BRIEFING BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND NATIONAL ORIENTATION, MOHAMMED IDRIS TO THE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY ON WEDNESDAY, 6TH AUGUST, 2024 HELD IN ROTUNDA, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ABUJA, NIGERIA

Protocol.

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.



I am pleased to be here with you this morning to share our perspectives and insights on the recent nationwide protest in Nigeria.

As a government, we recognize and uphold the democratic rights of our citizens to freely express their grievances and demand accountability from their governments. Since the advent of this administration, we have maintained an open-door policy where citizens are regularly briefed on the policy direction of the government.

Therefore, when the first notices emerged that a nationwide protest was being scheduled for August, against the high cost of living in the country, we saw it as an opportunity to ramp up our engagement with the Nigerian people, to listen and enlighten.

These engagements already predated the announcement of the protests, of course. Since the administration came to office, we have initiated and sustained dialogue with Nigerians on different platforms, such as the regular Ministerial Briefing Sessions, Town Hall Meetings, Social Media engagements, media appearance, press releases among others.

Your Excellencies,


It is important to kick off on this note: that President Tinubu did not come to office to cause hardship or make life difficult for Nigerians. He has come to office with bold solutions to historical problems; with the determination to correct many of the poor policies and dysfunctional choices that have held us back as a nation for decades.


The President assumed office during one of Nigeria's most challenging periods in its history, where the country was spending 97% of all its revenue on debt service; coupled with widespread poverty, rising unemployment, dilapidated infrastructure, and insecurity. Faced with these daunting realities, the administration took decisive action and implemented long-overdue reforms to save the economy from collapse.


For decades, the costly, wasteful and unsustainable fuel subsidy regime had denied Nigeria the opportunity to invest in critical infrastructure, social service, and the welfare of its citizens. The President, therefore, had to take a very painful decision to abolish the fuel subsidy and redirect the funds towards critical sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, and security, which directly impact citizens' well-being and the development of the country.


The President was not under any illusion that the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and the harmonization of foreign exchange rates would not come with some transitional pains. This informed the decision of the Federal Government to design comprehensive intervention programmes to cushion the transitional pains. We have been very determined about ensuring that these interventions are fully implemented, and bring the intended relief to Nigerians.


Bringing prices down


The President has approved the suspension of import duties and taxes on essential food items for a 150-day period, to ensure that food prices comes down in the short term, even as work goes into ramping up local agricultural production over the medium and long term.


A new Executive Order on Healthcare has also just been signed by the President, which will suspend import duties on pharmaceutical raw materials and equipment, to bring down the prices of drugs.


So we have interventions in the areas of food and drugs. A third key area is fuel – which is where the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative comes in, to expand access to CNG, which is significantly cheaper and cleaner as vehicle fuel than petrol and diesel. Under this program, 1 million vehicles will be converted to CNG by 2027. The conversions have already started.


Already, 30,000 Number of Conversion Kits are available for distribution, and 120 Conversion Centers have already been developed across the country. Additionally, 500 CNG buses and 5,000 CNG Tricycles will be deployed over the next 6 months.


New Minimum Wage


After a series of far-reaching national negotiations, a new National Minimum Wage of N70,000 was agreed on, and the National Assembly speedily passed and sent it to President Tinubu, who has since assented to it. The President has also assured that the Wage will now be reviewed every three years to ensure that it keeps up with evolving economic realities and living standards.


We now expect that the various State Governments and private employers will demonstrate a similar commitment to the implementation of this new wage. Because the Federal Government employs only a fraction of the working population of Nigeria, for that new Minimum Wage to be felt across Nigeria, every other employer has to take it seriously.


Local Government Autonomy


One of the historical obstacles to the kind of development that Nigerians have been clamouring for is the dysfunction that exists at the level of local government administration in Nigeria. In many of the countries that are classified as developed, local government systems are autonomous and efficient, delivering various critical services to citizens. This is where President Tinubu's recent landmark move comes in, to implement Local Government Autonomy by approaching the Supreme Court for a decisive verdict. This is a testament to his administration’s commitment to restructuring Nigeria, and entrenching effectiveness and accountability in local government administration. When things work at the level of the Local Government, these changes will be widely felt in the lives of all Nigerians.


