The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has called for the immediate suspension of nationwide protests, assuring Nigerians of President Bola Tinubu’s dedication to addressing the country’s challenges. Speaking to leaders of various youth organizations in Abuja on Tuesday, Matawalle emphasized the administration’s ongoing efforts under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ to drive economic prosperity, improve welfare, and enhance education and health systems.
Highlighting the achievements of President Tinubu’s administration over the past year, Matawalle pointed to several initiatives aimed at alleviating the hardships faced by Nigerians. These include the implementation of a N70,000 minimum wage for workers and the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative to reduce transportation costs by 70%.
He also noted the disbursement of N50,000 uplift grants to over 100,000 families per state for three months, impacting nearly 5 million families nationwide. Additionally, measures are being taken to address high food prices, with 250,000 metric tonnes each of wheat and maize being imported to support small-scale processors and millers.
Matawalle reassured the public of the administration’s commitment to health sector improvements, including the redesign of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, which has attracted $2.5 million in financing for National Primary Health Care.
Addressing concerns over the protests, Matawalle urged for patience and dialogue, highlighting intelligence reports of potential hijacking of the protests by miscreants. He promised to create a youth relations unit for continuous engagement with the youth, advocating that dialogue would yield better results than protests.
