By Samuel
President Muhammadu Buhari says that his administration introduced the FarmerMoni, TraderMoni and school feeding programmes, among others, to support Nigeria’s economy and “the weakest members of our society”.
Buhari stated this on Thursday morning while delivering his Independence Day Address in a live broadcast to celebrate Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary.
FarmerMoni/MarketMoni/TraderMoni is a Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) under Buhari’s National Social Investments Programme.
The schemes were designed to provide financial aid to farmers, micro-business owners and traders who lack access to mainstream financial services.
Buhari during the broadcast noted he introduced these schemes in the last three years to tackle tough economic realities induced by falling oil prices in the international market.
He said, “Fellow Nigerians, in addition to public health challenges of working to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, we have suffered a significant drop in our foreign exchange earnings and internal revenues due to 40 per cent drop in oil prices and a steep drop in economic activities, leading to a 60 per cent drop in government revenue.
“Our government is grappling with the dual challenge of saving lives and livelihoods in face of drastically reduced resources.
“In this regard, sustaining the level of petroleum prices is no longer possible. The government since coming into office has recognized the economic argument for adjusting the price of petroleum. But the social argument about the knock-on effect of any adjustment weighed heavily with the government.
“Accordingly, in the last three years, we have introduced unprecedented measures in support of the economy and to the weakest members of our society in the shape of Tradermoni, Farmermoni, the School Feeding Programme, job creation efforts and agricultural intervention programmes.
“No government in the past did what we are doing with such scarce resources. We have managed to keep things going in spite of the disproportionate spending on security.
“Those in the previous Governments from 1999-2015 who presided over the near destruction of the country have now the impudence to attempt to criticize our efforts.”
The president further observed that harsh economic realities and scarce resources forced the administration to adjust the petroleum prices.
“In the circumstances, a responsible government must face realities and take tough decisions.
“Petroleum prices in Nigeria are to be adjusted. We sell now at N161 per litre. A comparison with our neighbours will illustrate the point.
“Chad, which is an oil-producing country, charges N362 per litre. Niger, also an oil-producing country sells one litre at N346. In Ghana, another oil-producing country, the petroleum pump price is N326 per litre.
“Further afield, Egypt charges N211 per litre. Saudi Arabia charges N168 per litre. It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia.”
Buhari, however, prayed for the “togetherness” of Nigeria. He added that “as a nation, we are greater together than being smaller units of nationalities.”