President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday said Nigeria would have been bankrupt if his administration had not embarked on the prevailing economic reforms.
This is as he said the primary motive for the reforms was protecting the interests of future generations.
The President made the remarks at the State House in Abuja, while receiving a delegation of former National Assembly colleagues from the aborted Third Republic, during which he served as a Senator representing Lagos West.
He said, “For 50 years, Nigeria was spending money of generations yet unborn and servicing the West coast of our subregion with fuel. It was getting difficult to plan for our children’s future.”
The President highlighted the challenges faced at the beginning of his administration, especially economic and social issues, and expressed his gratitude for the delegation’s support in addressing these difficulties:
“We faced serious headwinds when I took over, very challenging times. Nigeria would have been bankrupt if we had not taken the actions that we took, and we had to prevent the economy’s collapse.”
President Tinubu declared that the administration had been able to stem the tide and expressed appreciation to Nigerians for their collective support in turning things around.
“Today, we are sitting pretty on a good foundation. We have reversed the problem; the Exchange rate is stabilising. Food prices are coming down, especially during Ramadan. We will have light at the end of the tunnel.”
He said firm adherence to democratic tenets is the best route to economic, social, and political development.
“Some leadership failed, but we kept the faith with our democratic beliefs and freedom and the right to aspire to the highest office in the land. I am benefitting from it.”
Senator Emmanuel Chiedoziem Nwaka, who spoke on behalf of the group, expressed his delight at some of the programmes that the Tinubu administration had implemented, especially the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP).