Buhari and I can never deceive Nigerians, Osinbajo reassures

NIGERIA’S Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that himself and President Muhammadu Buhari can never deceive Nigerians.

The Vice President said the Buhari-led administration is concerned about the plight of the ordinary Nigerians and would continue to carry out programmes that would improve their lives.

Contained in a statement issued by the spokesman to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, Osinabjo added that the Federal Government is focused on making things better for the common man.

“The focus of our government is on how things can be better for the common man. We are not in the business of trying to deceive Nigerians. You can accuse me and the President of anything, but you will never find us deceiving Nigerians.”

Making references to the Buhari administration’s National Social Investment Programme (N-SIP), Osinbajo noted that the administration is able to do so much more with fewer resources.

“The President has ensured that nobody steals money from the treasury. The major problem Nigeria had before now was the fact that people stole from the nation’s coffers. Once the country is able to stop corruption, it would be better.

“The first thing we did was tackle unemployment by employing young men and women through the N-Power job scheme, which has so far employed 500,000 young graduates.” The paid volunteer programme has a two-year duration, but it has now been extended for a batch.

“Every state has N-Power, noting that there are plans to employ more because of the number of graduates. This is a social safety net for young unemployed Nigerian graduates.

“So far, we have given about 400,000 MarketMoni loans, but the target is to give 1 million loans to artisans and traders, while TraderMoni loans are N10,000 interest-free loans to petty traders, of which 2 million are expected to be reached in the first phase”, the
Vice President stated.

He highlighted the Federal Government’s Energizing Economies Initiative, which provides clean, affordable, and constant power to economic clusters such as big markets and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria.

Last week Friday, the Vice President commissioned the Sura market Independent Power Project in Sura shopping complex in Lagos State; a 1.5MW independent mini-grid power supply system to provide clean and affordable electricity to over 1,000 shops in the market.

According to Osinbajo, the Buhari administration’s Energizing Economies Initiative, which is being implemented by Rural Electrification Agency (REA), is designed to provide clean, stable and affordable electricity to Nigerians in these economic clusters. So far, thousands of shops in Sabon Gari in Kano State, Ariaria market in Aba, Isinkan market in Akure, Ondo State, Edaiken market in Benin, Edo State, and Sura market, Lagos, have been provided solar power through the initiative.

“Power is a major problem in Nigeria and our efforts is to solve this through alternative energy such as solar power. We are not relying on the national grid alone. We are also encouraging the private sector to provide power. The new strategy of the government is to put power in different places so as to make life easy for Nigerians without relying on the national grid. We are still working on the national grid. This country is very big, that’s why we have to decentralize,” he added.

Speaking further on the benefits of the N-SIP, the Vice President assured Nigerians that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme was authentic and was a major part of the administration’s plan to improve the lives of Nigerians. “Currently, it feeds daily over 9 million schoolchildren in public primary schools in 26 states. Also, the products are sourced from local farmers, which improve the local economy.”

He further stated the administration’s commitment to developing the Niger Delta region and how its engagement has helped to maintain peace and stability in the region, which has also improved oil production and the country’s revenue.