Hunger Protest: President Tinubu Addresses Protesters, Calls for End to Demonstrations

Amidst the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a broadcast on Sunday addressed the protesters.

President Tinubu acknowledged the grievances of the citizens – and urged them to suspend any further protest.

He also assured Nigerians that he will invest more in the health and education sectors.

President Tinubu revealed that he will achieve this with the launch of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, which will enhance the transportation economy – and help Nigeria to save over two trillion naira in a month, thereby leaving more resources to invest in the two sectors.

“My vision for our country is one of a just and prosperous nation where each person may enjoy the peace, freedom, and meaningful livelihood that only democratic good governance can provide – one that is open, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people.

“For decades, our economy has remained anemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.

“I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress.

“These actions blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighbouring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate.

“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am fully focused on delivering good governance to the people,” he stated.

The President disclosed that the once-declining oil and gas industry in Nigeria is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms he 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,” he stressed.

He further said that his administration will be distributing a million kits of extremely low or no cost to commercial vehicles that transport people and goods, and who currently consume 80% of the imported PMS and AGO.