•He is taking deliberate, targeted steps to reset economy  

•Says it’s collaborating with state govts to alleviate hardship nationwide

• Highlights steps being taken to address food insecurity in the country 

• Declares Tinubu’s economic surgery yielding green shoots

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The presidency, yesterday, acknowledged that the country was passing through difficult times, but said it was not insensitive to the challenges the citizens were experiencing.

It said the President Bola Tinubu government was making a conscious effort to address the country’s economic problems and improve the lives of citizens.

Mentioning existing collaborations between the federal and state governments to alleviate the hardship in the land, the presidency also hhighlighted steps being taken to address food insecurity in the country.

Presidential spokesperson, Mr Sunday Dare, made the assertions in a long statement titled, “Critique Requires Fact-driven Narratives: A Response To Daily Trust Editorial.”

Dare said, “President Bola Tinubu is not indifferent to Nigerians’ difficulties. On the contrary, he is taking deliberate, targeted steps—many already yielding results—to reset our economy from a legacy of consumption without productivity, opacity without accountability, and policy that served the powerful, not the people.”

According to him, “While no one in the Tinubu administration denies that some of our citizens face economic challenges, it is essential to separate honest concern from exaggerated pessimism and generalisation.”

Accusing the newspaper of publishing a misleading editorial and an exaggerated and one-sided portrayal of Nigeria as a nation beset by hunger, hardship, and helplessness, Dare stressed the importance of separating genuine concern from undue pessimism and sweeping generalisation.

He stated, “A recent editorial by Daily Trust paints an exaggerated and unbalanced portrait of Nigeria as a nation overwhelmed by hunger, hardship, and helplessness. We were not surprised by the newspaper’s opinion, as the paper has consistently and deliberately misinformed its readers about the government’s policy.

“The Tinubu administration believes in the right of the media to offer constructive criticism, but it must be anchored on facts, not distortion or selective pessimism. The Daily Trust has on several occasions breached this rule by misrepresenting government policies and actions—a trend for which the newspaper has publicly apologised at least twice.”

The presidential media aide pointed out that many of the government’s policies currently facing criticisms were precisely those designed to secure a more stable, prosperous future for Nigerians.

He cautioned against misrepresentations, selective projections, and alarmist narratives, emphasising that such distortions hinder public understanding and detract from ongoing progress taking place across the country.

According to him, “To suggest, as Daily Trust did in its biased editorial, that ‘Nigerians are hungry’ without recognising the government’s ongoing interventions perpetuates despair instead of empowering citizens with the truth.

“This is the context that Daily Trust omitted in its jaundiced editorial. 1. UNICEF Projection vs. Cadre Harmonisé Analysis. The editorial referenced a UNICEF ‘prediction’ from April 2025 stating that 33 million Nigerians, including 16 million children, would face hunger in 2025. This figure has been widely cited but wrongly interpreted.

“What was presented was not a UNICEF-specific report but the Cadre Harmonisé Food and Nutrition Insecurity Analysis, jointly prepared by the Federal Government of Nigeria, FAO, WFP, and UNICEF. It is not a current count, but a worst-case projection for the June–August 2025 lean season, assuming no mitigation actions by government or partners.

“Here are some of the measures taken by the government to ensure we never get there: Over 42,000 metric tons of grains were released from federal strategic reserves; 117,000 metric tons were under additional procurement; the President activated the Food Security Council; emergency nutrition support was scaled up in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto, and Bauchi states.”

Dare disclosed that the Tinubu administration was coordinating with states to alleviate hardship among citizens.

He said the president was closely working with governors through the National Economic Council (NEC) to implement immediate local tax reliefs, Value Added Tax (VAT) waivers, and food market stabilisation efforts in each state.

He explained that states had received direct cash support and grants for local market stabilisation, while coordination was ongoing to scale up nutrition interventions, including micronutrient support for women and children.

He stated, “We also acknowledge that hardship is uneven across regions. However, Nigeria is one country, one people, and the fight against hunger is a collective effort, not a northern, southern, Christian, or Muslim issue.

“Let’s speak the truth. Yes, Nigerians are belt-tightening, but Nigeria is healing. The economic surgery undertaken by President Tinubu is not without pain, but it is yielding green shoots.

“To those who ask, ‘Where is the hope?’ We say hope is in the stabilising naira, in three million families lifted by direct transfers, and about 400,000 students now schooling without fear of paying fees.

“Hope is in the 500,000 farmers sowing into a new food system. Hope is in a government that is finally treating poverty not as a slogan but as a solvable problem.

“Only recently, this administration launched an effort to drive grassroots economic growth and poverty reduction across Nigeria, as President Bola Tinubu approved a ward-level development strategy called the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP).

“This initiative, which was endorsed by the National Economic Council (NEC) during its 150th meeting, is part of the president’s broader Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims for a $1 trillion economy by 2030.”

