As the Bola Tinubu administration marks one year in office, good governance, advocacy organisation, Youth Advocates For Peace Justice And Empowerment Network (YAPJEN), has called on the President to redouble his effort to save Nigerians from hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidies.
Tinubu will on the 29th of May, 2024, clock a year in office, a period that has been criticized for inflicting hardship on the lives of the people of the country.
From the removal of the fuel subsidy to the hike in electricity charges, the citizens are crying out for succor.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Director of Communication of YAPJEN, Comrade Benedict Chidobem Esq, felicitated the President on his one year in office but lamented that Nigerians are currently subjected to economic hardship and hyperinflation, high cost of food and other commodities, an exorbitant increase of petroleum pump price and other commodities, devaluation of the naira, Â insecurity, epileptic power supply, poverty, and unemployment.
In his words, “The government must prioritize the wellbeing and the interest of Nigerians in their policies
“The government needs to urgently diversify the economy of the nation by investing more in agriculture, securing farmers from bandits attack, solving farmers-herders crisis, providing tractors and fertilizer to boost food production, engage the teeming mass of unemployed youths into agriculture.
“Furthermore, with the unbundling of the power sector, the government needs to create an enabling environment that will encourage private sectors to invest in power generation and distribution in such a way that they will be able to recoup their investments without bottlenecks and still provide steady power supply to Nigerians.”
On the high cost of petrol, the group urged the government to intensify efforts to get Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries back to life and get the railway working across the country to aid the transportation of petroleum products, while NNPC should ensure the availability of the products to private marketers in the downstream to ensure availability of the products.
He called on Nigerian governments at all levels to shift from consumption to production and reduce overdependence on the dollar to ease the pressure on the naira.
He said further; “The government needs to restructure and rejig the security architecture of  the country,  provide enabling legislation for state policing while emphasis must be placed on intelligence gathering and sharing for the security of Nigerians.”
Comrade Chidobem also advised the government to provide an enabling environment for private sectors to thrive, and for an increased inflow of investors into the economy, to create jobs for the masses.
According to him, efforts should also be made to establish skills acquisition training in the various higher institutions of learning.
“This will ensure that graduates who come out of the tertiary institutions are well-equipped for the labour market. This is because at present, people graduate from higher institutions without any single life-sustaining skill.
