The Federal Government stated on Monday that President Bola Tinubu required additional time to address Nigeria’s issues, pointing out that he would hardly have time in seven months.
In an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast show Sunrise Daily, Mohammed Idris Malagi, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, argued that if the government hadn’t eliminated fuel subsidies, conditions in the nation would have been worse. “Remember that the President has only been in office for seven months,” he stated. I won’t apologize by saying that seven months is a short period of time.
But putting mechanisms in place takes a lot longer for a long-term plan. Of course, though, as you plod along, you’ll encounter occasional dislocations, turbulence, and shocks. However, the president has a very clear vision: he wants to lead Nigeria to the level of wealth that is wanted. He puts forth day and night effort to do that. While everyone, including the ministers, works daily in that direction, the results are still ways off. We just request a bit more patience from Nigerians.
“I know it’s tough, especially when people are having trouble buying food because of these regulations, but the government is making a lot of effort to address them.”
According to the minister, Nigeria aspired to be a nation that valued talent and was safe, secure, and egalitarian. But he countered that Nigeria would have a long road ahead of it, saying that only the foundation can be put in place in seven months to get the nation up to speed. The minister also defended the government’s decision to eliminate the fuel subsidy, citing the possibility that things would have turned out worse had it not been abolished, in spite of the rising expense of living and inflation that have followed the move.
The withdrawal of fuel subsidies caused the price of petrol to rise from N190 to more than N600 per Litre, which in turn increased living expenses.
However, the minister remarked, “You’re basing your case on the fact that this issue was only discovered yesterday. Our economy’s base has suffered a great deal in the past. Our country’s economy has a substructure that is unable to support a significant substructure. Therefore, it is critical that Nigerians understand that the President and his staff will need to start over, which is why he started right away with the subsidy issue.
Naturally, he had to anticipate experiencing this kind of agony. He expected that Nigerians would have certain challenges, but that the situation would worsen if the subsidy was not implemented.
It would have been challenging to implement any significant changes. We have to make room for resources.
Nigerians be patient, while the President fixes all the issues one step at a time.