Vulnerable Nigerians Need Social Safety Nets Now, Akande Urges Tinubu, Govs

Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and state governors to urgently implement effective social safety nets, stressing that vulnerable Nigerians cannot afford to wait for long-term economic stability before receiving relief. Speaking on his My Take segment during Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Sunday, the […]

Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and state governors to urgently implement effective social safety nets, stressing that vulnerable Nigerians cannot afford to wait for long-term economic stability before receiving relief.

Speaking on his My Take segment during Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Sunday, the veteran journalist welcomed the intervention of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization and former Coordinating Minister for the Economy, who recently met with President Tinubu in Abuja.

He reflected on his years as a presidential spokesperson to the vice president during the Buhari administration, noting that the role often came with difficult challenges—especially when defending government policies and expenditures before the Nigerian public. “For instance, that the Aso Villa feeding and personal care budget ran into billions when the majority of Nigerians are living way below the poverty line. It was a struggle for me… Why do you think you can persuade a poor Nigerian to understand all of that?” he said.

Still, he recalled that he had a front-row seat in the implementation of the Social Investment Programmes between 2016 and 2019. “I saw how that programme lifted people on the lower rungs of the Nigerian ladder. I witnessed and reported regularly how it brought hope and cheer to masses of Nigerian poor and vulnerable households,” he noted.

He pointed out the contradiction in asking citizens to endure hardship while witnessing sometimes ostentatious spending patterns by some government officials’ .

“While tough economic policies are going on, which put vulnerable people in a very bad shape, ie the poor among us, they still see some profligacy and ostentation around government and government officials. So they don’t understand why they are having to hold the short end of the stick. They don’t get it,” he said.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was meant to travel on Thursday, but the president shelved his travel plans for one day to be able to receive Dr Okonjo-Iweala. In our humble view, the former coordinating minister for the economy in Nigeria said some critical things to the president, namely pay attention more to the social safety nets,” Akande said.

Quoting Okonjo-Iweala’s remarks at the Villa, he reiterated her call for stronger social protections: “We need to put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to be able to weather the hardships. How do we build social safety nets to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling? And then how do we grow the economy so that we can create more jobs and put more money in people’s pockets?”

Akande noted that Okonjo-Iweala’s words were “an important message” and thanked her for reminding the president of this urgent priority.

Drawing from his own experience as a presidential spokesperson to the vice president during the Buhari administration, he explained that he had a front-row seat in the implementation of the Social Investment Programmes between 2016 and 2019.

“I saw how that programme injured the people on the lower rungs of the Nigerian ladder. I witnessed and reported regularly how it brought hope and cheer to masses of Nigerian poor and vulnerable people and households,” he recalled.

According to him, one of the most difficult challenges he faced as a spokesperson was defending expenses at the Aso Rock Villa. “For instance, that the Aso Villa feeding and personal care budget ran into billions when the majority of Nigerians are living way below the poverty line. It was a struggle for me… Why do you think you can persuade a poor Nigerian to understand all of that?”

He maintained that without strong social investment programmes, Nigerians will continue to view their leaders with suspicion. “With an effective social safety nets programme, governments at state and federal levels have a chance to build some trust with the masses of our people. Without such a programme, the people are looking at those in government as evil,” he said.

Akande also urged the president to quickly appoint a substantive Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, given the ministry’s history of instability and corruption scandals. “The president should please fix that quickly. That ministry has suffered many setbacks since its formation in 2019, including having the bad luck of allegedly corrupt ministers both in the Buhari and Tinubu administrations,” he added.

He further appealed to state governors to embrace social investment initiatives, describing them as both necessary and humane. “Let the governors also listen. Social investment programmes give people hope. It is reassuring and it defines us as a people with compassion. We need a strong and effective implementation of such safety net programmes and we need the president to give the matching orders,” Akande declared.

In a passionate plea, he concluded: “Please don’t let us make the poor and vulnerable people to keep waiting anymore. It is not fair and it is not right. Mr. President and all our governors, let us do it now. Urgent action will restore trust between the government and the people of Nigeria. Social safety nets are not charity. They are proper debts that people in government and the state owe the people they serve.”