The Managing Director, Africa Development Study Centre (ADSC), Amb. Victor Oluwafemi, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast on Monday rekindled ‘renewed hope’ in the country.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Oluwafemi commended Tinubu for strategic measures put in place to rejig the economy for sustainable growth and development after the fuel subsidy removal.
“Tinubu’s speech on the road map to addressing the pains of Nigerians is welcoming and it inspires renewed hope particularly from the perspectives of clear actionable plans to deliver value for the citizens.
“Particularly important is the plan to spend ₦75 billion between July 2023 and March 2024 to strengthen the manufacturing sector.
“To also increase its capacity to expand and create good paying jobs and fund 75 enterprises with great potentials to kick start a sustainable economic growth, accelerate structural transformation and improve productivity amongst others,” he said.
Oluwafemi also commended Tinubu on the plan of targeting 75 manufacturing enterprises to access one billion naira at 9 per cent per annum with the maximum of 60 months repayment for long term loans and 12 months for working capital.
He said that Tinubu addressed the most critical sector of the economy, the Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMSs) and the informal sector with ₦125 billion. According to him, by removing subsidy, government is saving one trillion naira monthly which will go a long way in helping to stabilise our economy.
He said that the unification of multiple exchange rates was necessary to correct the imbalances bedeviling the Nigerian economy.
Oluwafemi appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other strategic stakeholders to engage with the government to chart a pathway to national development by calling off the planned protest.
He urged the unions to join hands with other Nigerians to make the initiatives and the socio- economic interventions to succeed in the interest of nation building.
“The industrial action of this magnitude will do no one no good as Tinubu has good intentions to take Nigeria to greater heights of excellence without abandoning any segment of the Nigerian economy,” he said.