- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has expressed grief over the loss of lives recorded at the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest as he finally addressed the nation today.
Commiserating with the families of the deceased, Tinubu, condemned the destruction of lives and property which he said was contrary to the protest organizers’ promise of a peaceful protest.
He vowed to bring an end to the mayhem that arose in the course of the 3-day long protest.
His words; “I am especially pained by the loss of lives in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, and other states. The destruction of facilities in some states and the wanton looting of super markets and shops contrary to the promise of protest organizers that the protest will be peaceful across the country.
“The destruction of property set us back as a nation as our scarce resources will be again used to restore them. I commiserate with the families and relations of those who have died in the protest. We must stop further bloodshed, violence, and destruction. As a President of this country, I must ensure public order.”
Meanwhile, the President disclosed the achievement of his administration so far while urging the protesters to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue.
The president used the opportunity to reassure Nigerians that his government is working to redeem the economy.
” In the past 14 months, our government has made significant strides in rebuilding the foundation of our economy to carry us into a future of plenty and abundance.
“On the fiscal side, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion Naira in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023 due to our efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation, and mobilising funding creatively without additional burden on the people. Productivity is gradually increasing in the non-oil sector, reaching new levels and taking advantage of the opportunities in the current economic ambience.” he said
He told Nigerians that the oil and gas sector is witness a massive growth.
“Our once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms I announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act. Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve. Investors are coming back, and we have already seen two Foreign Direct Investments signed of over half a billion dollars since then.
” Fellow Nigerians, we are a country blessed with both oil and gas resources, but we met a country that had been dependent solely on oil-based petrol, neglecting its gas resources to power the economy. We were also using our hard-earned foreign exchange to pay for, and subsidise its use. To address this, we immediately launched our Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (CNG) to power our transportation economy and bring costs down. This will save over two trillion Naira a month, being used to import PMS and AGO and free up our resources for more investment in healthcare and education.”