By Clement Adeyi and Cross Udo
The President said his concern was on the ordinary people and the damages that would be done by the protest.
Recall that the youth have scheduled to embark on a national protest on August 1, over hardship and the high cost of living in the country.
Speaking in a meeting with the traditional rulers at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Tinubu said, “Nigeria is on the path of recovery. You have heard it from the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun.
“We are not afraid of protests. Our concern is the ordinary people and the damages that will be done. Till today, I cannot forget the brand new 60 and 100-seater buses, down there in Lagos that were burnt down, and we are now complaining about transportation. That is the problem. That is why I must say thank you for talking to the citizens,’’ the President told the traditional rulers.”
The President also said security was getting more attention and would be enhanced.
“Security is getting better, but we cannot take our eyes off the camera because it takes one accident for things to flare up. We are managing it.
“We have created instruments to support the students so that they get education, and consumer credit to expand the economy, to improve the purchasing power of the people to rejuvenate the economy within a short period. We are still recalibrating our oil usage,’’ the President stated.
Tinubu said he will continue to explain the economic reforms and projected benefits to the nation, adding that he remains open to dialogue for the development of the country.
The President urged the royal fathers to reach out to citizens on the genuine intentions of the government to deliver on its promises of Renewed Hope.
“Now, we are sending money to the local governments. I addressed the governors today on that issue. I have been distributing fertilizer, rice, and other items to support the recovery of citizens. I assure you, Nigerians, we are looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. I can assure you, this economy will be revived, will survive, and prosper,” the President emphasised.
He said the nation’s economy is on a gradual but steady path of recovery and assures citizens that his administration will do more to meet their needs.
In the meeting with traditional rulers led by the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the President said the plight of citizens remains a deep concern, and will receive more attention.
According to him, “Yes, it is true that I asked for this job, and I approached some of you to support me. So, I have no excuse not to do the job with sincerity of purpose, and honesty. I have committed myself to it diligently, and I will never look backward.
“I have accepted the assets and the liabilities of my predecessor. How I will take Nigeria forward should be my concern, and that is my concern.
“I have been extremely busy. The only exercise I have had here is the walk from the residence to this place and then continue with the work.
“Nigeria is hilly, and it is the largest democracy in Africa. No other democracy comes close to us in terms of population on the continent. We cannot blame God for giving us these children, and we have to seek peace and better livelihoods,’’ the President said.
President Tinubu stated that the interventions to bring the government nearer to the people are already yielding results, with the activation of the student loan programme, the consumer credit scheme, and the affirmation of fiscal autonomy for local government councils.
He said the Ministry of Finance will continue to ensure that funds go to the grassroots for human and infrastructural development.
“Today, the Bank of Agriculture is empty. We have to reactivate it. If they are not talking about flooding, they are talking about banditry. We have to start all over again. Yes, infrastructural decay is there.
“The Lagos-Calabar coastal road is not being done without studies. It is an economic energizer. From it, we can create infrastructure along the route to develop wind energy and generate power, and we can expand our irrigation network.
“The economic viability of infrastructure has to be studied before we embark on projects. How many dams are there on the corridors of Sokoto- Badagry? From there, we can energize electricity. We can do irrigation and additional farms.
“Even if it is two million hectares of arable land, you can create opportunities for farmers on a small scale. Then you have to find capital for them.”
READ ALSO:Shun protest, Tinubu working to address hunger – Wike
*Sultan of Sokoto, Ooni of Ife, other monarchs caution organisers on possible hijack of protests
In his remarks, the Sultan of Sokoto said, “I believe that this brief meeting will clear some issues that many people have in their minds. At our meeting on Monday, we had a very open discussion on all issues affecting the nation. We are the ones who will tell you the truth about what is happening in our various communities.”
The royal father said an executive council meeting was held on Monday, and the Council, composed of all State Chairmen of the 36 States and the FCT, met to deliberate on the economy.
The Ooni of Ife thanked the President for inviting the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Finance and Coordinating of Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and the GCEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, to brief the traditional rulers on the state of the economy.
