President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to stick with his administration for longer, saying he recognizes the suffering they must be going through since the petrol subsidy was eliminated on May 29.
He promised that the current difficulties will eventually give way to an economy that was more affluent, equitable, and inclusive.
Speaking when he received a delegation of youth’s leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the 36 states of the federation led by Dayo Israel, on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President said, “You have endured; you just need to persevere a little bit more. It’s not going to be easy to make the necessary changes.’
Tinubu told the delegation, “I plead your understanding that the economic reforms are very slow sometimes.
“I can assure you that I understand your pains and the pains of your uncles, brothers and your moms. I feel it.
“It is not easy to get rid of a monster of over 40 years that is called subsidy.”
He said the economic reforms of the past 50+ days were necessary because the country could no longer afford subsidy, which he said benefits only a few elites at the expense of the majority of Nigerians.
“For a few elites fleeing Nigeria, it is unacceptable and will never be acceptable to us.
“Things that we cannot afford. We cannot engage in. We cannot afford the subsidy; it is clear.
“It is made for just a few elites. It is not beneficial to the generality and the greatest number of the people in this country,” he explained.
The President also told the youths that his administration would include them in governance, and decision-making processes, adding that “no decision would be too difficult for his administration to take for the prosperity and unity of the nation.”
He added that his administration would do everything necessary to widen the net to accommodate more women and youths.
Echoing earlier remarks by Vice President Kashim Shettima on World MSMEs Day, Tinubu said his administration would provide access to single-digit loans for Nigerian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises within the shortest time feasible.
According to him, this will be done, among others, by “liaising with our lending institutions to give micro-loans at a very low-interest rate” for economic activities among the citizens
