Buhari is in pains, Minster Ogbeh reveals

“When we get to meetings and see the face of our President, you will know he is in pains, we are all in pains,” was the response of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, to Nigerian youths who asked the ministers to tell President Muhammadu Buhari there is too much hunger in Nigeria.

Some Nigerian ministers had on Tuesday engaged the youths in Abuja at the Special Edition of a Town Hall Meeting series dedicated to the youths.

The meeting which was hosted by the the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had in attendance the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN); Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (Finance); Chief Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture); Labour and Employment, (Dr. Chris Ngige); Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and the Minister of Youths and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung.

The youths had during the meeting asked the ministers to carry their message of hunger to the President, adding that Buhari and members of his cabinet must be up and doing to save the country from its present woes.

A youth from Kuje Area Council, saying he would have loved to send the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, to his principal about the level of hunger in the nation, however demanded that the ministers take the message to the President, that there is so much hunger in the land.

He said, “I don’t know if the S.A on Media to the President is here. I would have loved to send him to the President. But honourable ministers, help us tell the President that we are hungry. Nigerians are very hungry. If he has changed from his promises during the campaign, we are also waiting for him in 2019.”

In his response, Ogbeh assured them that government was working hard to reduce the level of hunger in the country.

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“Government is working hard to make sure that we don’t go hungry. We are planning at least 10 dams in one state. Kano State has 23, yet no one is being utilised. The problem with us is that we have all become elitist. We have become so arrogant to label farmers as lazybones…

“If we can’t feed ourselves, we can’t go anywhere. A young man said Nigerians are hungry, we are aware. When we get to meetings and see the face of our President, you will know he is in pains. We are all in pains, we are supposed to solve the problems and we are driving ourselves as fast as we can, to solve them.”

Earlier, Mohammed had said the present government was not responsible for the hunger in the country.

The Minister of Sports, Dalung, in his own response told the youths that the President and the ministers were aware of the problem of hunger in the country and have not abandoned them.

Also in his response, Fashola urged Nigerians to still have hope in the present administration, promising that 2017 would be a better year.

 

 

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