Perhaps, with an eye on the popular uprising in Kenya over increasing cost of living, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has ordered the release of the sum of ₦155 billion to purchase food and quickly distribute it around the country.
The Commander-in-Chief gave the directive during Thursday’s National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the State House in Abuja.
In a statement released by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, the president said he is prepared to offer further assistance required to guarantee that Nigerians are fed.
Furthermore, the president said the federal government would give every state and the Federal Capital Territory ₦10 billion each to procure CNG-powered buses to ease transportation cost for the masses. For the next three months, the government will also grant ₦50,000 to 100,000 families monthly in each of the 36 states of the federation.
The president also made an undisclosed overture to the restive labor unions and civil society organizations.
Urgency Of The Times
According to the presidential spokesman, Mr. Tinubu called on the subnationals—state and local governments—to pitch-in in like manner, warning them, “It is getting late.” He said it was important for all stakeholders to understand that “time is humanity’s most precious asset”, and therefore, all parties needed to work together “to deliver on the critical reforms required of us to meet the needs of our people.”
The president also said all efforts should be geared towards food production and promised “solar-powered irrigation facilities to support our farmers across seasons.” He said it was now critical that we “produce the food our people eat.”
“There is nothing we are doing that is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy, and sell. We create jobs in the production of it”, the president urged.
President May Be Listening
The president outlined several important roads that needed to be rehabilitated or reconstructed including Sokoto-Badagry Highway, Trans-Saharan Highway, which links Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja and he also approved full counterpart financing for Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway; to traverse from Rivers state to Borno, as well as the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway
Mr. Tinubu had come under pressure from Nigeria’s opposition and civil society who oppose his new legacy ₦15 Trillion jumbo Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project. Government critics had advised him to prioritize food production, fiscal discipline, poverty alleviation, and a more thoughtful approach to infrastructure by focusing on existing road networks rather than building entirely new ones.
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