The national leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reinstate the suspended Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, for her to continue with the Renewed Hope Agenda On Humanitarian Response and Poverty Alleviation Programmes in the country.
Spokesman of the organisation, Comrade Bedford Berefa, after its monthly meeting, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, described Edu as a formidable force in President Tinubu’s cabinet, delivering on core mandate and the brief of her Ministry, stressing that returning her to continue her national assignment in the federal cabinet was a popular request.
“Following our investigations and general assessment of her stewardship, Nigerians, especially the poor and vulnerable are calling for her reinstatement, and IYC has joined in this popular call. “While we are not undermining the anti-graft Agency’s efforts to dig in full, what has been happening in the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, it is clear that the enemy of the current administration is out to go after the faces of ‘first 11’ of the Renewed Hope Team, where Betta Edu is visible and standing tall, “the IYC said. Continuing, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide said according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria” Report, 40.1 per cent of the total population, or almost 83 million people, live below the country’s poverty line.
“These statistics have increased significantly owing to the current harsh economic realities and the inflation rate of 33.2 per cent in March 2024. “The hope of vulnerable and poor Nigerians in President Tinubu is high and they fervently expect him to reach out to them as part of the renewed hope agenda of his administration to end hunger, through a Minister who can match words with action and visibility across the six geopolitical zones of the country and that Minister is Dr Edu.
