President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appealed to organizers of the proposed August 1-10, 2024 hardship protest to reconsider their plans, citing his administration’s efforts to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
Tinubu made this appeal when he received a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Sheikh Bala Lau at the State House on Thursday. He urged the protesters not to turn Nigeria into Sudan, emphasizing the need for peaceful resolution of grievances.
The President highlighted his administration’s commitment to reworking the social welfare scheme to reach every vulnerable Nigerian at the grassroots level. “We are reworking the social welfare scheme to reach the ward level, which is the closest to our people,” he said.
Tinubu enumerated his administration’s achievements, including the commencement of the student loan scheme, the N70,000 new minimum wage, and the establishment of the consumer credit initiative. “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.
The Nigerian National Assembly recently passed the new Minimum Wage Act, approving the N70,000 minimum wage agreed upon by Tinubu and Nigerian workers. Additionally, the federal government commenced the disbursement of funds to 110,000 successful beneficiaries of its N35 billion funded student loan scheme last week. In April, the Tinubu administration approved the take-off of N100 billion consumer credit for Nigerians.
