The Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, has appealed to Nigerians to suspend the nationwide protest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Audu made the appeal in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Lizzy Okoji, on Friday in Abuja.
The minister assured Nigerians protesting against rising economic hardship that Tinubu is working assiduously to fix the current challenges in the country.
He highlighted the achievements of the current administration and assured that Nigerians will get all their expectations of good governance before 2027.
Audu reiterated that the government is working tirelessly to revive the country’s steel plants, nothing that the Tinubu administration is targeting the creation of 500,000 direct and indirect jobs in the sector.
“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 being implemented. 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 250,000 metric tonnes of maize are 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 actualization of the Renewed Hope Agenda 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,” Audu stated.
This comes as the ongoing hunger protests entered day two on Friday.
The Nigeria Police Force on Thursday said several persons died as the protests turned bloody in some states.
