Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, has called on Nigerians to be patient with the reforms of the Bola Tinubu government.
President Tinubu, who came into office in May, initiated a series of reforms including the floating of the naira and the removal of the much-debated fuel subsidies. The moves have triggered a spike in the cost of living with inflation soaring.
But Malagi believes these are bound to happen, maintaining that in the long run, these reforms would yield fruit.
“I want you to remember that the President is seven months old in office. I am not going to make excuses that seven months is just a short time,” he said on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“But for a long-term plan, you need a lot more time to put structures. But of course, as you trudge along, there will be shocks, turbulence, and occasional dislocations that you would find. But the vision of the President is very clear: he wants to take Nigeria to the desired prosperity. He works day and night to achieve that. Every day, all the ministers and everyone are working in that direction but the results are not seen yet. We ask Nigerians to be a little more patient.”
While admitting that the government is aware of the hardships Nigerians are facing, the minister reassured that the country’s leadership is working tirelessly to reverse the trend.
According to him, President Tinubu’s government had in the wake of the subsidy removal introduced some measures to curtail the impact of the move.
He listed some of them to include the wage awards to Federal Government workers and plans to roll out CNG buses across the country.
Nigeria’s labour unions – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – had repeatedly threatened strikes over the high cost of living.
In fact, in August, the unions downed tools with businesses, government offices, and markets closed for a day in the capital Abuja. But the strike was met with a mixed response from businesses in the economic capital Lagos.
