention measures had been taken by the Tinubu administration, including the new minimum wage of N70,000, already passed by the National Assembly; trucks of rice already dispatched to all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory as well as the Student Loans Fund launched recently by his administration.
He continued, “A lot is happening. The National Assembly has just passed the bill on the new national minimum wage. You can see how the president is working.
“A lot of other interventions that the president has also put in place are also going to be looked at expeditiously in the interest of Nigerians, so there is no need for strike. The young people out there should listen to the president and allow him more time to see to the realisation of all the goodies he has for them.
“Highlights of other policies to cushion the effect of hardship Nigerians are feeling in town: for example, you saw that the federal government approved grains and rice for state governments. They were delivered to them. Also, the federal government is going to continue in that direction, supporting them.
“The federal government is looking at strategies that every intervention would go directly to those who benefit from those interventions, not middle men intervening along the way.
“You heard about the student loans board launched by Mr President. Mr President is very passionate about the fact that everyone will have the opportunity to go to school.
“It is no longer a time for all of us to stay back and see our able-bodied young 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 now a thing of the past. The government is very desirous to ensure that happens. You know the provision that was made to the NELFUND! Already we have in excess what is required today and the more that people are requiring that, the more the president will also give.
“There is also the intervention the president is making for young men and women, who have finished school and who are yet to get employed post -NYSC. For example, there is a scheme the government is perfecting now and that will be pushed very fast so that all those young men and women who have finished school, graduates of universities and polytechnics that are not able 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. Everybody will be. It is an all inclusive government and the president is determined to ensure that no one is left behind in this attempt to march Nigeria towards progress.”
