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Vice-President Kashim Shettima has urged Nigerians to be “generous” towards President Bola Tinubu, saying the President took difficult decisions that saved the country from economic collapse.
Shettima spoke in Lagos yesterday after meeting with Tinubu, who recently returned to Nigeria from his annual vacation.
The Vice-President said he and Tinubu remained in regular contact throughout the President’s time abroad, despite the distance.
“We are quite thrilled that he’s back on the beat. Advances in science and technology have made it possible to really have impactful leadership wherever one might find himself,” Shettima said.
Defending the administration’s economic reforms, Shettima said Tinubu inherited an economy that was already “teetering on the verge of collapse”.
He pointed particularly to the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of multiple exchange rates as difficult decisions that, according to him, were necessary to prevent a deeper crisis.
“It is absolutely essential that Nigerians need to be generous to this poor man,” Shettima said.
He added that the country’s foreign reserves stood at only $3.9 billion when the administration assumed office, arguing that the amount was insufficient to import fuel for one month.
“He had the courage and the conviction to take power-reaching decisions,” the Vice-President said.
Shettima further declared: “He saved the economy. I want Nigerians to understand this fundamental truism. We were on the road to Caracas; he saved our economy; he saved the nation from falling into pieces.”
While acknowledging the hardship facing Nigerians, Shettima said the difficult period would not last forever.
“We appreciate the pains Nigerians are going through, but tough times do not last forever; tough people do,” he said.
The Vice-President also listed government interventions aimed at reducing the impact of the economic crisis, including the planned deployment of 10,600 electric tricycles in the North-East and the launch of e-logistics in the North-West.
He said 300 buses and e-taxis would also be deployed to “ameliorate the sufferings” of Nigerians, while describing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a major intervention for students from low-income families.
Shettima said Tinubu remained concerned about ordinary Nigerians and had “a lot of empathy for the common man”, adding that the Federal Government would continue rolling out programmes to ease economic pressure.
On the 2027 political activities, the Vice-President said the administration would continue to govern while participating in politics.
“Politics is in the air, but we’ll combine politics and governance,” he added.
