President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said Nigerians were living a good life that was fake and capable of leading the country into a total economic collapse before his administration came on board to remove the fuel subsidy.
On his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023 at Eagle Square, Abuja, Tinubu had announced the removal of the fuel subsidy.
The President, who spoke at the weekend during the 34th and 35th combined convocation ceremonies of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, explained that the need to salvage the future of the country and rescue it from the brink of collapse necessitated the strategic decisions to remove the controversial fuel subsidy and unify the exchange rates.
The President, represented by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Egbewole, said that his administration was not unaware of the consequences of the tough decision to remove the subsidy
According to Tinubu: “As you are all aware, we took the baton of authority at a time when our economy was nose-diving as a result of heavy debts from fuel and dollar subsidies.
“The subsidies were meant to support the poor and make life better for all Nigerians. We are all aware of the fact that the poor and average Nigerians were the sufferers of what was supposed to give them succor and improved standard of living.
“Unfortunately, the good life we thought we were living was a fake one that was capable of leading the country to a total collapse unless drastic efforts were urgently taken.
“The need to salvage the future of our children and bring the country back from the brink of collapse necessitated the strategic decisions to remove the fuel subsidy and also unify the exchange rates.”
Tinubu, who further noted that the policy of the fuel subsidy removal was already yielding results, stated that the country’s economy was also improving daily.
Stating that while Nigeria’s macro economy is improving beyond expectations, the President said the micro-economic framework is gradually stabilizing by shaping the country from consumption-driven to production economy.
Tinubu called on the graduands to join hands together with his administration “to recover our lost glory and virtues.”
He also condemned the mass exodus of the youths leaving the country to seek “proverbial greener pastures,” observing that their action has led to brain drain in all sectors of the nation’s economy.
“Many of our youths have chosen the supposed easy option of emigrating to the proverbial greener pastures where their citizens had rolled up their sleeves to bring their nations back from the brinks in their times of trouble.
“Our intellectuals and experts on whom the nation has massively invested huge resources to train in the interest of our country are migrating overseas in large numbers at a time their services are most required at home.
“It is heart-rending and the syndrome is not the solution to our problems. We are not Nigerians by accident, and I believe that the Almighty God who made us Nigerians has given us the required wisdom to turn things around for our betterment.
“The present challenges call for a high degree of patriotism and I can assure all Nigerians that there is light at the end of the tunnel. After rain comes sunshine. The brighter days are almost here. The Renewed Hope Agenda is on track and we shall not deviate on the path of better and greater Nigeria,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor of FUTA, Professor Adenike Oladiji, said that there were a total of 6,405 graduates across nine schools of study from the combined 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic sessions convocation.
Oladiji said that 519 graduands had First Class, 3,408 got Second Class Upper; 2139 had Second Lower Class, while 339 graduands were in the Third Class category.
She said that the university’s mandate was to carry out adequate learning and teaching, with research works, for development of the society, adding that the institution had had landslide victory and achievements, cutting across human endeavours.
