President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the mandatory recitation of the National Pledge after the National Anthem at every official and public engagement.
The president stated this at the groundbreaking ceremony of the 3,112 housing units, Renewed Hope City at Karsana, Abuja, on Thursday, February 8, 2024.
According to him, this would ensure respect for the national symbols, strengthen allegiance and fidelity to the country and preserve Nigeria’s ethos and defining character.
The President stressed the need to respect national values, promote the nation’s ideals, and abide by its established norms.
He explained the rationale behind this saying, “Before I left home this morning, I asked for a printout of the National Pledge, and we have to relaunch it at this event.
“The relaunch is about being committed to the values, greatness and hope of our country. It is our pledge to Nigeria, our country, to be faithful, loyal, and honest. To serve Nigeria with all your strength–we saw it on the field of play yesterday.
“We were all rejoicing. Every one of us loves victory. We love to win. When you are positive and you are hopeful, Nigeria is winning.”
The President said the pledges are not recited to purport an Eldorado or smooth sailing for the country, but “we are confident that this country will excel in all ramifications.”
“We will defend our unity and uphold Nigeria’s glory in every way possible because we are Nigerians, and we have no other country,” President Tinubu affirmed.
Tinubu’s directive comes on the heels of multiple cases of multi-billion-naira theft and corruption cases being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In January, he suspended his Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation over the alleged misappropriation of funds to the tune of N585m.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari has stated that food smuggling to neighbouring countries around Nigeria is affecting food supply in Nigeria as smuggling of food across the border has become rampant.
The Minister stated this during an appearance before the senate committee on banking and finance together with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to the Minister, the devaluation of the naira made food produced in Nigeria become the cheapest across the West African region especially those using the CFA.
He stated, “the challenge we have today is the undocumented export of food to our neighbouring countries. Today, the CFA is N2:20k that is to say 1000CFA is N2,200. This is something that was N400 or N500 few years ago. All four countries around us use the CFA which is hard currency.
“Because of the devaluation of the naira, our food in terms of their own food is the cheapest around the neighbourhood. So, you find a lot of undocumented exports which is smuggling across our porous borders into these neighbouring countries.”
The Minister also noted that exchange rate and transport cost aside insecurity is also responsible for the problems of food supply and cost across the country.
