President Bola Tinubu at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) annual conference in Abuja says Nigeria cannot continue to service external debt with about 90 per cent of its revenue, noting “it is a path to destruction, we cannot continue that. We have to make hard decisions.“
Tinubu in a statement delivered by his media aide, Ajuri Ngelale Sunday, lamented that if the development persists, the nation would be headed for destruction. “It is not about you and it is not about me. It is about our generations yet unborn, for whom we must bequeath a great and prosperous country,
“Can we continue to service external debt with over 90 per cent of our revenue? It is a path to destruction, we cannot continue that. We have to make hard decisions.
“It’s a shame not to have electricity for the majority of homes in Nigeria. Poverty is not a shameful thing but it is not acceptable. We must banish it,” he added.
The president stated that to improve the status of the nation, his administration needed to make challenging adjustments. He explained further that even though initial reforms may be painful, Nigeria must be willing to take the hard steps to set the country on the path of growth.
“We cannot have the country we desire without the reforms we have initiated. It is painful at the beginning, in the short and medium term, but we must do what we have to do to take this nation to its great destiny.
“It is not about you and it is not about me. It is about our generations yet unborn, for whom we must bequeath a great and prosperous country,” Tinubu’s media aide Ajuri Ngelale Sunday statement quoted him as saying.
However, Tinubu also told the gathering that Nigerians need to change their attitude to make the country great.
“You have learned. I want to learn. Why are we so blessed and we are still lacking? We must have a change of attitude and a change of our mindset. We accuse our nation and its previous leaders,” he said.
“We complain a lot about the past. Is that the solution? No! Let us look forward and be determined! God has given us what we need. We must work hard with determination to make our country great and it begins with you who are seated here with me.”