Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga has said he does not see the level of hunger Nigerians complain about stating that Nigerians mostly exaggerate the level of hunger in the land.
He stated this while speaking in a recent appearance on the Arise primetime show.
“We have been pigeonholed into certain assumptions and conclusions. It’s like, in the early days of this government, I think the president went to Lagos, I think he was coming from the central mosque, and somebody now did a voiceover. It means powwow, and that means we are hungry.
“Since then, people have been saying that, hey, we are hungry. I’m a Nigerian, I have people working for me, privately. I don’t see the level of hunger people are talking about because I see them and I keep asking them questions.”
Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
Speaking further he noted the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway amongst other initiatives makes the complaints from Nigerians uncalled for.
“One day I was travelling from Lagos, from Ibadan to Lagos and Google Maps told me that there’s traffic in the approach to Lagos.
“I decided to take Ijebu via Shagamu. And what struck me was that I just found myself on a paved road, concrete road.
“I said, wow, when was this one built? I’ve not been to Ijebu for some time and the few times I’ve been there, I only came through here. So I said, wow, this is different. And I found that our people, when I say our Ijebu people, they’ve stopped complaining.
“And the reason for that is because we now have a coastal road that is shortening my travel time. Is that not beneficial? What are people talking about really?
“Look, if you have students, if you are a parent and you have four children in university and they’re able to access a federal loan, which is interest-free, are they not benefiting? Are the parents not benefiting?.
“If you are a civil servant and you can access the credit card, very cheap loan, at below, interest is about the same percent, now people can access that at single digit. Are they not benefiting?” He concluded.