“We heard from the GCEO of NNPCL. They are the ones that propel our economy. We have heard from the Minister of Finance. We also heard from the Minister of Budget and the NSA. We want to encourage you, Mr. President, we will all get back to our various communities and let our people know because none of us locks our palaces,” the monarch added.
Earlier, the Ooni of Ife cautioned the youths planning to embark on national protest as a result of hardship and hunger in the country not to allow it to be hijacked by miscreants.
The Ooni also applauded President Tinubu for giving the royal fathers a sense of belonging by bringing them together to the seat of power.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting between President Tinubu and the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Ooni said people who are planning to protest have the civic right to do so.
According to him, “People that are out there to protest, it’s their civic right, but let them put a face to it and don’t let it be hijacked by people that have ulterior motives. That is our stand.
“We condemn such acts fully, we traditional rulers are not engaged in people, especially the youth, coming out to start looting, to start breaking down law and order. We are parents, we are traditional rulers, we are closer to them, we are going to go back home and continue to engage them.
“It is very difficult to build, but it is the easiest to destroy. We are all stakeholders of this country, we should be stronger as a nation together, than stronger individually.
“The President has said it and he will continue to say it, any leader that you don’t like, wait and vote him out. He is open to dialogue. We know that challenges are so many in Nigeria, we know that, but are we going to destroy our nation by ourselves? Is that what we’re all after?
“We should talk to ourselves. We need to know that today, it’s a completely different spin. The government, ably led by the President, is willing to engage and dialogue and bring governance very close to the people.”
Asked what the meeting with the President was all about, he said, “Today (Thursday), it’s a new twist and a new spin from the political leadership of our dear country. For the very first time, the traditional rulers were properly engaged in terms of the plans of government and governance, their achievements so far, and where they were having challenges.
“This is long-awaited. We’ve been waiting for it, but today we’re very excited because we’re closer to our people and we can bring that feedback back home.
“Stewardship from the Federal Executive Council, directly to the traditional rulers, it has never happened in our nation before, never. This is the first time we’re all experiencing it. We have traditional rulers that have been on the throne for 40, or 50 years.
“Today is the very first time we will be addressed properly by the Federal Executive Council. So there is a proper bridge and close of governance between the governed and the people that are in charge of government.
“So it’s a very beautiful take home for us because we don’t lock our palaces, we are more exposed to the people that we rule over. So it’s a different twist and spin from our dear President and I want to use this medium, on behalf of all traditional rulers, to appreciate him, no leader in Nigeria has ever done it. So for us, it’s all-encompassing.”
Also speaking to journalists, the Dein of Agbor, His Royal Majesty, Benjamin Ikenchuku Gbenoba, advised the young ones not to do anything that would destroy the country.
He said the power and strength of the country lie with the youth and pleaded that those planning the August 1, national protest allow the traditional rulers to work with the government to address their grievances.
Asked about the take-home message from the meeting, the Dein of Agbor said, “The take-home message for me, hearing from Mr President directly, I can see the passion. But at the same time, I think the government is finally understanding we are at the precipice.
“Our youths are our future and I think today we’ve demonstrated that the government, with the officials, we do have the hearts of the nation in our minds, we will listen to our youths because they lead the future.
“The power, the strength of Nigeria is certainly with the young people. We feel your pain, I’m a young person myself. It’s been 24 years I’ve been back and it’s been 24 years that I’ve started seeing the nation going in a very unpalatable direction, but by God’s grace, I think if you give us the chance, this protest, I know that it’s catching very high in your neck, but if you give us the chance, let us not destroy our own country.
“I’ll ask you to think of Libya. Libya was a beautiful country, what has happened to Libya, we don’t want it to happen here. Let’s go home, let’s continue to strive the best that we can, and continue to work with the government to see if we can proffer some solutions. I think that that would be best rather than to destroy property or injure ourselves.”
On his part, the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, said, “The message we are taking back to our people is to be calm, exercise patience, to also listen to the words of wisdom coming from the government.
“The President has given us the blueprint of what he has been doing over time and we are hopeful that by God’s grace, it will be alright.
