By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Governor of Kwara State, Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government, saying efforts are being made to ease the hardship they are going through.
He made this appeal on Tuesday in Ilorin, the state capital, when he met with leaders of the labour unions transport groups, market unions, artisans and students.
The Governor said it was only recently discovered that Nigeria was not getting value for the crude oil sales because the commodity had been used to secure loans.
Recall that not too long along, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited obtained a loan of $3.3 billion from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and would repay this with crude oil worth about $12 billion.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Ilorin, Mr AbdulRazaq, through his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, assured that things would be better in the future.
“You will observe that due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the step taken on foreign exchange by the Federal government, there is inflation in the country. The government is working hard to address the resultant challenges,” he was quoted as saying at each of the meetings with the stakeholders.
“Our major problem is foreign exchange. We are getting US dollars from sales of crude oil, whereas we have low sales at the moment.
“We used to experience pipeline vandalism. But, since the assumption of [President Bola] Tinubu’s government, production of oil has increased.
“Not only that, the government realised recently that the crude oil we are, and will be, getting in the next six months or so had been sold in advance.
“So, they don’t get value for whatever they are selling now. But gradually, things will change, and we need your support to understand us.”
While speaking on the rising cost of food in the country, he said the different federal government committees are working round the clock to plug the spiralling fall in the value of the Naira and its impacts on consumer goods, while different measures are taken to ease the effects on the public, the Governor said.
According to him, the government is immediately working to force down the cost of key staple foods by releasing grains from the strategic reserve and distributing the same to the people at intervals.
The Governor noted that the devaluation of the Naira meant that merchants from neighbouring countries are mopping up grains from Nigeria because it is far cheaper to buy from the country and then resell at higher prices in their own countries, especially in the West African sub-region.
Dipo Olowookere