We are in challenging times, no doubt, but these times have also been marked by unprecedented opportunities.”
By Saidu Idris
365Daily – President Bola Tinubu has said it is erroneous to say the Nigerian economy is in distress, when unprecedented opportunities for growth and development abound in the country.
He said this in Abuja on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in a speech at the Leadership Conference and Awards 2023.
Represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Ibrahim Idris, he stated, “I should start by respectfully challenging the notion that the Nigerian economy is in distress. Distress suggests helplessness, being at the mercy of something we have no control over. But that is not the case here.
“We are in challenging times, no doubt, but these times have also been marked by unprecedented opportunities, to reset course and to build a new and sustainable economy, away from the rent-seeking and the waste that was once the order of the day.”
The media aide to the Minister, Rabiu Ibrahim, disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday, that the President also shared key initiatives and investment efforts by the administration to support Nigerian businesses, students, and vulnerable households, as well as to enhance food security and attract foreign direct investment.
According to him, N200 billion to be disbursed through three new special intervention funds established to support Nigerian businesses, as well as a new Federal Students’ Loan programme and the Presidential Initiative on CNG, have been set aside by the government.
The CNG buses, the President noted, will address the high cost of transportation by bringing it by as much as 50 percent.
Tinubu assured that the the substantial increase in revenues accruing to the three tiers of government since the removal of the petrol subsidy will be channeled to directly impact the lives of Nigerians through investments in critical infrastructure, social security, and other areas.
He further listed the commencement of negotiations between the Federal and State Governments and organised labour for a new minimum wage for the country, and the scaling-up of the social investment programme, as other efforts of his government to provide economic relief to Nigerians.