Fuel subsidy hardship:'' I have a heart that feels and eyes that see''- President Tinubu says as he announces N25,000 wage increase for low-grade workers for he next six months

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced that an additional N25,000 will be added to the salaries of an average low-grade worker for the next six months. The president said this in his nationwide broadcast as part of the programme of events marking Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary celebration.

“Based on our talks with labour, business and other stakeholders, we are introducing a provisional wage increment to enhance the federal minimum wage without causing undue inflation. For the next six months, the average low-grade worker shall receive an additional N25,000 per month,” he announced, while outlining measures being taken to relieve the stress on families and households after the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of exchange rates.''

The President appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his government as it carries out various reforms in the Nation's economy, particularly with the fuel subsidy removal. He said he has a heart that feels the hardship of the people.

“I said bold reforms were necessary to place our nation on the path of prosperity and growth. On that occasion, I announced the end of the fuel subsidy. I am attuned to the hardships that have come. I have a heart that feels and eyes that see. I wish to explain to you why we must endure this trying moment. Those who sought to perpetuate the fuel subsidy and broken foreign exchange policies are people who would build their family mansion in the middle of a swamp. I am different. I am not a man to erect our national home on a foundation of mud. To endure, our home must be constructed on safe and pleasant ground.

Reforms may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require. We now carry the cost of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few; a Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever fading past.“