The presidency continued the good-old practice of town-
hall meetings on Saturday, April 23, as Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo was answering multiple questions from
about 100 pressure groups. The meeting took place at the
Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos.
The participants received answers on a wide range of
topics: from fuel scarcity to the Yuan deal, from power
supply to the entertainment industry in Nigeria.
Here aretop 15 takeaways from Saturday’s
talks:
1. On leadership:
“President Muhammadu Buhari and I (the vice president)
are completely committed to providing competent
leadership. We have no other agenda. We acknowledge
there are pains but they are just birth pains. This is not
the end.”
2. On N5,000 monthly stipend:
“We are currently compiling the social register for the poor
and as soon as the budget is passed, we will begin to pay
5000 naira to the poor.”
3. On stealing and corruption:
“It cuts across all ethnic groups in Nigeria. We must
decide to become a new tribe of Nigerians. We must
disallow division. We must also disallow the use of religion
and ethnicity.”
4. On fuel crisis:
“The NNPC is currently the only one importing refined fuel.
We are in the process of providing a final solution to the
fuel scarcity.”
The vice president of Nigeria at townhall meeting in Lagos
on Saturday, April 23. Photo: Professor Yemi Osinbajo
5. On public vs private refineries
“Private refineries run better. We are seeking private
investments in co-managing the refineries. Some parties
have indicated interest in the private refineries including
the oil majors.”
6. About Nigerian entertainment:
“With the entertainment sector, we are working on
solutions to piracy including technology options, active
advocacy and better collaboration between the
Entertainment industry and the government.”
7. On Lagos-Calabar railway project:
“It is in the budget. The most effective way of moving
goods is by rail. Consequently, the Lagos-Calabar and
Lagos-Kano rails are included in the budget.”
8. On power generation:
“Nigeria recorded a peak of 5,000MW in February. We paid
outstanding debts and curtailed vandalism. But the
Forcados pipeline caused a drop of about 500MW. We are
currently working on improving the supply of gas to power
plant and fixing transmission line problems.
“We have removed fixed tariff charges. You only pay for
what you use. We are also engaged with labour unions on
cost reflective tariffs.”
9. On the Yuan deal:
“The deal is we have some credit with the Chinese, so
doing business with the Chinese can be done without the
dollar. The Yuan deal will help facilitate trade with China
and also help the ease of doing business.”
10. On assets declaration:
“We want a country where anyone who holds public office
must be able to explain their wealth.”
11. On human rights:
“Nobody can enforce any type of right by violence. The use
of violence to dispossess others is unacceptable!”
12. On helping small and medium businesses:
“We also intend to bring loans to SME’S at single digit
interest rates.”
13. On the following meetings with Nigerians:
“We will continue with the town-hall meetings across the
country. You will be notified on the next one. Together,
Nigeria will prevail.”
