Hijab Ban, Shiíte Inquiry, Other Top Revelations From President Buhari Media Chat

President Muhammad Buhari sat down on live television to discuss with Nigerian journalists and address questions from the public.

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
2. Nigeria, not borrowing again but renegotiating with creditors
3. Foreign exchange will be made available to the productive sector of the economy and not for luxury items
4. Journalists should do more investigative journalism so that people can know the truth instead of being sensational
5. The standard of tertiary institutions is really poor, I don’t want students sitting on windows to take lectures
6. #Rio2016 I approved budget for Youth and Sports without any inhibitions, I want them to do well
7. The federal government will not touch minimum wage
8. Our priority is to get our infrastructure on ground. This will be led by power generation
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 N4.5 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
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
20. Unemployed youths to be given crash programme as teachers and force to teach in primary and secondary schools
21. We’ve stopped 43 items from being imported into the country including toothpicks
22. By the end of next quarter we won’t be talking about subsidy, cost of refined product so low, no need for subsidy
23. We need steady power, railway, roads so that local industry can develop
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
25. If suicide bombers continue to hide under hijabs, we have no option than to ban hijab
26. Our priority is for welders, barbers, building our roads & railways, not rice & expensive textile wears
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