The Class of 1999 governors have advised President Bola Tinubu to step up his efforts in tackling security problems in the country, saying that without security, there will not be progress.

The governors also told the President to create cottage industries in all the local government areas of the federation so as to create jobs for the people and not giving ₦5, 000 palliative that cannot sustain them.

The Class of 99 governors are colleagues of President Tinubu, who served from 1999 to 2007.

Speaking after meeting behind closed doors on Friday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Chairman of the Class of 99 governors and former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, advised the President to urgently do something on the economy, noting that people at the rural areas are bearing the brunt of the harsh economic situation in the country.

On why they came to the seat of power, Chief Igbinedion said: “We came to see one of our own Class of 99 and to bring about topics about the state of the nation. We are glad that Mr. President received us warmly, and we spoke basically about the security situation of the nation, the economy, and, of course, agriculture. The President expressed his concern about these various issues that we came to discuss with him. ⁣
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“And we also proffered our own solutions about how he can go about bringing about succor to the people. The people, especially in the rural areas, are feeling the impact of the harsh economy, and he assured us that he is looking into it.

“We also spoke about the stability of the naira, which he also addressed appropriately. So it has been a very fruitful deliberation with Mr. President. And of course, he assured us that whatever suggestions, way forward that we might have, his doors are always open for such conversation.”
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On their assessment of the President efforts and what they want him specifically to address henceforth, he said:
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“Well, the first and foremost thing is security, because we told him that without security, there can be no progress, there can be no stability.

“And secondly, the economy, of course, needs to be stabilized by ensuring the foreign exchange remains stable and people can afford. But what is most important was, let’s create industries, especially cottage industries, that can employ people, rather than just giving out palliatives. ⁣
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“We implored him to try as much as possible to create cottage industries in all the local governments of the federation where people can be employed, because if you give palliative to somebody today, what happens tomorrow? If he has ₦5,000 in the morning, how about lunchtime or dinner time, what is he going to do?

“₦5,000 cannot buy much. So I thought these are part of the really heart to heart discussions we had with the President, and he agreed with us to say, yes, he’s going to look into it, and we appreciated. “