To imagine that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is unaware or indifferent of the growing hunger and unemployment in the country is far from reality. Not just the President, but members of his Federal Executive Council and the National Economic Council are fully apprised of the dire situation in the country and in the past one week, they have been putting heads together to ward off the ugly situation, writes EZE CHIDOZIE.

With spiralling inflation and unparalleled hike in the prices of food items, other essential commodoties and life generally becoming extremely difficult for Nigerians, President Tinubu is said not have been sleeping well recently.

And to make Nigerians appreciate what government is passing through, the Miniater of Information and Natioal Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, took up the gauntlet as part of his mandate to enlighten the Nigwrian public on govwrnment activities to ameliorate the situation.

Starting from last week, the minister brought the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari and his counterpart in Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, to face a barage of questions from Editors and Bureau Chiefs of various media houses in the country. 

Idris did not go prevaricating; he hit the nail on the head. According to him, “we understand the need for patience and trust and we are committed to realizing the President’s vision of Renewed Hope. We will keep you informed every step of the way”.

Idris explained further that the forum was designed to provide opportunity to ministers to explain to Nigwrians what the Tinubu administration was doing to improve life and living for Nigerians.

He said the five pillars of President Tinubu’s Restored Hope Agenda are anchored on trust, reorient national values, modernize technology and talent and create enabling environment for businesses to thrive. He therefore urged the media to cooperate with the government to attain maximum results.

Explainung government’s efforts to turn things around for the better for Nigerians, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Kyari, Wednesday said President Tinubu feels reallly concerned about spiralling cost of food produce in the country and is working hard to made food available, affordable and accessible. He explained that the president is determined to bring down the cost of food produce by making essential food items readily available to Nigerians at affordable prices.

He said that was at the nick of making available 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains available at affordable prices to members of the public, stressing that modality for the distribution is being worked out with the Department of State Security Services (DSS) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) charged with providing needed statistics.

He said the grains to be released from different locations in the country would be seamless and successful, adding that the ministry has already adopted measures to produce more food that the country would no longer experience food shortages and high prices in the future.

He said the strategies involve state governors identifying farmers who would be benefitting directly from interventions to produce more food, avoiding mismanagement to avoid ‘political farmers’ hijacking the process.

He added that 120,000 hectares of land will be cultivated with wheat, while 150,000 farmers are expected to cultivate rice in parts of the country during the year.

On her part, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Uzoka-Anite, last Friday outlined key initiatives aimed at accelerating economic growth and job creation in Nigeria, stating that efforts so far put in place has secured $30 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). 

She said that already, $14 million worth of investment has been secured from India, while investments in the Oil and gas valued at $10 billion has already been put in place. 

She explainedfurther that five million jobs had been created in the oil and gas and fee zone alone, while Coca-Cola and Unilever companies have made commitments to remain in Nigeria and deepen their investments as well. 

“We have equally established the Diaspora Investment Initiative in liaison with the Nigeriains in the Diaspora Commission. On this score alone, we secured $220 billion capacity to invest in small scale industries. This will create a lot of jobs when they take off and we are settling up Job Centers in Abuja and all states of the Federation. 

“So far, we have asked industries to list their job opportunities to be published to enable our youths apply and I guarantee that the selection processes are transparent”.

Uzoka-Anite added that to make Nigerian workers gain international value and recognition, Artisan Licensing and Certification Scheme is being put in place to certify artisans to perform their jobs up to international standards.

“Notably, the Skill-UP Artisans program (SUPA) aims to empower 10 million artisans with tech-enabled skills and industry-standard certifications, addressing skills gaps and reducing reliance on labor imports. This will not only give them room for both local and foreign employment, but guarantee the quality job from those artisans. 

“We are signing an MOU with the German Government and City and Guild of London so that those certified can be hired to work anywhere in the world. We are also embarking on National Talent Export Programme to provide job vacancies advertised by UNIDO and other international agencies. With this, we can seize the opportunity of Global Freelancing Opportunities and make jobs available for our youths,” he said. 

Speaking on ease of doing business, the minister stated that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) had been mandated to start 24-hours online registration of businesses so that business registration would no longer constitute a hog. 

“Government has also set up Trade Facilitation Committee to reduce the number of screening and checkpoints for import and export. Henceforth, before companies are given export permit, such companies must retire their forex receipts before we give them another permit. Right now, we are working to see that everything exported are repatriated to the country. These have to be verified with the CBN through automated process to ensure speed, transparency and audit.

“The Nigerian Commodity Exchange has been revived to remove the uncertainty of buying and selling between farmers and consumers. This exchange incorporates the entire value chain to ensure that what is produced in the farms will not perish by preserving produce in controlled warehouses. These initiatives will be taking place before end of the third quarter of this year,” she added. 

Put together, the three ministers tried their best to explain what government is doing. What is remaining is for the expected results to mature. As at now, prices are going up, Nigerians are getting impatient, things are toughening up, prices are rising, inflation is galloping, therefore, agencies and people charged with implementing the laudable policies should buckle up the implementation and ensure results are achieved timeously. 

Times are tough, Nigerians are not finding things easy. What is left is for government to walk the talk. If they do, Nigeria’s fortunes will rebound for prosperity once again to regain the enviable position as the largest economy in Africa.