This is after residents of Kano, Niger, Lagos, Sokoto held protests over rising economic hardship in the country.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – Resident of Oyo State on Monday, February 19, 2023, gathered at Mokola area of the state capital, Ibadan, to demonstrate peacefully over high cost of living, food inflation and hardship in the country.
This is after residents of Kano, Niger, Lagos, Sokoto held protests over rising economic hardship in the country.
Displaying placards with inscriptions such as ‘The poor are starving,’ ‘Tinubu, don’t forget your promises’, among others, they expressed displeasure over President Bola Tinubu’s poor handling of the economy and the resulting hardship on the people.
Policemen were on standby to ensure that the protesters do not take law into their hands.
The mood of the demonstrators is across the country as Nigerians struggle to keep up with rapidly rising cost of food and other basic needs for survival.
Only last week, the African Development Bank (AfDB) warned that rising prices of fuel and other commodities could lead to social unrest in four African countries – Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola and Kenya.
“For instance, the removal of fuel subsidies in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria and the resulting social costs has led to social unrest driven by opposition to government policy.”
In a bid to address this problem, President Tinubu last week held a meeting with governors and heads of security agencies where it was decided that farmers should be support to produce more food for Nigerians.
He stated, ”What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food. We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in, because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with the schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.
”We must also look at the rapid but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others.”