President Bola Tinubu has said though he does not have the magic wand, his administration would fix the economic challenges confronting the citizenry.
He also assured that the path to take the Nigerian child out of poverty has been cleared with his signing into law of the Student Loans Re-enactment Bill.
The President spoke Wednesday night when he hosted members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, and the Independent Campaign Council to Iftar at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
This is even as the Chairman of House of Representatives’ Committee on Student’s Loan, Gboyega Isiaka also assured Nigerians of the present administration’s resolve towards ensuring adequate funding of the Student’s Loan scheme for the benefits of students.
The country’s inflation rate has been on a steady rise since the Tinubu administration ended the petrol subsidy regime and unified the exchange rate in 2023.
In its latest report, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said inflation rose to 31.7 per cent in February 2024, up from 29.9 per cent in the previous month.
The President, who also noted the country’s capacity to generate revenue was getting better, said: “It is the hard job that you promised the people of Nigeria when you were campaigning for me, you promised them a good result. Didn’t you? That is it! I have to work for it. No magic wand.
“I campaigned on hope, I have to rest on that hope, and push for that hope for the joy of everyone of us.
“The economy is looking good. Don’t worry about that… we know we have the challenge of inflation, it is okay, we will bring it down. We are reengineering, our revenue is getting better.”
The president said Nigeria was regaining its respect and sovereignty around the world, saying “not that we have to go there and hire them to do the job for us, we are doing it ourselves.”
”Whatever is happening to us, we have to solve it by ourselves. It is your effort, your thinking, your resourcefulness, your investment, your dedication and hard work that can only get us there.”
On the student loan scheme, the President in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, said: “The only thing that can fight poverty is education. Today, I signed the bill for the Student Loan Scheme. Imagine the children of the poor; what about people going through the mud, fishing in the ponds?
“How do you tell their children that their future will be brighter? It is only through education that we can fight poverty. A promising future awaits our children.”
He used the occasion to reassure Nigerians that the economy was being steered onto the path of sustainable growth and broad-based prosperity for Nigerian families in all parts of the country.
Speaking further, Tinubu said: “The economy is looking much better. Yes, we have challenges of inflation but we will bring it down. When the exchange rate was going haywire, it looked like we were asleep, but we worked on it diligently, and it is going down; it is getting better.
“Borrowing was higher a year ago but today, we are reengineering the financial landscape, and our revenue is expanding. And we are taking up our sovereignty and earning our respect back in the comity of nations.”
Acknowledging members of the PCC and ICC for their rigorous efforts toward his election, the President said: “It is your footwork and footprints that made me the President. I campaigned on hope, and you promised Nigerians hope and a good result when campaigning for me.
“There are a lot of expectations. I, therefore, have to work hard for it. There is a windy road we are traveling. We have to navigate carefully. Otherwise, one ends up in the bush, and that is all I have been focused on.
“It is your effort, resourcefulness, and dedication that has brought us here. The results will not come suddenly, you have endured the campaign, you must endure more, and I assure you that a very bright light beckons for you and your children. Nigeria will prosper, and we will all reap the benefits. We will work with determination and persistence.”
While urging citizens to continue to have faith in Nigeria by supporting his administration to succeed for the benefit of all, President Tinubu noted that “Europe and America did not get to where they are today in one day, but through persistence and hard work, which take time and consistent focus.”
“Pray for Nigeria, think Nigeria. This is not play time. Let us believe in ourselves. We must ask questions. What is happening to our solid minerals? No rival wants you to be bigger than them.”
Nigerian students’ll not lack funds for education
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives also assured that all obstacles in the way of securing the loan had been cleared for the benefit of Nigerians
Chairman, Committee on Student Loans, Gboyega Isiaka, who gave the assurance in Abuja yesterday, disclosed that the quantum of funds required for successful implementation of the Student Loan would be drawn from one per cent of all revenues accruing into the federation account.
He said: “The patriotism and determination to make sure that this is a sustainable success still made the executive and Mr. President in particular, to present those far-reaching amendments which has not become law.
“The law has amended so many shortcomings in the 2023 law in the area of fund that we have. Now, we have a known corporate entity that is called Nigerian Education Trust Fund. We now have an institution that is strong, sustainable and comparable to what we have in different parts of the world and going by all that will come into it.”
Source | Vanguard