Your Excellencies,


There are many other ongoing interventions by the Federal Government to further cushion the effects of the rising cost of living, including the following:


The Presidential Grants and Loans Scheme: The Presidential Grants and Loans Scheme, comprising N50,000 in grants to 1 million Nigerians (600,000 Nigerians have so far received N50,000 grants across the 774 Local Government Areas), 75 billion Naira in single-digit-interest loans to small and medium-scale businesses, and another 75 billion Naira in loans to manufacturing businesses. Disbursement of these business loans will commence this month; applications have already been received, and verification and processing are ongoing.


Consumer Credit Scheme: Nigeria now has a Consumer Credit Corporation, established by this Administration, to lay the foundation for a financial system in which Nigerians have low-cost access to consumer products without the need for immediate cash payments.


Various youth-focused interventions like:


Nigeria Education Loan (NEL Fund): One of the most defining approaches to easing the burden of tertiary education tuition payments on parents is the newly introduced Nigeria Education Loan (NEL-Fund), with enough budget to cover two million students. The Fund is active with cheques to some beneficiaries who in addition to tuition, also collect upkeep stipends. So far, over 110,000 applications have been received. All successful applicants starting fresh academic sessions will get credited without delay. Already, the President has approved the release of N50 billion to the NEL Fund.


The Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDiCE) – is a $617 million programme to empower our young people, creating millions of IT and technical jobs that will make them globally competitive. These programmes include the 3Million Technical Talents scheme.


Nigeria Youth Investment Fund; Skill-Up Artisans Programme (SUPA); the Nigerian Youth Academy (NIYA); National Youth Talent Export Programme (NATEP).


Since the administration assumed office, we have utilized all available channels, from the traditional to the Social Media, to communicate these opportunities and initiatives of the President to the public.


Against this backdrop, it is easy to understand the Federal Government’s response when faceless groups issue a protest notice. Our view was and is that now is not the time for protests; instead our focus should be on allowing these various initiatives and interventions of the Government to manifest fully. Genuine reforms take some time, but are always guaranteed to deliver on what they promise.


We mobilized to engage fully and freely with traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups, civil society organisations, etc., to appeal to them to shelve the planned protest and instead embrace dialogue. We also knew that a protest of this nature, lacking coherent demands or an organizational structure, was very likely to be hijacked by elements that do not have Nigeria’s interest at heart.


Very sadly, that is what we have seen play out.


Regrettably, what began as a peaceful protest in some States and the Federal Capital Territory, was soon hijacked by elements who infiltrated the protest and orchestrated violent activities that destroyed lives and properties. There were reports of arson, vandalism, looting, and clashes with law enforcement agents in several cities. Tragically, these incidents led to the loss of innocent lives and significant damage to properties.


In response to these unforeseen events, the Federal Government acted swiftly to restore peace and order.


It is important to emphasize that the security forces were instructed to exercise maximum restraint and adhere to international standards in managing civil protests. They have indeed put in a lot of work to ensure the safety of all law-abiding Nigerians, and to maintain order, in the last week. But they have also been decisive in their response to criminality, and it is important to separate these from their commendable approach to legitimate protests.


Let me at this point also reiterate that the Federal Government of Nigeria fully supports the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, which are cornerstones of all democratic societies.


I want to assure Your Excellencies that the Federal Government has launched an investigation into the violence that we have seen in the last one week, to identify and bring to justice all those responsible. We are committed to preventing the recurrence of such unfortunate incidents in the future.


I also want to thank you individually and collectively for your support and understanding during that difficult period. I want to assure you that the worst is over, and we can now as a nation march forward to enjoy the fruit of all the policy and programme interventions being implemented.


I thank you for your kind attention.