Hardship Will End Soon in Nigeria – FG
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Thursday, assured Nigerians that the narrative on the current hardships would be different within the next one year.
Idris spoke at the 50th anniversary lecture of PUNCH Nigeria Limited held at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The minister, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the lecture by the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, assured Nigerians that Tinubu would deliver on his campaign promises while appealing for patience.
“Of course, the challenges are going to be there; no one is pretending that they do not exist, but we see a situation where the story would be quite different in another one year.”
The information minister urged Nigerians to take a cue from Soyinka, who said he usually waited a year before assessing a new government in power.
“Maybe go back to what Professor Wole Soyinka said when he visited President Bola Tinubu, I listened to the journalist who was asking him to comment on the current administration and what he said, ‘even in my character, I wouldn’t talk until whoever is in office stays for at least one year.’”
Speaking on the efforts being made by the government to take the country out of the woods, the minister said, “Only a few days ago, we invited captains of industries, Dangote, the BUA, the Elumelu, and ministers, among others, and we all locked ourselves in a room for about three and a half hours discussing how Nigeria is going to get better, and everyone in that room, from the private sector, from the central governments and the sub-nationals, believe that this country is going to get better.
So, I urge you to see this in line with what Professor Wole Soyinka has said, around what time? Of course, you can criticise, you can offer suggestions, but the country has to exist. Let us, please talk about all those good things happening; it’s not bad stories all the time.”
While stressing that economic challenges were not peculiar to Nigeria, the minister referenced the case of the United Kingdom, which recently slipped into a recession.
Idris said, “Nigeria is going through hard times, as we see, but this is not new and peculiar to this country. All the issues we are discussing now are issues that are also being discussed around the world.
“Only a few weeks ago, we heard that the United Kingdom had gone into recession. I am glad that it did not happen here. Otherwise, the story would be ‘Oh, Nigeria is in recession’ as if it is going to be the end of the world for the country.”
According to him, the incumbent administration started work on the first day in office, adding that the government believed that all the challenges plaguing the nation were for the country’s good.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Thursday, assured Nigerians that the narrative on the current hardships would be different within the next one year.
Idris spoke at the 50th anniversary lecture of PUNCH Nigeria Limited held at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The minister, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the lecture by the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, assured Nigerians that Tinubu would deliver on his campaign promises while appealing for patience.
“Of course, the challenges are going to be there; no one is pretending that they do not exist, but we see a situation where the story would be quite different in another one year.”
The information minister urged Nigerians to take a cue from Soyinka, who said he usually waited a year before assessing a new government in power.
“Maybe go back to what Professor Wole Soyinka said when he visited President Bola Tinubu, I listened to the journalist who was asking him to comment on the current administration and what he said, ‘even in my character, I wouldn’t talk until whoever is in office stays for at least one year.’”
Speaking on the efforts being made by the government to take the country out of the woods, the minister said, “Only a few days ago, we invited captains of industries, Dangote, the BUA, the Elumelu, and ministers, among others, and we all locked ourselves in a room for about three and a half hours discussing how Nigeria is going to get better, and everyone in that room, from the private sector, from the central governments and the sub-nationals, believe that this country is going to get better.
“So, I urge you to see this in line with what Professor Wole Soyinka has said, around what time? Of course, you can criticise, you can offer suggestions, but the country has to exist. Let us, please talk about all those good things happening; it’s not bad stories all the time.”
While stressing that economic challenges were not peculiar to Nigeria, the minister referenced the case of the United Kingdom, which recently slipped into a recession.
Idris said, “Nigeria is going through hard times, as we see, but this is not new and peculiar to this country. All the issues we are discussing now are issues that are also being discussed around the world.
“Only a few weeks ago, we heard that the United Kingdom had gone into recession. I am glad that it did not happen here. Otherwise, the story would be ‘Oh, Nigeria is in recession’ as if it is going to be the end of the world for the country.”
According to him, the incumbent administration started work on the first day in office, adding that the government believed that all the challenges plaguing the nation were for the country’s good.
He said, “The government of President Ahmed Tinubu, as you know, took bold steps from inception, the first one being that upon the resumption of office on day one, the President took away fuel subsidy; second, he also brought clarification to the foreign exchange regime. Now, these suggest that two major issues have been eating deep into the economy. As someone put it, the economy was a dead horse by the time the President came in, so whether the subsidy was removed or not, it would be very challenging. The President took it very boldly, ensuring that this subsidy goes away for the benefit of all, and he was prepared from day one that it was not going to be an easy thing.
“Of course, 10 months down the road, we are seeing the effects of some of these hard decisions, but I can tell you, the good story is that the government is taking bold, proactive decisions to ensure that Nigeria’s economy returns. Let me say this: The government believes that all these things are happening for the good of the country, and the economy is going to be good again.”
Source: PUNCH
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