Dare explained that malnutrition was a critical national issue and should not be narrowly characterised as a “Northern Nigeria” crisis.

He said Nigeria was responding to global food prices and was on the path to recovery.

The presidential aide stated, “Malnutrition is a serious national concern, but let’s not localise it as a ‘Northern Nigeria’ crisis. Since 2020, COVID has disrupted the global food system, worsened the Russia-Ukraine war, and is now aggravated by conflict in the Middle East.

“According to the World Bank’s April 2025 Food Security Update, over 1.4 billion people worldwide are under food stress, a problem that is not unique to Nigeria.”

Dare recalled that since 2020, the global food system had been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and now compounded by the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

While debunking the notion that the school feeding programme had fizzled out, the presidential media aide identified the National Home Grown School Feeding programme as a functional scheme still serving over 9.8 million children across 53,000 schools across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He stated, “The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme serves over 9.8 million children in 53,000 schools across 36 states and the FCT.

“Over 200,000 cooks and local farmers are engaged in the programme, which is being digitised for transparency and efficiency. The Federal Government has not abandoned the programme.”

Dare acknowledged that while Nigerians were belt-tightening, the economic reforms initiated by Tinubu, though challenging, were beginning to produce positive outcomes.

Outlining facts on global food Price Index 2025, Dare stated that the FAO Food Price Index (June 2025) showed global food prices remained 22 per cent above 2019 levels.

He disclosed that while countries like Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also struggled with food price inflation, Nigeria, under Tinubu, was actively mitigating this global shock, by rolling out measures, such as State of Emergency on Food Security, Investment of N200 billion in dry-season and all-year farming, as well as Targeted 500,000 farmers for input support in 2025.

He also stated that the Tinubu administration recently launched the National Commodity Board to regulate food price volatility, and introduced transport subsidies to cut logistics costs for food.

Dare condemned Daily Trust’s use of the term “worthless naira” in its editorial, describing it as false and misleading. He emphasised that the naira had not collapsed; rather, it had undergone correction and was now recovering.

He stated, “The editorial’s use of the term ‘worthless naira’ is false and misleading. Since hitting a low of N1,800/$1 in March 2024, the naira has rebounded strongly due to: Increased oil receipts and remittances, Restoration of investor confidence, Unification of the FX window, Reduction of FX backlog by over $4 billion (CBN data, May 2025).

“As of August 1, 2025, the naira traded around N1,525/$1, a sizable appreciation since its lowest ebb. Nigeria’s FX reserves are stabilising, and foreign portfolio inflows are picking up after major reforms in the monetary and fiscal policy.

“The naira is not worthless — it has found its level and is strengthening. The naira has not collapsed—it has been corrected and is now recovering.”

On the broader safety net, Dare said three million vulnerable households had received N75,000 each under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer, with plans to scale up to 15 million households.

As of August 7, he said, over 396,000 students had benefitted from NELFUND tuition loans and stipends.

Dare stressed, “The Presidential MSME Grant Scheme has disbursed funds to over 250,000 businesses in 2025, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises despite the outcry on CBN interest rates. CNG bus rollout and transport palliatives are reducing urban commuting costs.”

He affirmed that the Tinubu government was responsive, and acting on constructive recommendations, rather than those motivated by personal ambition.

He stressed that the government welcomed suggestions, such as suspending VAT on food items, reducing taxes on drugs and medical equipment, and easing the tax burden on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Dare also stated that the Federal Ministry of Finance, alongside the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, was actively working on implementing many of those measures.

He said, “Starting January 2026, the new tax reforms will streamline over 60 overlapping taxes into fewer, manageable channels. Eliminate nuisance taxes that burden small businesses. Create exemptions for essential goods, including some food and medical items. Encourage state-federal tax harmonisation to stop multiple taxation.”

He listed other interventions to include, target of 8,809 wards in Nigeria, a programme designed to reach every administrative ward, and ensure that no community was left behind in national development efforts.

He said RHWDP also focused on key development areas, which aimed to serve as a coordinated intervention framework dedicated to poverty alleviation, food security, rural infrastructure, power supply, and job creation.

Key aspects of the RHWDP included the identification and supporting local economic actors, he said.

He explained, “The programme will identify at least 1,000 economically active individuals in each ward and support them in enhancing local manufacturing and business operations. This will generate double-digit growth in most wards as Nigeria progresses towards its $1 trillion economy target.”

Dare stated that the Tinubu administration was not calling for silence amid hardship, but rather urging fairness and a collective commitment to the country’s rebuilding. He emphasised that the president expected all Nigerians and well-wishers to join in this effort, rather than magnifying the difficulties.

He stated, “This administration does not ask for silence in the face of hardship. It asks only for fairness and a shared commitment to rebuilding this country, not just exaggerating its pain. This is what President Tinubu expects from all Nigerians and well-wishers of our country.”

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