Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An economic advisory team has been instituted by President Bola Tinubu as his government intensifies efforts to ease the hardship Nigerians are going through.
On Sunday, Mr Tinubu had a meeting with some state governors and some key stakeholders in the organised private sector.
At the gathering, the President disclosed how he’s working to ensure the dividends of democracy are delivered to the people he promised Renewed Hope while he was campaigning for the position last year.
Since he assumed office on May 29, 2023, the country’s economy has tumbled, with the prices of goods and services rising at abnormal rates, and the exchange rate going berserk in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
Already, some Nigerians have expressed their displeasure over the economic crisis through a pocket of protests in Niger, Kano, Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo States.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has also called for a two-day nationwide demonstration from Tuesday, February 27, 2024, over the high cost of living. Efforts are being made to stop the labour protest tomorrow.
To deescalate the tension, President Tinubu formed his economic advisory panel comprising Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, Mr Aliko Dangote, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, Mr Tony Elumelu, Mr Bismarck Rewane, and Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), among others.
The President informed them at the meeting held at the State House in Abuja that the goal is to “bring life back to the economy” and ensure the “best economic future” for Nigerians.
“Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. As I have said many times, the people of this country are only the people we have to please.
“And we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders and realising that every one 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 hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way.
“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 marshal plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country,” he said.
Addressing newsmen after the gathering, Mr Soludo assured that the team would meet “from time to time to evaluate how things are going and make recommendations to Mr President and the nation as well,” while Mr Dangote said “the economic presidential advisory committee [would] look at all the issues and address them.”
