To help ease the current suffering in the country, President Bola Tinubu has agreed to give 10,000 young people in the Niger Delta a monthly stipend of N50,000.
Godswill Akpabio, President of the Senate, said this at the Niger Delta Sensitisation Conference on Tuesday in Port Harcourt for people of different countries, young people, and women.
He said the money would come from the NDDC Youth Intensive Scheme and would be given for a year, with the option of extending it.
It was made clear that this was part of Tinubu’s plan to deal with problems in the region, and Mr. Akpabio strongly advised people not to take part in the planned national protest on August 1.
“Right away, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will start this program to help 10,000 young people by giving them N50,000 every month to help them get through this tough time.”
“We are aware of the serious problems that oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta have caused and are moving quickly to fix them.
He said, “President Tinubu is aware of our country’s economic problems and is already giving them the attention they need to be fixed.”
According to Mr. Akpabio, Tinubu had also given the go-ahead for the Lagos to Calabar coastal highway project to start at the same time in both states. This will create thousands of jobs for young people in the area, he said.
He said that the planned national protest was planned by people who don’t have faces and want to cause trouble and damage all over the country.
“The 10 points on the national protest agenda don’t interest people in the Niger Delta at all.”
“The people planning the protest are just copying what’s happening in Kenya; they don’t care that it might cause chaos in this country.”
He said, “The problems the country is facing are being dealt with right now, so there is no need to protest.”
The head of the senate said that the Niger Delta people’s wants and hopes were being met by giving money to important projects.
He asked people to be patient while the Federal Government’s policies and programs took effect, stressing that one year was not enough time to judge how well they worked.
Earlier, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu asked people to stay cool and back Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He emphasised that the recent Niger Delta Summit’s decisions should be put into action right away to speed up growth in the area.
“Don’t go out to protest,” he begged the young people. “Instead, let’s build on the progress this administration has made.”
Chairman of the Senate Committee on NDDC, Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong, said that the protest would hurt the economy even more and could take years to recover from.
He connected the present problems to getting rid of the unfair petrol subsidy and unifying the naira, saying that these steps were needed to keep Nigeria from falling apart.
NDDC Managing Director Dr. Samuel Ogbuku said that Tinubu took office with the economy in a very bad state and that he had already started programs to fix it.
He said that the Niger Delta was starting to see the results of years of dangerous protests for development led by the current Federal Government.
“Project HOPE is helping our young people learn new skills, and we’re also working with the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to teach young people and young business owners in the area.”
“We’re also working with the chamber to help small and medium-sized businesses, and we’re teaming up with the Bank of Industry to get money for our programs that give people power.”
He begged young people not to take part in protests that could make the country less stable and slow down progress, which would make everyone poorer in the long run.
Jonathan Lopkobiri, President of the Ijaw Youth Council, said again that young people in the Niger Delta, especially Ijaw teenagers, shouldn’t join the national protest.
