President Bola Tinubu has outlined three reasons why Nigerians should not embark on protest.
News About Nigeria reports that the president urged Nigerians not to participate in the planned August 1-10, 2024 protest, citing recent government initiatives as evidence of progress.
These initiatives include the introduction of a student loan scheme, the implementation of a new N70,000 minimum wage, and the launch of a consumer credit programme.
According to Tinubu, these measures demonstrate the government’s commitment to addressing economic challenges and improving the lives of citizens, making the protest unnecessary.
During a meeting with Islamic leaders, led by Sheikh Bala Lau, at the State House on Thursday, President Tinubu made an appeal to organisers of the planned protests.
He cautioned them against plunging Nigeria into chaos, drawing a comparison with the turmoil in Sudan, and instead encouraged peaceful resolution of grievances.
The President also revealed that his administration is revamping its social welfare program to ensure that it effectively supports vulnerable Nigerians at the grassroots level.
“We are reworking the social welfare scheme to reach the ward level, which is the closest to our people. We are going to ensure that we re-establish connection with the wards, again, so that we can give allowances to the poor and the vulnerable.
“The student loans will pay for school fees. There will be monetary support for the education of our children. The consumer credit will support citizens to buy cars and houses, and they can repay gradually.
“We have increased the minimum wage by more than 100 percent,” he said.
Recall that on Wednesday, the National Assembly passed the new Minimum Wage Act after Tinubu and Nigerian workers agreed on N70,000 minimum wage.
Earlier, last week, the federal government commenced the disbursement of funds to 110,000 successful beneficiaries of its N35 billion funded student loan scheme.
This comes months after the Tinubu administration in April had approved the take-off of N100 billion consumer credit for Nigerians.
