Hijab Ban Looming, Asset Declaration, Other Top Snippets From Presidential Media Chat

President Muhammad Buhari sat down on ‘live’ television to discuss the myriad issues bedeviling the nation with Nigerian journalists and address questions from the public.

However, before the commencement of the presidential media chat at 7 p.m Nigerian Time, the opposition Peoples Democtratic Party (PDP) through its Director of Social Media, Deji Adeyanju, had accused the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress, of recording and editing the interview before presenting it to Nigerians as ‘Live’.

The journalists that sat with the president were: Kayode Akintemi, Channels Television; Ngozi Anyaegbunam, Media World International; Mannir Dan Ali, Daily Trust; and, Ibanga Isine, Premium Times.

Some of the top take aways from the media chat have been brought for your knowledge.

1. Unemployed Youths may have to be sent to farms to earn the N5,000 social intervention fund. The president said that, contrary to what had been insinuated in many quarters, the much talked about N5,000 stipend for unemployed youths in the country will not be given out free.
2. Nigeria not borrowing again but renegotiating with creditors. The president was responding to a question posed about the present debt burden and fears from the opposition that the 2016 budget would be mostly financed through borrowing.
3. Foreign exchange will be made available to the productive sector of the economy and not for luxury items. The president recognised the hardship being faced by many Nigerians who are unable to source foreign currencies for their foreign business transactions.
4. Journalists should do more investigative journalism so that people can know the truth instead of being sensational. This the president said as the interview was being rounded off.
5. The standard of tertiary institutions is really poor, I don’t want students sitting on windows to take lectures. He reiterated his support for developing employable manpower through empowering our tertiary institutions to provide qualitative education.
6. #Rio2016 I approved budget for Youth and Sports without any inhibitions, I want them to do well. The president was responding to the treatment meted out to the Golden Eaglets team that won a record fifth FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile 2015 and the Dream Team that won the CAF U-23 Nations Cup, thereby qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games to hold in Brazil.
7. The federal government will not touch minimum wage. He gave the assurance to federal civil servants bearing in mind the controversy generated by the declarations of some state governors who said they could not afford to pay it. The minimum wage in Nigeria is presently pegged at N18,000.
8. Our priority is to get our infrastructure on ground. This will be led by power generation. The president recognised the challenges presently faced by firms and industries who have to grapple with the problem posed by epileptic power.
9. 445,000 Barrels Per Day can be refined at home to meet 60% of our requirement and the other 40% via swap.
10. I will revisit the story of the National Assembly spending N44.5 billion to buy cars
11. Finances: We are very badly stretched but our priorities are correct. We need power roads
12. I turned down a N400million car proposal for the presidency. I said the cars I have are good enough for 10 years, so National Assembly must do the same
13. The cost of petrol is so low, you don’t have to subsidize it
14. You can’t manage the country if you don’t secure it
15. Our priority is to get our local refineries working, to reduce cost
16. The agreement entered by previous governments on railway construction the contractors could not be paid
17. I was only told of N700million for vehicles for the Presidency & as for the National Assembly, I hope they’ve not bought
18. Fashola was not made super Minister for nothing
19. Our dreams and aspirations for Nigeria will not happen overnight. He said this as a way of urging Nigerians to exercise patience with the new administration.
20. Unemployed youths to be given crash programme as teachers and force to teach in primary and secondary schools. He condemned the present situation where every graduate seems to be running away from teaching and would rather work in banks, telecommunication companies, oil firms and the like.
21. We’ve stopped 43 items from being imported into the country including toothpicks. He flayed the penchant for importing basically everything among many Nigerians, stating that the economy could not expect to develop when we spend all our foreign exchange on things that could be produced her and even exported.
22. By the end of next quarter we won’t be talking about subsidy, cost of refined product so low, no need for subsidy. He said this as a way of justifying the need to remove petroleum subsidy.
23. We need steady power, railway, roads so that local industry can develop. He was making a case for infrastructural development as the surest route to economic development.
24. I will check with the CBN to see if people are unable to withdraw foreign currency from money they put in. We will look into the students already in school to be able to use their MasterCard Debit/Credit cards abroad. This he said when he was told that Nigerians abroad were stranded as a result of the CBN’s policy of placing a temporary ban on the use of Naira ATM cards abroad.
25. If suicide bombers continue to hide under hijabs, we have no option than to ban hijab. This was one of the highlight f the chat. The president said it may become necessary to place a ban on wearing the hijab if it was established that it was posing a security risk in the North.
26. Our priority is for welders, barbers, building our roads & railways, not rice & expensive textile wears. The president was here making a case for producing exportable goods and services which could shore up the naira.
27. I personally do not support the devaluation of the Naira. I need to be convinced before I can approve the devaluation of the Naira.
28. The situation in Zaria is very serious. “How can one group create a state within a state?” I saw clips where mere kids were tapping the chests of Generals. It is unacceptable. We can’t make any pronouncement on Zaria Massacre until enquiry report by Kaduna Government is completed.
29. When I say the war (against Boko Haram) has been technically won, I meant their capacity to carry out conventional attack has weakened
30. Much money has been recovered from looters but we cannot disclose much information because of court procedures.