Why the youths must appreciate Tinubu’s efforts, shelve planned protests -Dr Awakessien

“It is upon the basis of the aforestated facts and many more that I, on behalf of the teeming youths of the APC in Akwa Ibom State, who have declared that they won’t be part of the planned protests; wish to appeal to the planners of the protests to shelve same and rather, embrace dialogue with the current ‘listening’ administration“

PRESS STATEMENT

Why Nigerian Youths Must Shelve The Planned Nationwide Protests

It is no longer news that a section of the Nigerian youths are planning to hold  nationwide protests which they claim is triggered by hardship in the country. While no one could feign ignorance of hard times currently being faced across Nigeria, it must be noted that this condition comes as a result of many years of misrule and wanton diversion of public funds by past leaders from the local governments, states and up to the Federal Government.

On the strength of the aforesaid, I, Dr. Clement Awakessien on behalf of the Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom State and the entire Youth structures across the party in the state, wish to state as follows:

1) That just as I acknowledged in my opening statement that the country is truly going through some economic turbulence, but I think that as future leaders of Nigeria, we must appreciate the efforts of our current President, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), who is trying hard to introduce various reforms across all facets of our sociopolitical and economic structures.

2) That the autonomy recently granted to our local government system in the country by the Tinubu-led Federal Government would henceforth trigger developments across the 774 LGAs as the Local Government Chairmen would now have funds to execute projects and programmes in their respective jurisdictions.

This would bring to an end many years of diversion of local government funds by state governors in the name of ‘Joint Account’, which has been the bane of underdevelopment.

3) That as a listening leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently approved the distribution of trucks of rice to all the 36 states in the country and the FCT.

4) That the President has also approved the increment of the national minimum wage to N70, 000 (Seventy Thousand Naira) in order to advance the purchasing power and improve the living standards of the Nigerian workers.

5) That in response to the increase in the price of petrol due to fuel subsidy removal, the President Tinubu administration is fast tracking the resuscitation of our ailing refineries in order to end importation of refined fuel at exorbitant rates. 

6) That President Tinubu’s administration has also enacted The Student Loan Act and efforts are on to provided buses to student bodies of all Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education, nationwide. The administration has also initiated programs for skill development and deployment, especially in technologies like UAV, IoT, AI, and Blockchain.

7) That on job creation, this administration aims to generate one million new jobs in the digital economy. For instance, the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) was launched in September 2023 to create one million in-demand jobs nationwide over the next five years.

8) That this administration has also encouraged youths participation in governanceby intentionally appointing the youths into key positions in government.

It is upon the basis of the aforestated facts and many more that I, on behalf of the teeming youths of the APC in Akwa Ibom State, who have declared that they won’t be part of the planned protests; wish to appeal to the planners of the protests to shelve same and rather, embrace dialogue with the current ‘listening’ administration.

Thank you.

Long live the Nigerian Youths!

Long live The Federal Republic of Nigeria!!

Signed:
Dr. Clement Awakessien
APC State Youth Leader
Akwa Ibom State

28th July, 2024.