Nigerians, particularly students and the poor, have been assured of the dividends of democracy from the federal government, which says it will help dismantle the barriers of poverty and suffering under the present administration.
The senior special assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Students’ Engagement, Comrade Sunday Asefon, who stated this, also said that part of the government’s cardinal focus is to ensure that no student drops out of tertiary institutions on account of poor backgrounds and that no Nigerian goes to sleep on an empty stomach.
The former National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) gave the assurance at the weekend while distributing free fuel and food palliatives to 750 commercial motorcyclists and students of tertiary institutions in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State Capital, to mark his birthday.
The beneficiaries were drawn from the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ekiti State University, Federal Polytechnic, and operators of commercial motorcyclists in Ado Ekiti, the capital city.
Represented by a student leader, Comrade Sikiru Aderibigbe, the presidential aide, disclosed that President Tinubu specifically conceptualised the students’ loan to ensure academic universality and curtail the incidence of school dropouts due to poverty.
He maintained that several other initiatives had been implemented, like the youth cash transfer policy to ensure that Nigerian graduates doing all sorts of menial jobs are empowered to take up businesses that benefit their status.
Giving the breakdown of the beneficiaries, Asefon clarified that: “Instead of throwing parties with friends, I decided to demonstrate what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been preaching that we must make sacrifices for the poor by distributing fuel and food palliatives to 250 Okada Riders and food reliefs to 500 students of tertiary institutions.
He said, “You could all attest to the fact that Mr President has done a lot for the Nigerian students by initiating the student loan, from which thousands have benefited.”
“This current government is also giving out bailouts to youths to empower them as businessmen, and that was the gesture I was replicating with this support to our people.”
Applauding the presidential aide for his constant touch and support for the students’ community, the Southwest Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students, Com. Sunday Owolewa hailed President Tinubu for not betraying the Nigerian students.
Owolewa promised that the Southwest student population would continue to support Tinubu’s administration in fostering unity, peace, and development across the country’s six geopolitical zones.
