Our economy at turning point, needs support, Tinubu tells corporate Nigeria
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President Bola Tinubu said Thursday that Nigeria’s economy is at a turning point and would require the steadfast support of the private sector for sustained growth and prosperity.
Speaking during Iftar with members of the Nigerian business community in Abuja, the President expressed gratitude for their support and pledged to engage with them more frequently.
”I would have summoned you before now, not during Ramadan, because you are a very valuable part of my constituency.
”There is no driver of the economy that is bigger than the private sector. If the private sector is not flourishing, there is no growth, no prosperity, no employment or development. No matter how flowery the speeches are, not even a mushroom will grow.
”Thank you for persevering. We are at a turning point in our economy. I do not have to do a quadratic equation to illustrate all of that to you. I just want to appreciate you for your endurance and perseverance,’’ the President said.
Sharing insights from his visit to the New York Stock Exchange in 2023, the President said Nigeria’s self-belief and determination to drive economic transformation from within.
”At the New York Stock Exchange, I appealed to foreign investors to consider Nigeria as a prime investment destination.
“At the end of my remarks, I told them we only want them to show their face and diversify Nigeria’s economy not as if we cannot do it ourselves.
“Tony Elumelu walked up to me and thanked me for making that statement. We can do it. Nigeria is a self-believer and can always deliver on its own. We know our first name and our last name. Our first name is: Spirit, and our last name is: Can do,” he said.
In separate remarks at the Ramadan dinner, industrialists, bank executives, and entrepreneurs pledged their support towards the success of the administration’s economic programmes.
Mr. Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, assured the President that the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in the country is solidly behind him.
‘‘Your transformation journey to turn around the economy and businesses are very appropriate for the country.
‘‘We appreciate what you are doing. We know the journey will not be smooth, but given the will, we will get to the Promised Land,” he said.
Allen Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, Air Peace, charged business owners and manufacturers to work towards bringing down the cost of products and services.
Citing the example of Air Peace in reducing the cost of air tickets to London, he thanked the President for improving the ease of doing business in the country.
”President Tinubu is thinking of the Nigeria of the future. The ease of doing business is coming back gradually. I can attest to that in the aviation sector because of the people you appointed to head that sector,” he said.
