Nigeria's National Economic Council gave the green light on Thursday to spend ₦83.2 billion fighting flooding nationwide.
Budget Minister Abubakar Atiku Bagudu presented the plan at the council's 158th meeting. The funds will support the Anticipatory Action Task Force in tackling disaster mitigation.
Bagudu pushed for a shift away from reactive crisis management. He argued that states must prepare ahead of the rainy season rather than scramble when floods strike.
The minister told council members that anticipatory measures save lives and resources. He noted that Nigeria's most vulnerable states need targeted support now.
Vice President Kashim Shettima used the moment to demand more than just policy talk. He said the Tinubu administration must show real results in people's daily lives.
Shettima singled out farmers, factory owners, poor Nigerians, jobless youth, and future generations. According to him, prosperity for these groups matters most.
"When this council last met, I called our economy a workshop," he told members. "A place of measurement and correction, where plans become systems and systems become institutions."
He stressed that workshops get judged by their output, not their blueprints. Nigeria can't claim success with plans sitting on paper while poverty persists on the ground.
Shettima painted a picture of Nigeria moving from crisis mode to production mode. The country must shift from scattered projects to unified national development, he argued.
He rejected the idea of leaving vulnerable Nigerians behind. "The dignity of the citizen with the least is the floor beneath which no Nigerian shall fall," he declared.
Council members face pressure to translate economic reforms into visible change. The Vice President made clear that execution now matters far more than policymaking.
