Prioritise the well-being of Nigerians, Tinubu tells Dangote,Elumelu, others

Kunle Sanni

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday urged members of the organised private sector to prioritise the well-being of Nigerians, stating that the people are the only ones who must be satisfied.

Tinubu said this at the State House in Abuja at an economic advisory committee which he setup in order to address the issues of economic hardship in the country.

The committee comprises the federal government, sub-nationals and the private sector including Aliko Dangote, chairperson of Dangote Group of Companies; Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chairman of BUA Group; Tony Elumelu, chairperson of United Bank of Africa (UBA); and Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director-general, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

Speaking at the meeting, Tinubu stated that his administration is “very concerned” about the current economic circumstances of many Nigerians.

He stated that his government will make significant efforts to assist Nigerians and bring hope for economic revival.

“Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. Like I said, many times, the people of this country are only the people who we have to please. And we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders and realising that everyone of us will have to fetch water from the same well.

“We’re looking for additional efforts that might help the downtrodden Nigerians and we will provide that hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way,” Tinubu said.

He also assured Nigerians his government would “do our best to get our marshall plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country.

“We are not saying that we have all the answers. But we will not be blamed for not trying. We assure Nigerians that we will do our best to get our marshall plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country.

The president’s comment comes on the heels of continued complaints amongst many Nigerians who have said the current economic situation has caused them untold hardship.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) had planned nationwide staged protests on February 27 and February 28, 2024.

Westernpost reported last week that Tinubu said his administration remains steadfast in implementing necessary economic reforms to facilitate business growth and create investment opportunities that support Nigeria’s growing population.

Commenting, Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir  said members of the committee are looking forward to implementing what was decided at the meeting.

He said, “So I think the private sector is looking forward to the implementation of most of the decisions that we have made with the president. Manufacturers are looking forward to an environment that is conducive to business.

“And so the issues surrounding foreign exchange, insecurity and general operating environment were discussed and we received the assurances of Mr. President that very soon we are going to start to see some major changes and I think the advisory committee that has been formed, the private sector will play a very significant role, and Nigerians, going forward should be hopeful that we are having solutions to the challenges that we have.

Chairman Dangote groups, Aliko Dangote  revealed that the presidential committee would look into issues of job creation and food security of the nation.

“I think we had a very, very good meeting and what we discussed is generally about the economy, food security and security of the nation.

“We discussed everything in detail. And there is the economic presidential advisory committee which has been set up and I think this will look at all the issues and address them, coming from job creation, food security, and also reflecting the economy.

“So, all these things have been discussed in detail. I can’t give you all the details right now, but we are hopeful and we’re a great nation. We have what it takes to turn around the economy and we’re going to do that.

On his part, chairman BUA groups, Samad Rabiu who spoke about the exchange rate saying that every commodity in Nigeria is indexed to the foreign exchange, especially when it comes to stuff that we import into the country.

As a result, he praised the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) leadership for their efforts to stop the naira’s present decline against the dollar.

“It was open, it was frank and it was exhaustive. And some of the issues we discussed for example, like the foreign exchange rate, which we know has always been the problem for the past two or three months.

“We discussed how to bring the foreign exchange rate down because we all know that what is happening as regards the foreign exchange is artificial, it is manipulative and thank God the CBN is doing quite a lot.

“Now, the exchange rate has come down from N1800 to maybe 1600 and N1500 now, and as you all know, everything in Nigeria is indexed to the foreign exchange, especially when it comes to stuff that we import into the country.”