Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo has assured Nigerians that more palliatives will come their way as part of efforts geared towards cushioning the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The vice president who gave the assurance while chatting with reporters at the State House in Abuja acknowledged that the presidency is aware of the hardships being experienced by Nigerians and is working assiduously to address as much as it can.
According to him, the federal government is holding discussions with the Labour to sort out possible palliatives that can be quickly doled out to Nigerians.
“In our current discussions with Labour, one of the issues we are looking at include, what sort of palliatives are possible for the Nigerian people. In what ways can we reduce the burden and how quickly can we do so.”
Prof Osinbajo revealed that one of the solutions which the federal government has looked at is how to ensure that citizens go about their normal business using cheaper energy known as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
“One of the ways is by using CNG. And the government has committed to do the conversion. First, we are starting with commercial vehicles. Most commercial transporters will have the capacity to use both gas and petrol.
“That is already being done experimentally in Edo State. Dangote, for instance, has converted all his trucks to the use of CNG, and that is 4000 or even more of those trucks.
“It is not a difficult thing to do for the commercial transporters, it may be expensive for the individual but that is also part of the commitment of government, to be able to do the conversion, and the price of gas comes at about almost half the price of petrol.”
He further assured of the Federal Government’s commitment to exploring other creative ways of in reducing the hardship occasioned by the fallouts of COVID-19 pandemic.
