Minister of information and national orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, has unveiled an application called the Mobiliser App meant for the orientation and re-orientation of Nigerians.
The minister said President Bola Ahmad Tinubu might have taken some decisions that have caused hardships to the citizenry but will definitely place the country in a better position in the near future.
“There will be hardship, there will be turbulence and there will be some occasional discomfort that accompanies the removal of subsidy which all of us here are experiencing.
“However, the government has put in place somethings to cushion some of the effects pending the time things will definitely normalize,” he explained.
The minister spoke when he unveiled the app during a special Ramadan Iftar and interactive session with media executives and practitioners in Kano on Wednesday night.
The app which has several features was prepared by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and could be accessed by all.
He highlighted some of the problems being faced that include insecurity calling on the media to contribute their quota by not allowing the bandits opportunities to spread their propaganda thereby making them stronger.
He highlighted measures by government to ameliorate the hardships. These include disbursement of N50 billion to food vendors, traders, transport workers and others under the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS) by the Bank of Industry, N75 billion set aside for the Federal Government SMSE intervention fund, which will provide single digit interest loan to beneficiaries, another N75 billion set aside for manufacturers where a single manufacturer can access up to N1 billion to expand his business and inturn provide jobs for Nigerians and also the Students Loan Scheme whose Act has since been passed by the National Assembly.
Idris also mentioned that the Tinubu administration has set aside a social security system that will provide for those who cannot access any form of employment.
He called on the media practitioners to be positive in reporting criminal activities in the country and give the government and security operatives an upper hand.
“There is no point putting somebody who is a criminal element hanging an AK-47 on his shoulder, you put him out there as if you are celebrating him as a hero for Nigerians to see.
“We have to be patriotic about this country because these people also rely on their own medium, the various media organizations to also put out their message. We need to deny terrorists their capacity to do propaganda and to inflict psychological wounds on all of us as Nigerians.
“It is our collective duty to deny them that possibility. You can’t celebrate a terrorist who has killed people, you can’t celebrate someone who has packed school age children and taken them to the bush,” he said.
He condemned the attack on the armed forces by criminal elements saying it is an attack on the sovereignty of the country which will not go unpunished as the culprits will be squeezed out and made to face the wrath of the law.
He amplified some of the achievements of the armed forces in February 2024 alone saying they have neutralized 974 terrorists, apprehended 621 suspects, rescued 466 hostages and recovered over 1500 weapons.
Also, in the area of fighting insecurity, the minister said President Tinubu had set aside another N50 billion in what is called the PULACO initiative under the office of the vice president to be used in infrastructure development in the frontline states affected by terrorism for the construction of schools, hospitals and other public needs.
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