To Avert Revolution, Tinubu Holds Emergency Meeting Over Insecurity & Inflation

In a bid to avoid the wrath of Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday chaired an emergency meeting at the State House Abuja, over scarcity of food, insecurity, and inflation.

The meeting which had the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; the Inspector-General of Police; the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS); Secretary to the Government of the Federation and some ministers in attendance, Tinubu reiterated his commitment to the security of food, lives and properties.

This is following the rising demand of citizens for governance, including protests over the administration’s failure to tackle the challenges of inflation, insecurity, and food scarcity in the country.

Insecurity

Tinubu expressed concern over insecurity, while also hinting his recent approval of the establishment of state police.

Also, he made public his intent to endorse the training and equipping of forest rangers by sub-national governments to protect human and natural resources in communities, without specifying how and when to expect the implementation of these proposed developments.

My stance is unequivocal: we must move aggressively to examine the issues raised, including the potential for establishing state police,” he said.

Meanwhile, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the auspices of the Civil Society Joint Action Group has stated that at least 2,423 people have been killed, while 1,872 were abducted within eight months of the Tinubu-led administration.

Food Scarcity

We cannot allow speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers to undermine our efforts in ensuring that food is widely available to all Nigerians,” says Tinubu

The leading cause of food shortage or scarcity in Nigeria is linked with the security of the lives of farmers and distribution costs across the length and breadth of Nigeria, the present administration ordered the NSA, the IGP, and the Director-General of the DSS to coordinate closely to ensure that security agencies in the states inspect warehouses suspected to be hoarding food items.

Addressing the state governors, Tinubu expressed that his administration will not establish a price control board, nor approve the importation of food into the country.

We must extricate ourselves from this predicament because importation only enables rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense,” he said.

Instead, the government pledged support to farmers with schemes that will encourage them to cultivate more food for the nation, which is only possible with the security of lives.

Inflation

To curtail the inflation on Nigeria’s economic challenge, the Federal Government on Thursday urged all the governors to trust the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy, especially foreign exchange policies or its directives issued over the past few weeks.

On the issue of trust, Tinubu said “If we have assigned someone a task, we must allow them to perform it. If they fail, then we must find a way to quickly remove them from the system.”

He encouraged the ‘trial and error’ approach towards solving Nigeria’s economic challenges while also instructing governors to always prioritise the welfare and prosperity of the citizens in their development programs.

I assure them that the federal government will continue to work diligently to improve the nation’s revenue profile,’ he reiterated.

However, criticism has trailed his press release, especially citizens’ concerns over foreign multinational companies exiting the country due to high costs of production, insecurity, and an overinflated economy amongst many others.

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About The Author

Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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