FG rolls out N1tn palliative, massive construction projects

• Published On: 28 June 2024 at 20:45

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday gave all state governors seven days to submit tangible feedback on their plans to increase food production in their respective states.

Tinubu made the command at the 142nd National Economic Council meeting, which was attended by state governors and some deputies at the State House in Abuja.

He also announced a National Construction and Household Support Programme, which will provide N50,000 grants for three months to 100,000 families in each state, N155 billion for various foods, and N540 billion for household grants, while 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will receive N10 billion each for CNG buses.

The N50,000 intended for 3.7 million families throughout the 36 states and the FCT, the N10 billion allocated for CNG buses in the 36 states and the FCT, and the N155 billion spent on varied goods are all anticipated to cost more than N1 trillion.

While underlining the need of increasing food production in the country, the President urged state governors to collaborate to satisfy residents' needs, expressing his willingness to provide the necessary support to guarantee that Nigerians are eased of hardship.

"We must meet our targets at all levels. Please report back after your consultations and submit it to my office within seven days.

"How much support do you require from me, and in what form? I am ready to deliver it. However, we must get the desired effect.

"Nothing we do is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy, and sell. We create jobs by producing it. And that is before we create riches by exporting the extra. "It is not beyond our ability to achieve this for Nigerians," he stated.

The President's remarks came after the country faced a number of economic issues. High inflation, caused by the elimination of fuel subsidies and exchange rate depreciation, reached 27 percent year on year in October 2023.

This price increase, combined with widespread food insecurity, has exacerbated Nigeria's cost-of-living issue, leaving many struggling to purchase basic essentials.

Despite important policy reforms like as the elimination of fuel subsidies and currency rate unification, poverty, stagnant per-capita growth, and a bad business climate persist, exacerbated by external pressures such as global food price increases and geopolitical uncertainty.

Tinubu highlighted fresh measures at Thursday's NEC meeting to increase agricultural productivity, develop the economy by providing opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing, and construction, and provide urgent economic relief to Nigerians.

This involves the prompt implementation of the National Construction and Household Support Programme across all geopolitical zones in the country.

"The Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which will run through Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos, is prioritized under the program," according to a statement issued by the President's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale.


The message is headlined, 'President Tinubu urges governors to reach food security targets; approves prompt implementation of national construction and household support programs.'

Other road infrastructure projects prioritised by the strategy include the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is now under construction, and the Trans-Saharan Highway, which connects Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja.

Tinubu also approved full counterpart financing for the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway, which will run through Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno, as well as the Ibadan-Abuja segment of the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway, which will run through Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.

Ngelale stated that the initiative would prioritize the Sokoto-Badagry road project "for its importance as some of the states it will traverse are strategic to the agricultural sustainability of the nation."

When asked about the project's justification, the presidency responded, "Within the Sokoto-Badagry Highway corridor, there are 216 agricultural communities, 58 large and medium dams spread across six states, seven Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, 156 local government areas, 39 commercial cities and towns, and over 1 million hectares of arable land."

Other items under the National Construction and Household Support initiative include: "A one-time allocation of N10 billion to states and the Federal Capital Territory for the procurement of buses and the CNG uplift programme."

"Delivery of a N50,000 uplift grant to 100,000 families each state for three months—provision for labor unions and civil society organizations.


"Deployment of N155bn for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuff to be distributed across the nation."

Tinubu is attending the National Economic Council meeting, which is frequently chaired by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima. This is his first time.

The NEC was expected to deliberate on the new minimum wage following the president's decision to withdraw the National Minimum Wage Committee proposal at Tuesday's Federal Executive Council meeting to allow for additional consultations with necessary stakeholders, including state governors, all of whom are members of the NEC.

The president had stated that he would only present a new national minimum wage to the national assembly for adoption into law following such discussions.

However, council members who briefed State House media following the meeting were silent on the minimum wage issue.

The Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, who briefed correspondents alongside the governors of Imo, Kano, and Kogi, announced that the federal government has approved a $1 billion agriculture mechanisation programme that will provide tractors to 1000 agro-sector service providers across the country.

He went on: "We'll have a minimum of 2000 tractors a year for the next five years and all other aggregation of agricultural commodities is going to be utilized at least nothing less than 600,000 youths to man these 1000 service centres."


Kyari explained that the complicated plan involves an agreement with John Deere and Tata to provide 2000 tractors before the end of the year. They would be implemented as quickly as possible, he stated, noting that the initiative was approved by the Federal Executive Council last Tuesday.

According to Kyari, the Greener Imperative Project, which he said is still in the works, is a €950 million project that would be announced soon.

Kyari claimed that the FG was about to sign another contract with Belarus Tractors to deliver 2000 tractors each year for the next five years, as well as 9000 implements and replacement parts.

The agricultural minister also stated that Saudi Arabia has expressed an interest in supplying 200,000 metric tons of red meat and 1 million tons of soya to Nigeria each year.

"We met with our entrepreneurs last week and devised a strategy for supplying and satisfying demand.

"We are looking at partnership with foreign governments, not necessarily trying to ask them to come and invest, but asking them what can we produce so that we can sell to you so that we can earn foreign exchange," according to him.

In his remarks, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma stated that the NEC has asked the sub-committee on crude oil theft to offer thorough suggestions to stop the scourge at the next meeting.


Uzodinma stated that, while the sub-committee was supposed to deliver its findings at Thursday's meeting, "it was inconclusive."

Meanwhile, Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf announced the formation of the board of directors for the Niger Delta Power Holding, which he claimed has been operating without a supervising board for quite some time.

He added that it is made up of governors from Borno, Katsina, Imo, Ekiti, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states, representing the various geo-political zones.

Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, announced the formation of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, which would be led by Vice President Kashim Shettima.