Nigerians have been urged by Vice President Kashim Shettima to respond to the present economic realities in a sensible and mature way.
Shettima made the statement in the University of Lagos’ main auditorium during the 29th pre-Ramadan lecture, “Economic Reforms for Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects for the Future,” which was hosted by the university’s Muslim alumni.
The Vice President declared that the current difficulties would soon come to an end through the representation of Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, his Special Advisor on Political Matters.
Shettima noted that the upcoming Ramadan would present “severe” difficulties for a large number of Nigerians. Shettima added that although there may be challenges with the current reforms, the government does not wish to penalize Nigerians.
“The leadership of President Tinubu recognizes that this Ramadan will come with severe challenges for most Nigerians. The road to where we are today was long and full of missed opportunities and tragic failures to build on our great potential.
“The consequences of our past are the stark realities we face today, such as rising cost of living and pessimism over our prospects to turn around our economy in the direction of growth and inclusive development.
“Yet, my brothers and sisters, we do not have the choice of continuing in the direction that brought us where we are today. We have to fix this country, and failure to do this is not an option. All the options we have are difficult and challenging and they are without a doubt, more telling on the poor. If there were easier and reliable alternatives to the policy choices we have adopted, we would have adopted them.
“Our administration does not plan to make the lives of Nigerians more difficult. Nor do we intend to deceive fellow citizens that the change in direction and the expected outcome can be achieved without pain or sacrifices.
“We are also acutely aware that ours is a set of related Nigerian problems, and the solutions we seek must be genuinely informed by a Nigerian context, not the experiences of others or the preferences of special foreign interests which are removed from consequences of missteps or errors of judgment’’, he said.
