The Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, has urged Nigerians to halt the nationwide protests against the current administration. He assured citizens that President Bola Tinubu is diligently addressing the country’s challenges.
In a statement released on Friday in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media, Lizzy Okoji, Audu called for patience and trust in President Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda.’
He emphasized that the administration’s policies are designed to lead Nigeria towards economic growth, enhanced welfare, education, and health systems, better social amenities, food security, and infrastructure development, among other goals.
Audu also highlighted the achievements of President Tinubu in just over a year in office, promising that Nigerians will see the fulfillment of their expectations for good governance by the end of the president’s first term.
“I want to appeal to my fellow Nigerians to please suspend the nationwide protests against the current administration and let us resort to dialogue to address all our concerns and expectations from the President Tinubu-led administration.
“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.
“Responsive 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 thereby impacting close to 5 million families nationwide. My colleague, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, under the direction of Mr President, has assured Nigerians that food prices will crash in 180 days, with strategic measures aimed at addressing the high food prices currently affecting the nation currently being implemented. 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 250,000 metric tonnes of maize is being imported, and these semi-processed commodities will be supplied to small-scale processors and millers across the country.
“Additionally, strengthening the health sector, Mr. President has directed the redesign of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, which attracted $2.5 dollars in financing for the National Primary Health Care so that citizens could have access to better healthcare.
“I and my colleagues at the Cabinet level, under the visionary leadership of Mr President across all sectors, have been working relentlessly to implement various policies within our respective mandates for the actualisation of the Renewed Hope Agenda so as to facilitate a better Nigeria for all. Many of these projects have already come to light.
“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,” Prince Audu stated.
The minister also urged Nigerians to avoid participating in the protests, citing intelligence reports from security and law enforcement agencies indicating that miscreants are planning to hijack the demonstrations to incite chaos and disrupt law and order across the country.