President Bola Tinubu has been advised to establish cottage industries in all local government areas across Nigeria to create sustainable employment opportunities, rather than distributing N5,000 palliatives that offer minimal support to the impoverished.
This recommendation came from the Class of 1999 governors after a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.
The group, comprising colleagues of President Tinubu who served as governors from 1999 to 2007 (when he was Lagos State governor), also urged the President to prioritize tackling the nation’s security challenges as a crucial step toward national development.
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Lucky Igbinedion, former Edo State Governor and Chairman of the Class of ’99 governors, highlighted that rural populations are disproportionately affected by the country’s severe economic conditions, urging the President to intervene effectively.
On their assessment of the President’s efforts and what they wanted him to specifically address, he said, “Well, the first and foremost thing is security, because we told him that without security, there can be no progress, there can be no stability.
“And secondly, the economy, of course, needs to be stabilised by ensuring the foreign exchange remains stable and people can afford it. But what is most important is: let’s create industries, especially cottage industries, that can employ people, rather than just giving out palliatives.”
“We implored him to try as much as possible to create cottage industries in all the local governments of the federation where people can be employed, because if you give palliative to somebody today, what happens tomorrow? If he has ₦5,000 in the morning, how about lunchtime or dinner time? What is he going to do?
“₦5,000 cannot buy much. So I thought these were part of the really heart-to-heart discussions we had with the President, and he agreed with us to say, yes, he’s going to look into it, and we appreciated it,” he added.
On the reason for their Abuja visit, Igbinedion also said, “We came to see one of our own, Class of ’99, and to bring about topics about the state of the nation. We are glad that Mr. President received us warmly, and we spoke basically about the security situation of the nation, the economy, and, of course, agriculture. The President expressed his concern about these various issues that we came to discuss with him.
“And we also proffered our solutions about how he can go about bringing about succour to the people. The people, especially in the rural areas, are feeling the impact of the harsh economy, and he assured us that he is looking into it.
“We also spoke about the stability of the naira, which he also addressed appropriately. So it has been a very fruitful deliberation with Mr. President. And of course, he assured us that whatever suggestions or way forward that we might have, his doors are always open for such conversation.”
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