Nigeria Must Embrace Reforms Or Risk Total Collapse – President Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has come out to say that Nigeria must either reform for progress and prosperity or continue to risk collapse.

He recently had his say in the national broadcast made available to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, Nigeria has found itself at a dizzying crossroads, and his government has decided to reform our political economy and defence architecture to take the country to greater heights.

He added that thanks to the reforms, Nigeria attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30bn in the last year.

His words, “We found ourselves at a dizzying crossroads, where we must choose between two paths: reform for progress and prosperity or carry on business-as-usual and collapse. We decided to reform our political economy and defence architecture.

Thanks to the reforms, our country attracted foreign direct investments worth more than $30bn in the last year.

We inherited a reserve of over $33bn 16 months ago. Since then, we have paid back the inherited forex backlog of $7bn.

We have cleared the ways and means a debt of over N30tn. We have reduced the debt service ratio from 97 per cent to 68 per cent.

Despite all these, we have managed to keep our foreign reserve at $37bn. We continue to meet all our obligations and pay our bills. We are moving ahead with our fiscal policy reforms.

To stimulate our productive capacity and create more jobs and prosperity, the Federal Executive Council approved the Economic Stabilisation Bills, which will now be transmitted to the National Assembly.

These transformative bills will make our business environment more friendly, stimulate investment and reduce the tax burden on businesses and workers once they are passed into law.

Fellow compatriots, our administration is committed to free enterprise, free entry, and free exit in investments while maintaining the sanctity and efficacy of our regulatory processes.

This principle guides the divestment transactions in our upstream petroleum sector, where we are committed to changing the fortune positively.

As such, the ExxonMobil Seplat divestment will receive ministerial approval in a matter of days, having been concluded by the regulator, NUPRC, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.

This was done in the same manner as other qualified divestments approved in the sector.

The move will create vibrancy and increase oil and gas production, positively impacting our economy.”