By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar has called on the organizers of the proposed protest to shelve the idea and come to a roundtable and dialogue with Federal Government as Tinubu’s reforms have started yielding fruitful results adding that the nation’s economy is on a gradual but steady path of recovery and assured citizens that this administration will do more to meet their needs.

According to the Minister, the reforms initiated by Mr. President have started improving the lives of Nigerians as the economic growth in Q1 2024 was the second fastest first-quarter growth in the last six years. He said defence strategy as enshrined in the Renewed Hope Agenda in improving security is yielding results adding that “Mr. President is committed to the safety of lives and property through various security interventions.“There is serious improvement in security as most of the roads and highways hitherto closed due to insecurity have been opened. Herders and farmers clashes have been solved by the creation of the Livestock Ministry and many farmers have returned to their farms. Mr. President is supporting the farmers and has encouraged State Governors to do same”, he saidBadaru also pointed out that there is massive surrender of terrorists and high profile terrorist kingpins have been arrested.According to the Minister, another example of President Tinubu’s initiative is the creation of instruments to support students, stressing that the introduction of the Nigerian Student Loan Scheme was initiated to increase access to higher education and reduce financial burdens on students.Furthermore, he said the massive increase in funding for infrastructures like roads, rails, energy, irrigation (Dams and Channels) through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF).The Minister opined that the innovation of selling crude oil to indigenous refining companies in Naira is another robust effort by Mr. President and the signing of the National Minimum Wage Act into Law, which is aimed at enhancing the welfare of the Nigerian Workers are all efforts at stabilising the economy.He also stated that another bold step taken by Mr. President is the autonomy granted to the Local Governments for effective accountability, development at the grassroots and strengthening of governance.The Minister said that following the launch of the compressed natural gas initiative (CNG) by Mr. President, it is expected that the cost of transportation will reduce by as much as 50 percent adding that this has unlocked the nation’s huge potential in the gas sector.