The federal government has delivered 100 truckloads of grain and 100 truckloads of fertilizer to state governments to ease the difficulties of removing oil subsidies for Nigerians.
Secretary of Government of the Federation, Jorge Akumerevealed this on Thursday in Abuja while delivering the presidential speech at the launch of a book written by an elderly statesman and former federal information commissioner, Edwin Clark.
The book is titled “Brutally Frank.”
Mr. Akume, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the book launch, noted that the agricultural inputs given to state governments were part of the government’s plans to cushion the effect of the removal of oil subsidies.
“The solution to problems can never be as instant as coffee, but we certainly have to be there. I know that the elimination of the fuel subsidy has created some pain and that is why palliatives are being implemented.
“A hundred truckloads of fertilizer have been sent to the states, a hundred truckloads of grain have been sent and more are coming and more are coming as well,” he said.
Mr. Akume did not mention the states that received the agricultural inputs and how they were distributed.
He urged Nigerians to bear the hardships that come with removing the oil subsidy.
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“He (President Bola Tinubu) also asked me to tell this gathering that we are going through a difficult period in the history of this country but these pains are birth pains, the birth of a new nation and if you want to celebrate a child, a baby then the mother must go through some pain. At the end of the day, there is joy in joy when the baby arrives and we will surely be there.
“We can put up with this for a moment, but what we are going through today is for a better tomorrow. Citizens have hoped that tomorrow will be better than today,” Akume said.
The SGF also urged Nigerians to avoid ethnic differences and embrace unity among themselves.
“We are better when we are presented as Nigerian than when we are presented on the basis of ethnicity.
brutally frank
Oserheimen Osunbor, former Governor of Edo State, who reviewed the book, said it is an excellent literary work rich in Nigerian political history.
Mr. Osunbor, a law professor, also said that the beginning and end of the book are good, and the images used to illustrate the text of the book are also memorable.
He stressed that the book deserves to be in all libraries as an invaluable reservoir of knowledge.
In his welcome address, the President of the occasion and former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, under whom Mr. Clark served as Federal Information Commissioner, praised the book’s author for the role he played in unifying Nigeria during his administration (Gowon). .
He recounted that Clark used his first daughter to resolve an ethnic crisis in the Midwest.
He also said that Mr. Clark mobilized hundreds of teachers to northern states from the Midwest and encouraged Northern youth to acquire a Western education.
“In fact, he went to the extent of using his first daughter, now Mrs. Rebecca Okorodudu, who was a teenager in one of the best schools in the Midwest at the time as a kind of guinea pig, moving her around. to Queen’s School, Enugu, which was greatly impacted by the unfortunate years of conflict.
“As if that wasn’t enough, he also extended a helping hand to the northern states by sending hundreds of science teachers to various parts of the northern states from the Midwest and also brought in some of his youth and gave them places in the best schools in his home state.
“There was no better Nigerian for the job of information minister at a time when we needed to show our warmth and empathy for one another as a people. He did the same for the eastern and central states, sending aid to the University and other institutions in the war-affected areas,” said Gowon, a retired general.
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his Bauchi counterpart Bala Mohammed were present at the book launch.
Senators and former senators, as well as traditional rulers, were also present at the event.
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