The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) has called on Nigerians to exercise a little more patience and show some understanding with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government over the current harsh economic situation in the country, saying that it fervently believes that there will be long-lasting relief very soon.
In a press statement by its President, Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, last weekend, MUSWEN noted that even though “the country is currently going through tough times and Nigerians are feeling the pangs of a particularly harsh economic situation”, it is reassured by “the divine admonition in Surat Al-Inshirah (Quran 94 vs.5-6), in which Almighty Allah assures that “Verily, with every hardship there is relief”.
The organisation pointed out that the current situation in the country is not the creation of the 10 month-old administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, rather the current hardships were the cumulative effects of policy mismatches by previous administrations.
The statement read, “There is no doubt that the country is currently going through tough times and Nigerians are feeling the pangs of a particularly harsh economic situation. Compounding the pains on our countrymen and women is the pesky security situation. We know that the situation in which the country now finds itself is not the creation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The current hardship is as a result of the tendency for past administrations both military and civil ,to sacrifice the long-term strategic interests of the nation for short-term tenure-sustaining or tenure-elongation goals. Most often it was not about the lack of clear vision on which journey to take.It was owing largely to the lack of courage or the political will to pursue the right course.And that is the distinction and the difference between this administration and its predecessors. We therefore call on all Nigerians not only to give the administration a chance but support the ongoing reforms which will definitely take us to the next level.
“Although we also recognize the fact that some of the pains are the collateral consequence of some of the remedial actions taken by the Tinubu administration to correct the mistakes of past administrations, we believe that the actions are categorical necessities as the country could no longer run on some of the pretentious policies of the past. These previous policy regimes only gave a semblance of false, even if temporary relief.They have all along been a veil on a disaster waiting to happen”.
According to MUSWEN’s President, the country was dancing precariously on the edge of a cliff and it only required a purposeful leader who is ready to take bold economic and political decisions to pull her back. “This is exactly what President Tinubu has done by some of the bold steps he had taken in his messianic mission to rescue the country’s economy from total collapse”, the organisation said.
MUSWEN explained, “For instance, everybody knows that the country can no longer sustain the regime of fuel subsidy and all past administrations recognized this truism. So, what is to be done in the situation? Discontinue with the damn albatross of subsidy of course!”
It, however, pointed out that the lack of the political will and an inherent culture of ruling by deception for fear of incurring dire political consequences on their sinecure position did not allow past administrations to take the required step to remove fuel subsidy, saying, “And that was the cause of the perennial dilly-dallying over the years that has now caused untold damage to the country’s economic health”.
“But damning the likely consequences in an uncommon display of strong political will and surefooted conviction of his good intentions, President Tinubu, on his inauguration day, announced that the subsidy behemoth must go”, MUSWEN said, adding that with time, and very soon too, the President’s sound economic policies would start yielding the desired fruits and Nigerians would be the better for it”.
The organization also listed other policies intended to shore up the country’s economic fortunes as including the dismantling of the FOREX cabal that used to whimsically determine the dollar exchange rate, the planned implementation of the Oronsaye Report on Civil Service Reform, the various bilateral agreements entered into with many countries, which will attract Foreign Direct Investments and a number of other measures aimed at making things better for Nigerians,
MUSWEN said that all these policies need time to mature, adding that “what the situation demands now is a little more patience from Nigerians as there is surely light at the end of the tunnel”.
Meanwhile, MUSWEN urges affluent Nigerians to help the less-privileged at this time, especially in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan.
Finally, we beseech Almighty Allah in this holy month of Ramadan to overlook our shortcomings as a nation, guide our leaders aright and get Nigeria out of the current economic situation.
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