The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has said that President Bola Tinubu was compassionate and concerned about the current hardship Nigerians were facing.
The media aide disclosed this during an interactive session with Heads of Broadcast stations, online newspaper publishers, and public commentators on Monday in Kano.
Abdulaziz explained that the President was aware of the hardship Nigerians were facing due to the various policy decisions of the administration.
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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 student loans 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.
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“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 the 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 aise urged the media to support and promote good government policies and programs.
Abdulaziz said that the media by virtue of its role and functions was a genuine avenue to keep the government alive to its responsibilities.
On his part, SOLACEBASE online newspaper Publisher, Mallam Abdullateef Abubakar Jos urged the presidential aide to sustain the interactive session so as to ensure a seamless flow of information between the presidency and journalists in-order to check misinformation.
Mallam Jos used the occasion to laud the appointment of AbdulAziz AbdulAziz by President Bola Tinubu considering his contribution to investigative and developmental journalism.
‘’Your appointment did not come as a surprise as a thorough breed journalist that started his journalism career in Kano,’’ the online newspaper publisher said.
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.
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He also called on them to be committed and creative in whatever they do 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 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, inspite of his tight schedule, to organize the interactive session. (NAN)
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