The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) has called on Nigerians to exercise a little more patience with President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the current harsh economic situation in the country.
The group in a statement signed by its president, Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, asked Nigerians to show some understanding with the government, saying that it fervently believes that there will be long-lasting relief very soon.
MUSWEN pointed out that the current situation in the country is not the creation of the 10 month-old administration of President Tinubu, rather the current hardships were the cumulative effects of policy mismatches by previous administrations.
The statement reads: “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 due to the tendency of past military and civil administrations to sacrifice the nation’s long-term strategic interests 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 owed largely to the lack of courage or the political will to pursue the right course. And that is the distinction 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 take us to the next level. Although we also recognise 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.”
MUSWEN said the country was dancing precariously on the edge of a cliff and it only required a purposeful leader who was ready to make 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.
“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.”
The group, however, pointed out that the lack of 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 subsidies.
“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,” it said.
MUSWEN said 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.