“Though we have made it very clear to him, the main problem in this country, especially the north is insecurity. If the security situation is addressed certainly people will go back to their farms and the issue of hunger will drastically reduce and disappear.”
Asked how worried the traditional institution is about the Protest, the monarch said, “There is nobody that will not be worried about the protest, in any place in the world and we have seen what has happened in other climes, and governments were brought down.
“As an ex-diplomat, I have seen what happened in other climes and that is why I am in the position to say what happened in other places. So we are calling on our people to exercise patience and to listen to the words of wisdom. We are very optimistic Nigeria will bounce back to its former position as the leading country in Africa.”
*We’re not part of August 1 protest –TUC
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria yesterday said it was not part of the planned national protest over hardships and hunger scheduled to take place on August 1.
The TUC also said it was the constitutional right of any Nigeria that has any grievances to protest and advised the police and other security agencies not to intimidate those participating in the action as it was their civic right to do so.
This came as the labour movement called on President Bola Tinubu to review his fiscal and monetary policies, alleging that the floating of naira has contributed to the hardship Nigerians are passing through.
President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, stated this while fielding questions from journalists after briefing on the state of the nation.
Osifo said nobody has contacted the union to secure a partnership for the planned protest, adding that the mere fact that nobody has sought collaboration with TUC didn’t mean that Nigerians cannot protest if they wished to do so.
Responding to the question on whether the TUC is joining the protest, he said, “But nobody has asked for our collaboration. We don’t even know those that want to protest. So how do you expect us to participate in the protest we don’t even know who is organizing it.
“We don’t even have any idea whatsoever, what is going to happen. So as an institution, we also know too, that we have various organs that … The leadership has never sat down one day on its own to call for a strike or protest but instead, we call organ meetings to do a review.
“So the question is, who is protesting? So the same way you saw it is the same way we are seeing it. So it’s something that we don’t know who is organizing, we don’t know who is protesting, all we know is that the Constitution of the Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the issue of peaceful protests.
“The Police Act also mandated the police that when there is a protest, it should ensure that there is law and order, it should ensure that those that are protesting are also protected. And that is why we are also reminding them of that provision in the police act and the provision in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that those provisions in the law should be respected.
“So, simply we don’t know who is protesting, nobody has contacted us, maybe if they had contacted us, we would have called our organ meetings for us to review. So as of today, it’s nothing to disclose. There’s nothing to review. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.”
Osifo said that the nation’s economic challenges are affecting both the macro and micro economy due to the fiscal and monetary policies of the government, adding that “the floating of naira was principally responsible for the challenges we are having.”
On the disagreement between the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum, the TUC President called on President Tinubu to give marching orders to those involved to resolve the issue immediately.
He described Dangote as the one huge investment in the country, adding that castigating him in public will drive away other investors.
On the issue of minimum wage, he said that Organised Labour had wanted to ensure that the government pays a living wage to workers but towards the end, the government decided to only pay a minimum wage instead of a living wage.
He called on the government at the sub-national level to ensure that the new minimum wage of N70,000 is implemented to the later, while the consequential adjustment should be paid immediately.
The TUC President appealed to the Federal Government to look at the challenges faced by the private sector, especially, the issue of multiple taxation, adding that some companies pay up to 20 different types of taxes.
*Protest will set the stage for anarchy, military warns
Ahead of the planned nationwide protest over economic hardship in the country, the military has warned organisers of the protest against any form of violence.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen Edward Buba, said this yesterday at a press briefing in Abuja.
He warned that the military won’t allow anarchy to befall Nigeria, adding that the organisers of the planned protest intend to replicate the recent protest-turn-anarchy demonstration in Kenya.
Buba said although citizens have a right to ventilate their grievances, the military won’t condone any form of violent gatherings or protests.
He added that the military has uncovered plots by unscrupulous elements to hijack the protest and turn it into a violent one by attacking innocent Nigerians and their businesses.
“While citizens have the right to peaceful protest, they do not have the right to mobilise for anarchy and unleash terror. It is easy to see that the contemporary context of the planned protest is to shadow the outrage in Kenya which I must say is violent and remains unresolved.
