Payment of wage award to workers by state governments will bring big relief to a cross section of Nigerians, the President said yesterday.

He challenged the governors to toe this path in collaboration with the Federal Government as part of efforts to alleviate the economic reform pains.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu spoke yesterday in Minna, the Niger Sate capital, where he inaugurated Governor Umaru Bago's massive agricultural programme.

He also laid a foundation for a terminal building at the airport, which was renamed after him.

The President spoke before governors Hyacinth Alia (Benue), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Usman Ododo (Kogi), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) and Chair, Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), who were guests of Bago.

Following the withdrawal of petrol subsidy, the Federal Government initiated the payment of N35,000 monthly wage award to its workers for six months. This has been paid for five months.

Some states have been paying wage award ranging between N10,000 and N25,000, but majority of states are not paying.

This is in spite of the huge increase in the inflows to states from the federation account following the termination of petrol subsidy.

Whereas, the amount shared to the tiers of government averaged between N650 billion and N850 billion before the withdrawal of petrol subsidy, the average now is N1.1trillion.

Yesterday, the President said: “Let all the states start paying the wage awards.

“Whatever they are taking now plus the wage award would relieve the public.

“I am appealing to you states, start paying the wage award, let everyone start paying it. It will bring relief to the people.”

The President also spoke on some of his cardinal programmes, such as the student loan, which will be inaugurated on Thursday.

He said: “The student loan programme will commence.

“There will be unemployment benefits for our graduates.

“The social security programme for the elderly and vulnerable will commence.

“We are fine-tuning all these areas. We will relieve people of hunger.”

On the plans to address violent attacks and cattle rustling, Tinubu said: “Give me two to three weeks.

“You will be part of the inauguration of the livestock change in Nigeria.

“I know what it means as an economic sabotage for roaming cows to eat up the crops and vegetation of our lands.

“It can be painful but when we re-orientate the herders and make provision for cattle rearing, you will see the difference.

He praised Governor Bago for ensuring agricultural revolution for food security.

The President promised that the Federal Government would support him.

He added: “We have seen the level of commitment here from the state level.

“We have seen leadership and the success story of any leader is the ability to do what they ought to do at the time they ought to do it.

“You are doing the job, you are walking the talk and it is necessary for me to support you.

“Whatever support you need, you will get. We appreciate your efforts in the infrastructure development of the state.

“I guarantee you of federal support. We flag off the hope, you deliver the hope and you reassure Nigerians.”

The President stated that his administration was not concerned about making excuses or blaming past governments but was determined to reengineer the country by staying on the right path.

Bago said his administration was prepared to seize every opportunity to achieve growth and engender prosperity for the people of the state and Nigeria.

He pointed out that when he assumed office as governor, he met a comatose infrastructure which his government is working hard to correct.

He added that the 3,000 hectares of land is for the special agro-processing free zone out of which 1,000 hectares have been dedicated for greenhouses, 1,000 for dairy and meat processing, and 1,000 for agro-processing storage, aggregation, and other value chain development components.

Bago said: “To further buttress the lead role Niger State is playing in agriculture and contributing to the overall food security of Nigeria, we shall explore over three million of the 8.3 million hectares of arable land, large water bodies with a multitude of tributaries, 23 grazing reserves, and 94 forest reserves.

“Therefore, Niger State stands as a beacon of hope and promise in the realm of agriculture and our springboard to harvest our potentials in the Green Economy and associated gains.”

The governor assured President Tinubu that Niger State would serve as a champion for his food security agenda.

“Niger State intends to be the largest sub-national food exporter in Nigeria.

“To achieve this objective, we are determined to attract investments, private sector equity, and loans totalling N500 billion annually over the next seven years,” he told the President.

Sanwo-Olu stressed the importance of the nation feeding itself.

He said the partnership and agreement between Lagos, Niger, Benue, Kogi, Kwara and Osun states would go a long way to enhance food security in the country.

Sanwo-Olu added that Lagos was building the largest food warehouse where agricultural produce from the partner states would be stored.