The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has said that President Bola Tinubu was compassionate and concerned about current hardship Nigerians were facing.
The media aide disclosed this during an interact session with heads of broadcast stations and commentators on Tuesday in Kano.
Abdulaziz explained that the President was aware of the hardship Nigerians were facing due to the various policy decisions of the administration.
He noted that the government was working on reducing the burden to make life easier for Nigerians.
“The president is already taking measures to address the challenges brought about by the reforms introduced by the administration in all sectors of the economy,” he added.
According to him, to cushion the effect of the removal of subsidy on states, the Federal Government (FG) announced N5 billion as palliative measures for each state of the federation as well as trucks of grains.
He said that already all the states received N2 billion from the Federal Government.
Abdulaziz revealed that funds were also released to acquire units of CNG-fuelled buses.
The media aide further said that the President also approved students loan to make education more affordable for students of tertiary institutions.
“Mr President has approved the removal of all restrictions on the student loan to make it available to any student or household that may desire it.
“For civil servants, the Federal Government has commenced the payment of N35,000 wage award that would last for six months until a new national minimum wage is announced.
“Also , in an effort to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, the FG will soon commence the payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month for three months,” he explained.
Abdulaziz, who restated FG’s commitment to protecting lives and property of Nigerians, said that the president accorded high priority to defence and internal security.
He assured the media personalities that the President would always uphold media freedom and respect divergent views
The President’s aide urged the media to support and promote good government policies and programmes.
Abdulaziz said that the media by the virtue of its role and functions was a genuine avenue to keep the government alive to its responsibilities.
In a remark, the chairman Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kano Council, Alhaji Abbas Ibrahim, urged journalists to seek self development, sharpen their skills and create a legacy for themselves.
He also called on them to be committed and creative in whatever they did as the profession was now performance driven.
Ibrahim further enjoined journalists to fight the spread of fake news, promote good government policies and also hold the government responsible to the people.
The chairman said that Abdulaziz had no doubt contributed immensely to the development of journalism and his achievements in the industry could not be over emphasised.
He then commended him for coming home, in spite of his tight schedule, to organise the interactive session.
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