Vice President Kashim Shettima said Tuesday that the courageous and unavoidable reforms being undertaken by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are proof of the power of political will in economic policy.
Speaking during the opening session of the 66th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), the Vice President said the president’s reforms are currently fixing Nigeria’s structural weaknesses.
“Nigeria is, of course, not exempt from Africa’s economic tragedies. But our silver lining is the listening ear of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Under his leadership, this administration has embarked on bold and inevitable reforms to address structural weaknesses that others before us only paid lip service to.
“These reforms testify to the power of political will in economic policy. Their painful but necessary consequences remind us that a malignant disease can only be cured by painful surgery. The wounds are temporary, but the recovery is permanent,” he said.
The Vice President stressed the need for African nations to get rid of the old-fashioned approach to their economy and embrace structural transformation if they must revive human capital challenges and reverse unemployment on the continent.
“We live in a world where a random citizen in Daura can outsource his services to a corporation in Dallas without seeing the inside of a plane or leaving his bedroom. But to catch up with this changing world, Africa must embrace structural transformation that reinvents its human capital and reverses unemployment.
“Poverty must be confronted head-on for the promise of this continent to be realised in the lives of our people. There is no justification for the low per capita income that afflicts our nations amidst the resources at our disposal.“Geopolitical conflicts, trade protectionism, supply chain disruptions, the energy transition, and the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence” may all seem like a threat to the continent’s economy, they are opportunities in disguise.
“They all paint a gloomy outlook. But each threat is also an opportunity in disguise. This is why a society such as yours exists: to light the path of a continent even in the darkest night,” he said.
The Vice President said while the Tinubu administration did not claim the ongoing reforms would be easy, it has always acknowledged the inflationary impact of the reforms and the “spillovers from global crises into our economy,” which explains why the president “has remained committed to investment-friendly measures and social protection programmes to cushion the vulnerable.”
“Policies in transportation, healthcare, and education have been deliberately targeted at reducing inequality because these are the sectors that affect the weakest among us,” he said.
The Vice President commended the president of the Nigerian Economic Society, Professor Adeola Adenikinju, and his team for challenging the nation “to reflect on what decades of policy failures and vulnerabilities to global risks have created for Africa.”
“I urge all participants to take their role in this conference not as a scholarly exercise but as a continental and national assignment—one expected to salvage Africa’s economies from their fragile status,” he said.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, applauded the Vice President for his significant contributions in the realization of the economic reforms of administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He assured the NES that it would be fully integrated in all of the ministry’s programmes, especially the preparation and implementation of the development plan and the recently approved Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme.
Also speaking, the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, presented potentials in Nigeria’s livestock sector, estimated at several billions of dollars, offering opportunities for economic diversification.
The minister expressed readiness to partner with the NES to brainstorm on the “brilliant ideas” needed to implement President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the livestock sector, which he described as “the next crude oil.”
The president of the NES, Professor Adeola Adenikinju reiterated the society’s commitment to collaborating with the Tinubu administration to actualise the goal of genuine economic transformation and national development.
He said the NES under his leadership has undertaken reforms aimed at repositioning the body to act as “a bridge between research and policy, a centre for mentoring the next generation of economists, and a trusted partner in Nigeria’s pursuit of sustainable development and Africa’s transformation.”
He said the NES, under his watch, has established chapters in the across 36 states, FCT and the Diaspora, to ensure national reach and grassroots engagement; Created the NES Women’s Wing and Students’ Wing, to broaden inclusivity and representation.