“The level of violence being envisaged can only be described as a stage for anarchy. The Armed Forces on its part will not stand by and allow anarchy to befall our nation. This is because we have seen wars and have witnessed anarchy in countries with which we have operated, particularly in times of ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group) and during our peacekeeping operations in various countries,” he added.
He said some people fantasise about war thinking that it is like seeing movies but can’t fathom the destructions that come with war.
The police had also warned against violent protests come next month.
*Shelve your planned protest, security experts’ advice youths
Similarly, security experts under the aegis of the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Security Studies, AANISS, have called on those behind the planned August 1, national protest to reconsider their plan and shelve the protest in order not to plunge the country into anarchy.
The security experts said they were afraid that the protest could be hijacked by unpatriotic elements which could lead to a breakdown in peace and security, as demonstrated during the #ENSARS protest.
In a statement issued yesterday by the President of AANISS, Chief Mike Ejiofor, the security experts called on the federal government to do more and work urgently to address the escalating socio-economic hardship.
The statement partly read, “The AANISS is deeply concerned about the current socio-economic challenges and hardship being faced by Nigerians and wishes to identify and express its sympathy with fellow citizens.
“As a responsible association, we acknowledge the federal government’s efforts to alleviate these challenges and bring succour to the people. However, we note with deep consternation the planned nationwide protest scheduled for 1st August 2024.
“While peaceful protest is a right and legitimate as provided in the laws of the land, particularly in a democracy, we fear that it could be hijacked by unpatriotic elements, potentially leading to a breakdown in peace and security, as demonstrated during our recent experience of the ENSARS protest which is still very fresh in our memory when innocent lives and valuable properties of government and individuals were lost and destroyed.
“In the larger national interest, we urge all concerned to reconsider the idea of protest, shelve it, and allow the government to address the issues raised in the ultimate interest of the generality of the populace.
“We appreciate the federal government’s initiatives, such as the new minimum wage, students’ loans, provision of food, and other measures at easing the hardship in the land.
“Nevertheless, we call on the government to do more and work urgently to address the escalating socio-economic hardship. Let’s work together to find peaceful solutions to our nation’s challenges.”
*APC chieftain to Nigerians: President capable of providing solutions, shun protest
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has appealed to Nigerians, especially the youth to shun the proposed protest and keep faith in President Bola Tinubu’s capability to revamp the economy.
Oyintiloye, a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said that Nigerians should see a promising future in the present administration’s framework that will pull the country out of the current economic quagmire inherited from the past administrations.
The APC chieftain, who made the remarks, while speaking with newsmen yesterday in Osogbo, said that Nigerians’ expectation to get dividends of democracy in the present administration is expectedly high owing to their trust in Tinubu’s pedigree as an astute manager of men and resources.
He, however, said the government is working tirelessly to meet the expectations, but the inherited economic challenges, and global economic crisis, coupled with the unavoidable policies introduced by the present administration, were gradually moving towards fruition.
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said the intention of the president to remove the fuel subsidy, and merger of the foreign exchange, among other policies was to improve the economy and not to inflict pain on Nigerians.
The APC chieftain said that Nigerians should give more time for the president to fully develop the economy, which is going through the recovery process.
“With all sense of humility and modesty, we must appreciate the people of this country for their endurance, perseverance, and unflinching support as we are passing through the dark tunnel. But one certain thing is that after these temporary pains, we shall all live in abundance.
“Although the task is herculean we are gradually navigating through the storm and challenges the country is passing through. In the real sense of it, this present government is working tirelessly on how to stabilise the economy, foreign exchange rates, inflation, and price control.
“With the initiatives and programme designed for good governance by the president, we are getting to the coast of self-sufficiency and economic stability. Our people should believe in the leadership of the president and the Renewed Hope Agenda of his administration, in due course, we shall laugh last.
“I strongly believe that with a little patience from Nigerians, we shall soon live in abundance. Let’s exercise a little patience.”
Oyintiloye, who noted that the president felt the pain Nigerians are passing through, said that was why he pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with him.
He said that the president has a listening ear and he would do the needful to address the concerns of all Nigerians.
