By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
Vice President Kashim Shettima has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying the nation was “teetering on the verge of collapse” before the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and unification of exchange rates.
The Vice President urged Nigerians to be “generous” to a leader he credits with saving the economy.
Speaking after a meeting with Tinubu at the President’s Lagos residence, Shettima said the administration had been in “regular contact” with the President throughout his sojourn abroad and was “updating him on developments in the nation.”
“We are quite thrilled that he is back on the beat, and we have been in regular contact throughout his sojourn abroad,” Shettima said.
“Advances in science and technology have made it possible to really have impactful leadership wherever one might find himself. So we have been in regular contact. We speak almost every other day, and we are updating him.
“He saved the economy… saved the nation from falling to pieces”
While defending Tinubu’s policies, the Vice President insisted that the decisions to remove the petrol subsidy and realign multiple exchange rates were “far-reaching” and necessary to avert economic disaster.
“As usual, impactful decision-making that will touch the lives of the Nigerian people. It’s absolutely essential that Nigerians need to be generous to this poor man,” Shettima said.
“When we assumed the mantle of leadership, our foreign reserves was a staggeringly low 3.9 billion dollars — that was not enough to import oil for one month. He had the courage and the conviction to take far-reaching decisions.
“The withdrawal of the fuel subsidy, the realignment of the multiple exchange rates, were far-reaching decisions.”
“He literally… the economy was actually teetering on the verge of collapse. He saved the economy. I want Nigerians to understand this fundamental truism.
“We are on the road to Caracas. He saved our economy. He saved the nation from falling to pieces,” Shettima added.
Acknowledging the hardship many Nigerians face, Shettima struck a defiant tone, insisting that relief programmes are already in the pipeline.
“We appreciate the pains Nigerians are going through, but tough times do not last forever. Tough people do,” he said.
He announced a series of interventions targeted at the Northeast, including e-logistics deployment, electric tricycles, and electric taxis and buses, aimed at “assuaging the pains of our people.”
“In the next couple of weeks, we are going to launch e-logistics in the North East, we are going to run 10,600 electric tricycles to ease the pains of the people in the North East, and 300 buses and taxis, e-taxis. All these were meant to ameliorate the sufferings of our people,” Shettima said.
He also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as a “masterstroke” to assist students of limited means.
“The president has empathy, a lot of empathy for the common man. The NELFUND is a masterstroke aimed at assisting students of limited means to have access to drink from the Western Spring. So be rest assured that we’ll come up with programmes and projects to ease the pains of the people,” he said.
With elections looming, Shettima acknowledged the political temperature but insisted that governance would not be sacrificed on the altar of campaigning.
“Politics is in the air, but we will combine politics and governance,” he said.
