Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has fleshed out the details of a raft of measures to tackle the rising cost of living, which has prompted civil unrest and looting.
In a televised address to the nation, Mr Tinubu said he had ordered the release of 200,000 tonnes of grain from strategic reserves.
He also promised to increase the minimum wage, encourage more and better-paid jobs and financial help for the farming, manufacturing and smaller business sectors.
Mr Tinubu said he understood the difficulties people faced but defended his recent scrapping of a fuel subsidy, saying it had saved Nigeria some $1.3bn (£1bn).
The removal of the subsidy has led to protests.
“I understand the hardship you face; I wish there were other ways, but there are none… Have faith in our ability to deliver. We will get out of this turbulence,” he assured citizens.
He announced a $129m fund to purchase about 3,000 commercial buses to be distributed nationwide to combat the rising cost of transportation.
He appealed for patience while implementing his economic plans.