On Monday, the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu revealed that student loan will commence and there will be unemployment benefits for Nigerian graduates.
During the inauguration in Niger State, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Ajuri Ngelale, noted in a statement that Tinubu declared this, while flagging the food and agricultural mechanisation programme.
Additionally, the president was reported to have said that Nigeria must enhance its capacity to feed its people and have enough for export.
The former governor of Lagos State stressed his administration’s commitment to ensuring food sufficiency and protecting local industries for sustainable economic growth.
“The project, an initiative of the Niger State government, is for the deployment of cutting-edge agricultural machinery and technology for large-scale agro-value chain development in the state.”
President Tinubu continued by saying the event is a developmental step towards food security and agricultural mechanisation agendas.
“We have seen the level of commitment here. We have seen leadership. The success of any leader will depend on their ability to do what needs to be done when it ought to be done.
“It is now time for us to address the challenges and make Nigeria an economy of opportunities. We must care for our people and re-orient them. I do not see why Nigeria cannot feed all the students in its schools.
“I know what it means for roaming cows to eat crops and the vegetation of our land. I know it is painful. But when we re-orient the herder and make provision for cattle rearing, we can address that. You are the governors who are to provide us with land. I, as President, am committed to providing a comprehensive programme that will solve this problem.“
President Tinubu urged state governments to implement wage awards to ease citizens’ burdens until the minimum wage is increased.
“I am equally here to partner with you to banish hunger. You are doing the job. And I must support you; it is mandatory for Nigerians. When we read newspapers, some of us are confused about whether to abuse the past or the present or to make excuses for the future.
“But that is not in my dictionary. I think the action now is to re-engineer the finances of our country and steer it down the right path.
“The student loan programme will commence. There will be unemployment benefits for our graduates. The social security benefits for the elderly and the vulnerable will commence. We are fine-tuning all of that.
We need to relieve our people of hunger. Let all the sub-nationals start paying wage awards, pending when the minimum wage is increased. I am not giving an order; I am only appealing. NEC should adopt this,” Tinubu stated.
While acknowledging the presence of the president and commenting on the major point of discourse, Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, stated that Benue, Kogi, Kwara, and Lagos had signed MOUs for agricultural development partnerships.
“Mr. President, your presence here today underscores the importance of this occasion for our state in particular and Nigeria as a whole, as we gather to celebrate a good example demonstrated in our modest contribution to infrastructure and agricultural development encapsulated in our New Niger Agenda.
“For us, agriculture is key to addressing the challenges in critical sectors of our economy, and we shall seize every opportunity for the attainment of growth and engender prosperity for the people of our beloved state and, by extension, our country, Nigeria,” Bago said.
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The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, revealed that the federal government, alongside the Brazilian government and the German Deutsch Bank Group, secured a 995 million euro agreement to fund the Green Imperative Programme. It was also reported that this initiative will establish mechanisation hubs across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
Following the inauguration, President Tinubu met with former Nigerian Heads of State, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, engaging in productive discussions on the nation’s progress.
