Major roads within the Minna metropolis, Niger State, have been blocked as residents protested the high cost of living in the country.
The protesters including women and youths on Monday, February 5, 2024, were heard chanting protest songs, while security agents including policemen looked on.
The protesters said the rising cost of food items and poor government effort to arresting the situation forced them to block major roads so that government will hear their cry.
The Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba, while addressing the protesters, said the government is aware of the pain and hardship families are faced with at this time.
He said the government is working towards reducing the cost of living and consequences of the petrol subsidy removal.
Meanwhile, a member representing Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State in the National Assembly, Leke Abejide, has called on Nigerians irrespective of political and religious inclination, to bear with the administration of President Bola Tinubu for at least two years to enable its policies to manifest and benefit from their good results.
Abejide made the call on Saturday during a grand reception organised in his honour by the Yoruba community in Kano State.
The event also featured his conferment of the title of Asiwaju of Yoruba Kano by His Royal Highness, the Oba Yoruba of Kano, Dr. Murtala Otisese.
”I have the confidence that the Tinubu administration will make the economy better for the country. I have said it before, it is like when a woman is in labour there is a lot of pain pending when she delivers.
“If You are looking at the policies the government is making, you will know that we should give at least two years, I know it is a long time for people who are in hardships, but in less than two years you will see the impact, the economy is going to be transformed. I have that belief,” he said.
Abejide who is also the Chairman of the Customs and Excise Committee of the House of Representatives, said, “My advice to the people is that we remain patient and the result will be good for all of us.”
The Asiwaju Yoruba Kano then promised the 4.5 million Yorubas in Kano that he would complete the building of the palace of Oba Yoruba of Kano.
In his remarks, the Oba Yoruba of Kano, Dr. Alimi Otisese, while conferring the title on Elder Abejide, lauded the celebrant for his immense contributions to the Yorubas resident in Kano through the empowerment of widows and orphans, which he said were part of the reasons he conferred on him the title of Asiwaju of Yoruba Kano.
Speaking on behalf of the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, his Special Adviser on Yoruba Affairs, Alhaji Abdussalam Abdullatif, said the present administration in the state would continue to run an all-inclusive government in delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
Abejide grew up in Kano before he went to his native Kogi State and contested and won elections into the House of Representatives on the platform of the African Democratic Congress in 2019 and 2023.
