The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) has called on Nigerians to show understanding with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government over the current harsh economic situation in the country.
In a statement by its president, Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, last weekend, MUSWEN noted that even though “the country is currently going through tough times and Nigerians are feeling the pains of a harsh economic situation”, the current situation is not solely the creation of the 10-month-old administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Rather, the current hardships are the cumulative effects of policy mismatches by previous administrations.
The statement read, “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 pain for 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 Tinubu.
The current hardship is a result of the tendency of past administrations, both military and civilian, to sacrifice the long-term strategic interests of the nation for short-term tenure-sustaining or tenure-elongation goals. Most often, it was not about the lack of a clear vision of which journey to take.
“It was largely due to a lack of courage or political will to pursue the right course. And that is the distinction and difference between this administration and its predecessors.
“We therefore call on all Nigerians to not only give the administration a chance but also support the ongoing reforms, which will definitely 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 the past administration, 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 the appearance of false, even if temporary relief. They have all along been a veil on a disaster waiting to happen.”
According to MUSWEN’s president, the country was dancing precariously on the edge of a crisis, 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 with some of the bold steps he has taken in his messianic mission to rescue the country’s economy from total collapse,” the organisation said.
MUSWEN explained, “For instance, everybody knows that the country can no longer sustain the regime of fuel subsidies, and all past administrations have recognised this truism. So, what is to be done in this situation? Discontinue with the damn albatross of subsidy. course!”
It, however, pointed out that the lack of political will and an inherent culture of ruling by deception for fear of incurring dire political consequences for their sinecure position did not allow the past administration to take the required step to remove fuel subsidies.
“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,” MUSWEN added that 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.
The organisation also listed other policies intended to shore up the country’s economic fortunes, including the dismantling of the FOREX cabal that used to whimsically determine the dollar exchange rate and the planned implementation of the Oronsaye Report on Civil Service Reform.
MUSWEN said that all these policies need time to mature, adding that “what the situation demands now is a little more patience from Nigerians, as there is surely light at the end of the tunnel.”
Meanwhile, MUSWEN has urged affluent Nigerians to help the less privileged at this time, especially in the spirit of the holy month of Ramadan.
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