President Bola Tinubu has made a promise to Nigerians, vowing to reduce food prices and living costs in the country.
In his live broadcast speech on Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day, Tinubu emphasized his administration’s commitment to restoring peace in troubled regions, enabling farmers to return to their farmlands and boost food production.
Tinubu boasted about his administration’s progress in eliminating terrorist and bandit commanders, with over 300 neutralized in the Northeast, Northwest, and other parts of the country. This achievement, he believes, will restore farmers to their lands and lead to a significant increase in food production.
“We expect to see a leap in food production and a downward spiral in food costs. I promise you, we shall not falter on this,” Tinubu said.
The President acknowledged the country’s economic challenges, including rising living and energy costs, sparked by the removal of petrol subsidies and unification of foreign exchange windows in May 2023.
Nigeria’s inflation rate stands at 32.15%, with food inflation at 37.52%, significantly higher than the previous year.
To address these issues, Tinubu’s administration has implemented palliative measures, including temporarily suspending tariffs on imported grains and essential food items. The goal is to improve local production, ensure self-sufficiency in food, and reduce reliance on imports.
Tinubu’s strategy focuses on restoring peace to enable farmers to return to their farmlands, boosting local production, and implementing temporary tariff suspensions to alleviate the impact of inflation.
“We have restored peace to hundreds of communities in the North and thousands of our people have been able to return home. It is an unfinished business, which our security agencies are committed to ending as quickly as possible,” Tinubu added.
Tinubu urged Nigerians to unite and cooperate to overcome the country’s challenges, emphasizing that his administration is committed to enhancing living conditions.
