Despite the loss of lives in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna and other states, and the destruction of public facilities in some states, occasioned by the nationwide endhunger protest, President Bola Tinubu refused to reverse his harsh economic policies, introduced a year ago.
According reports, over 40 casualties have been recorded across the country since the protest began in August 1, 2024.
President Tinubu while addressing the nation on Sunday, August 4, 2024, explained that the painful decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems were necessary to reverse the decades of economic mismanagement for the sake of now and the unborn generations.
Noting that “for decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth”.
This is coming on the heels of the demand made by the organisers of the protest that President Tinubu should to take urgent steps to reduce the price of petroleum products, stem the fall of the naira, and ensure speedy provision of food among other critical issues in the country.
They also demanded that the President reduces tariffs on essential goods, cut the cost of governance, review all luxury items in his government and channel the funds recovered to programmes that have direct bearing on the wellbeing of Nigerians.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu said, his reforms “blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighbouring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate.
“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter”, he said.
President Tinubu further explained that “in the past 14 months, our government has made significant strides in rebuilding the foundation of our economy to carry us into a future of plenty and abundance.
“On the fiscal side, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion Naira in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023 due to our efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation and mobilising funding creatively without additional burden on the people. Productivity is gradually increasing in the non-oil sector, reaching new levels and taking advantage of the opportunities in the current economic ambience”, he said.
The President said, his vision for the country is one of a just and prosperous nation where each person may enjoy the peace, freedom, and meaningful livelihood that only democratic good governance can provide – one that is open, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people.
“My dear brothers and sisters, we have come this far. Coming from a place where our country spent 97% of all our revenue on debt service; we have been able to reduce that to 68% in the last 13 months. We have also cleared legitimate outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about $5billion without any adverse impact on our programmes.
“This has given us more financial freedom and the room to spend more money on you, our citizens, to fund essential social services like education and healthcare. It has also led to our State, and Local Governments receiving the highest allocations ever in our country’s history from the Federation Account”, he explained.
