By: Ade Phillips
Dele Alake, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has expressed optimism that Nigeria will soon overcome its current economic challenges.
Alake’s confidence was conveyed through a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Alake attributed the prevailing economic hardship to Nigeria’s ongoing process of economic restructuring and reforms. He underscored President Bola Tinubu’s unwavering determination to revitalize Nigeria’s economy and set it on a path of sustainable growth through his Renewed Hope agenda.
Drawing attention to Tinubu’s proven track record in driving economic transformation, particularly evident during his tenure as Governor of Lagos State, Alake reiterated the President’s commitment to fostering economic prosperity for Nigeria.
“Going down memory lane to the experience in Lagos state, the then governor Tinubu in 1999, met a state that was almost insolvent, with a monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N600 million.
“ And a wage bill of over N1.1 billion monthly, with little or no resources to cater to infrastructure and other sectors of the economy.
“President Tinubu took similar measures in Lagos as he is taking in Nigeria, to turn the tide and financially re-engineer the state. Today, the state is the fifth largest economy in Africa, bigger than most African countries.
“What we are going through is the gestation period of reforms and policies for economic restructuring and like the President will say, it is like throes of pregnancy, that a pregnant woman goes through.
“After delivery, she heaves a sigh of relief,“ he said.
The minister urged Nigerians to be patient with the government as the current economic situation would soon stabilise with positive results from on going reforms.
“For the first time, Nigeria has a president well-versed in public finance. I am confident in this administration’s capacity to diversify the economy, plug leakages, and redirect the economy to a path of sustainable growth.
“The future of this country is extremely very bright. What we need to do is to exude confidence in our ability and capacity to weather the storm of restructuring, economic and societal restructuring.
“As we restructure our economy, putting in physical infrastructure, we must also restructure our minds and mental capacity to be at par with physical development.
“ So that we can efficiently and judiciously enjoy the benefits of physical development.
“With the cooperation of Nigerians, the tide will turn very soon, and we all will be proud,” he said.
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