The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, has appealed to Nigerians to suspend the nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria against hunger and poverty.
Shuaibu made the call in a statement released on Saturday in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Lizzy Okoji.
The protest was organized in response to the difficulties the nation is facing, and it began on August 1 and is scheduled to conclude by August 10.
The minister asked Nigerians to engage in conversation in order to voice all of their worries about the challenges the nation is currently facing.
Additionally, he urged them to have faith in President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which is making a concerted effort to address the nation’s problems.
According to the minister, the current administration’s policies and plans are meant to propel Nigeria toward economic prosperity, enhanced welfare, high-quality education, and fortified health systems.
He continued by saying that additional policies centered on enhancing social amenities, ensuring food security, and developing infrastructure, among other things.
The minister assured Nigerians that their desire for good governance would be achieved before the end of the current administration’s first tenure.
He said, “Mr President has shown countless times, his concern for the plight of Nigerians, with the recent implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage for workers.
“Driving the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative with CNG vehicles to cushion the impact of the removal of fuel subsidy, which will reduce the cost of transportation by at least 70 per cent.
“In response to the challenges of the masses in the face of the ongoing reforms, President Tinubu directed the disbursement of N50,000 uplift grants each to over 100,000 families per state for three months.
“This will impact close to 5,000,000 families nationwide. My colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, with the directive of Mr President, has assured Nigerians that food prices will crash in 180 days.
“These are strategic measures aimed at addressing the high food prices currently affecting the nation being implemented.”
250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 250,000 metric tonnes of maize, according to Audu, were being imported and would be distributed to small-scale millers and processors around the nation.
He went on to say that the president had ordered the Basic Health Care Provision Fund to be redesigned in order to improve access to high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare services and to fortify the health sector.
“In the steel sector, the ongoing reforms to revive our steel plants will create over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs, while we attract Foreign Direct Investments as a means of growing and diversifying the economy,” he said.
The minister pleaded with Nigerians to put an end to the protest, pointing out that it had already been taken over by criminals who were wreaking havoc and undermining law and order throughout the nation.
He applauded the Kogi people for not joining the protest, stating that instead they engaged in discussions and cooperative efforts with the state government, which is led by the All Progressive Congress.
