- Agency Report
Chief Deji Wellington, the Lagos State leader of Afenifere, says President Bola Tinubu has saved Nigeria from sliding into a worse economic crisis through bold policy decisions taken by his administration.
Wellington, an elder statesman, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos that although the current economic reforms had brought hardship, the policies were necessary to prevent the country from collapsing.
According to him, correcting years of economic mismanagement requires courage, adding that the president took difficult decisions that previous administrations avoided.
Wellington said: “My personal opinion is that we are lucky to have the present President. He is very bold and courageous.
“This is because some of the policies should have been put in place a long time ago which other governments ignored for fear of re-election, but the President took the bull by the horn by confronting the problem.
“We were going into a serious economic problem where states could no longer pay salaries not to talk of embarking on infrastructural projects due to zero allocations,but today,we are on the path of progress,”he said
The Afenifere leader said the country could have faced a far worse situation if the reforms were not implemented.
“The President’s interventions saved the country.It would have been more serious than what we are witnessing.
“The immediate past administration did not do well in the area of the economy. country. Though there are challenges , everybody wants to have food on the table and money in their pockets, but it would have been worse.
“So what we are witnessing now is very necessary. There is no way that we could have avoided it,” he added.
Wellington also defended the removal of fuel subsidy and exchange rate reforms, saying the previous system mainly benefited a few privileged individuals.
“Only a few people were benefiting from this petrol. Very few people were benefiting.
“Then the neighbouring countries. Citizens of these countries were even benefiting from the petrol more than Nigerians.
“For instance, from Badagry to Seme Border you could count over 30 petrol stations. They don’t sell petrol; all they do is carry away our subsidised petrol and take it to neighbouring countries.”
He said the government was effectively subsidising fuel consumption in neighbouring countries while Nigeria bore the economic burden.
“So we were subsidising and suffering for Benin Republic, Cameroon and other countries.
“Though the impact is visible with the discomfort in town, this will be for a short time. In the long run, people will thank the President for this policy.
“There is no gain without pain,” the Afenifere leader said.
Wellington also criticised the multiple exchange rate system previously operated in the country.
“How could you survive when you have about three or four exchange rates?
“Some privileged people were buying at a cheaper rate while business people were buying in the black market.
“However, all these things have been normalised in a way that will have a positive impact in the long run,” Wellington said.
He said Nigerians must exercise patience with the administration as the reforms take time to yield results.
“We are just a nation that is not patient. I cannot blame people because everybody wants to live and have at least three square meals in a day.
“But a lot of people don’t know what past governments have done and what this government is trying to correct.
“I give kudos to the President for those policies that he has put in place because those policies have turned things around for us” NAN