Protest no longer necessary —Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has questioned the rationale for the planned protest scheduled for August 1, especially when he is already addressing most of the challenges confronting the nation, particularly those concerning the youths.

President Tinubu spoke through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who revealed that the issue of the proposed protest came up for deliberations at Monday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Idris said the recent student loan policy of the Federal Government was targeted at the youth population such that no Nigerian child who secures admission will drop out on account of inability to afford fees.

Continuing, the minister said that the distribution of truck loads of rice to state governments across the country and additional stucks to be sold at subsidised prices were all geared towards alleviating the suffering of the people.

Idris described the President as a listening President who will not stand akimbo and watch citizens suffer unjustly.

He said, “The position of FEC is that most of the demands that the protesters are making are actually being addressed by the federal government and therefore it is the view of the government that there is really no need for the protests again because most of those things that the protesters are putting forward are already actually been addressed or are being addressed by government.

“Like we have said repeatedly, this is a listening government. The President has listened to the voices of all those who are planning this protest and the message is that there is no need for it.”

The minister further revealed that the President was already protesting on their behalf by doing those things that they want the government to do, for example, the effort that the government is making, in ensuring that food is being made available.

“The last Council meeting here at the briefing, we announced that a number of trucks 20 precisely had been given to the state governors for onward distribution to those who actually are in need of them, the poorest of the poor in society and those who are actually in need, but government did not stop there.

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“There is also rice that is being sold at about 50% of its cost, a bag of rice is being sold as we speak now. This rice has been taken to various centers across all the states of the Federation, and is being sold at N40,000, centers have been created. So that those who need this rice can go there and buy this rice at N40,000.

“In the first instance, about 10 trucks have been made available to each of these states and indeed, this is just to begin, I know that some of the comments you hear is that it is never enough.

“Government has not pretended that these supplies are indeed enough. But these are necessary first steps that are being made and more of such interventions are being made in the interim. Of course, this is like I said an interim measure because there is so much investment that is going into the agricultural sector.

“The rainy season is here. We expect that the prices of food items will come down as investments are also being made not just for the traditional.….. Agricultural Produce, but also for the irrigation activities in many of these states of the federation. So, we expect that as we move forward, prices of food items, commodities will, of course, come down.

“These are part of the measures and the President feels and the federal executive council believes that already some of the youth wont protest, some of the answers that they are looking for are already actually being provided. For example, only recently the federal government began the disbursement of the student loans. There’s a provision already for over 2 million students.

“Only about 110,000 applications have thus far been received as at last week, of course, more are going to come. So there’s adequate provision for all those who are qualified, who can access these loans and who have fulfilled this condition. The desire of Mr President is that no. student, no young person that has gained admission into any of our tertiary institutions will be left out because his parents or his guardian is unable to pay for his fees.

“But beyond that, there is also the provision that is being made for these young people. We are aware of the effort that is being made to ensure that about 3 million of them are being put into employment through the MTT program. There is also for the general public the reduction that is envisaged by the time the CNG initiative of the federal government actually takes full course.

“Already some of these buses have been imported. Some of the conversion kits are already available. The conversion centers are already beginning to get active. The delays are largely because you don’t just go to the market and get these things off the shelves. First the procurement processes have to be followed. And then of course you have to place order for them and it is envisaged that as we make the transition from fossil fuel to renewables, there is going to be a reduction of over 60% in the cost that people put in transportation.”Court orders INEC not to release voter register for Kwara LG elections