National leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the foundation for re-engineering and reinvigorating Nigeria’s economy for a better future.
Tinubu made the remark in Lagos on Wednesday, saying a strong foundation mattered in nation building.
He said that building such foundation requires patience, perseverance and commitment as it often presented difficulties for the people.
“Economic development and the future of the youth are crucial in the growth of any nation and we are taking care of that.
“You have to re-grow the economy, re-engineer it from bottom-up, during that process, it is always very difficult for ordinary people.
“They bear the brunt of the economic difficulties because they are in the lower cadre of the society.
“You can only use and depend on what you have and if you manage to use resources carefully, yes, you end up enjoying a multiple development in the country and that is why I always emphasise that foundation matters.
“Foundation is crucially important. I have listened to the people. I have been in contact with them at the grassroots.
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“Even this house is not spared too, from demands from the poor and the needy, but without re-growing the economy, re-tooling, re-engineering the economy, we will not have anything.
“We ate the seed of growth for breakfast. Therefore, there is nothing for lunch or dinner. Nothing to harvest, that is what we talk about looters. But it will not take a magical touch to bring it to reality, It takes patience and perseverance. Three years is not enough time to for retouching, redevelopment and re-engineering the country.
“There is a lot of hope, there is a lot of expectation, but when the treasury was empty, when the salaries were outstanding, when the quality of life is low, what will you do? We have oil, they didn’t save money and we have not diversified the economy. We have eaten our dinner for breakfast, nothing in the kitchen.
“There is no magic about it. It takes dedication, commitment and perseverance. Yes, we might not be communicating effectively with the people but we are working to make things better, ” he said.
Tinubu said the country needs a focused and determined leader like Buhari to gradually re-engineer the economy for the benefit of all.
“Nigerians adopted democracy, we are going to live through this democratic government.
“We need a … President Buhari, to retool and re-engineer, that is what he is doing in the economy and he is doing it gradually, otherwise we don’t want it to fall apart again.
“Continuity, perseverance, and endurance, those are what we need. Our determination is progress for the country and for the people. We can’t go back.
“I am very proud of what I have done in Lagos to be where it is. We were meticulous, dedicated and focused and we lifted the spirits of our people and that is why it is important for Nigerians to be focused now, ” he said.
Tinubu urged Nigerians to make sacrifices, endure, tolerate and forgive one another in the spirit of Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
“When you pray for forgiveness, you must be able to give forgiveness if you think you deserve forgiveness. Can you ask God to give you what you cannot give to another fellow human being? That is simple,” Tinubu said.
