Lai Mohammed Reveals Only Regret Under Buhari

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says President Muhammadu Buhari administration has done a lot for Nigeria and Nigerians despite the lean resources at its disposal.

Eko Hot Blog reports that Mohammed said this at a special forum of NAN in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mohammed averred that refusal of Nigerians to be appreciative of the government’s effort in keeping the country in shape amid dwindling revenue was a thing of regret for him.

The minister boasted that no other government in Nigeria’s history had embarked on the type of social intervention and poverty alleviation programmes that were implemented under Buhari administration.

He noted that no one had lost their jobs despite the precarious situation the country found itself regarding revenue generation. .

“My regret in this government is that Nigerians have failed to appreciate that the government is doing much more with much less,” he said.

Making reference to the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan, Mohammed said crude oil sold for 100 dollars to 140 dollars per barrel 2010 to 2014, adding that the present administration had not been that lucky and fortunate as oil prices had hover around 60 dollars since it came to power.

He disclosed that at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, the government had to pay for storage because no one was willing to buy the country’s crude.

“With the drop in revenues and security challenges this government has not retrenched one person but put in place programmes to cushion the effects of the pandemic.” he said

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Mohammed said the government did not get the type of accolades and praises it deserved for its various intervention programmes such as the school feeding program and the conditional cash transfer programme.

He cited the N-power initiative which, according to him, had engaged 500,000 beneficiaries with 400,000 added from December.

“This includes the payroll support for businesses in health, education, hospitality and food production sectors targeting 500,000 beneficiaries,” he said

“The One-Off payment to support self-employed individuals like mechanics and drivers, hair dressers, Keke Napep and Okada riders, plumbers and electricians with a one-time payment of N30,000 for 333,000 beneficiaries.

“Formalisation support where Federal Government will register 250,000 new businesses with the Corporate Affairs Commission at no cost to MSMEs.

“General MSMEs grants which provides N50,000 to an additional 100,000 MSMEs as well as Guaranteed Offtake Stimulus Scheme which aimed to stimulate direct local production in the 36 states and the FCT.”