Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has lamented over the increased poverty situation in the country. 

Speaking at the first year ministerial performance review retreat, the Vice President charged ministers to expedite action on the N2.3 trillion stimulus package designed by the government to mitigate the effect of the crisis on the economy, while also disclosing that the Coronavirus pandemic has made Nigerians poorer.

Under the mass housing programme, Osinbajo explained that the government would build 300,000 homes across the country and would ensure that their prices did not exceed N2m.

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He said;

“We are already in Day 67 since the plan. Nothing is going to happen by magic, we have to simply do this stuff. 

“We have to ensure that we have the money and ensure that day by day, we are measuring our achievements and trying to ensure that we do the things that we need to do. And we simply are not favoured by time, every single day the poverty situation and the economic distortions deepen.

“There is one which is ongoing by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, and the one under the Family Homes Fund is also supervised by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. 

“The mass agriculture programme is one where we envisaged that we will be engaging many farmers. So far, we have enumerated at least 4 million farmers.

“So, these are farmers who are tied to their lands and we have the geo-statistics that shows where their land is and we have about 4 million of them. And we expect that with each state contributing acreage for farming, we will be able to do significant numbers.

“The plan is designed in such a way that in each one of the programmes, we are engaging as many Nigerians as possible. The expected outcome for agriculture, even if each farmer employs an additional person, this will result in an additional 4 million jobs and even more jobs along the value chain. We also will be looking at developing rural roads to reduce post-harvest losses.”

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The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has warned security agents against the continued detention of one Mazi Ofornedu Okafor.

IPOB warned that the Enugu State Police Commissioner and other security agents would “pay heavy price” should anything happen to Okafor while in police detention.

The group, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Emma Powerful alleged that men of the Enugu State Police Command and soldiers had picked up Okafor alongside his grandfather on August 23rd, 2020 while receiving treatment at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in the State.

IPOB called on the Enugu State Police Commissioner to release Okoafor from custody before it’s too late.

IPOB also alleged that Okafor had been denied access to proper medical attention, hence should be released.

The group also alleged plot by security operatives to arrest Okoafor’s father, Mazi Longinus Okafor.

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According to IPOB: “We the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) condemn in the strongest possible terms the continued inhumane, illegal and immoral detention of Mazi Ofornedu Okafor who was abducted with his grandfather at the (UNTH) Enugu where he was receiving medical treatment for bullet wounds inflicted on him by the same Nigerian Police and soldiers on the 23rd of August 2020 at Emene in Enugu State.

“Why an innocent man, grievously injured by the police, should be chained to the floor in a police cell rather than receiving treatment in a hospital defies logic and common sense. This brand of Janjaweed policing should be condemned by every right-thinking person.”

Stressing that the victim had done nothing wrong before the law, the separatist group claimed that, “The Commissioner of Police wants him to die in police custody from the bullets wounds his men illegally inflicted on him.”

“The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State on whose order this recent abduction of Ofornedu Okafor was made must understand the consequences of his actions. He must release Mazi Ofornedu Okoafor before it’s too late for him. The police must know that they would pay a heavy price should anything happen to Chinedu Okafor or any of the innocent Biafrans being held illegally in their custody,” the statement added.

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Ayuba Wabba, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), says the federal government did not factor in economic realities when it said petrol price in Nigeria is among the lowest in Africa.

Lai Mohammed, minister of information said on Monday that despite the increase in the price of petrol, it remains among the cheapest in Africa.

Speaking to the PUNCH, Wabba said the government should have situated its argument against the devaluation of the naira and considered the N33,000 minimum wage being paid to workers.

Wabba said the comparison is faulty given that electricity tariff was also reviewed upwards and prices of commodities generally have been on the rise.

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“That comparison cannot even stand because our currency has been on free fall and it has been devalued over and over again. So, the basis for comparison is faulty. If they (other countries) have stronger currencies, it means our currency is weak,” Wabba said.

“Not only petroleum products but all other commodities are also expensive in Nigeria because of the free fall of the naira. Can they also make the comparison on the basis of the stability of the currencies of other countries over the years and the instability of the Nigerian currency over the last five years? You can then get the answer.

He said it is insensitive of the government to increase the price of petrol and electricity at the same time, adding that Nigerians have been pushed to the edge.

“The point we have made is that many Nigerians have been pushed to the edge and it is insensitive to increase the prices of the two commodities at the same time-petroleum products and the electricity. You can see the impact already in the prices of bread which have increased from N250 to N300,” he said.

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