Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has told Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu has the welfare of the people in mind, saying the President is serving the country with utmost dedication and that history will be kind to him.

While appealing for patience from Nigerians over current economic hardship in the country, Shettima said the government had already taken responsibility for the difficulties Nigerians had been subjected to on account of government policies.

The Vice President stated this, yesterday, at the public presentation of a book, titled: “Beating all odds: Diaries and Essays on how Bola Tinubu became President”, authored by the Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Nation Newspapers, Sam Omatseye.

Present at the event were former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, who was the chairman at the event; Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike; former Delta State Governor, James Ibori; Deputy Governor of Abia State, Ikechukwu Emetu; former Governor of Edo State and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole; former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, and representatives of state governors.

Shettima, while describing Tinubu as a man of courage and conviction, said the President, from the first day in office, had taken the bull by the horns by addressing the two major problems of oil subsidy and multiple exchange rate.

He said: “Be assured that the President has Nigeria in his mind. Yes, we are having challenges. We are not denying that and we are not here to apportion blame. Leadership is about accepting responsibilities and finding solutions to national challenges. The President is a man of courage and conviction. In the first one week in office, he took far reaching decisions.

“Oil subsidy has been an albatross round the neck of the Nigerians. He took the bull by the horns and removed oil subsidy from day one. He was able to collapse the multiple exchange rate regimes that gave room for a lot of hanky panky. And be rest assured that in the fullness of time, history will be kind to him.”

Describing the last general election as the most divisive in the history of the country, Shettima observed that all ethno-religious fault lines that divided the nation were deliberately manipulated for political ends.

“But it is interesting to note that the most Christian of northern states is Benue State. The Nigerian candidate defeated the religious candidate in Benue State. The most northern of northern cities is Sokoto State and the Nigerian candidate lost to the regional candidate by 5,000 votes and the APC went on to win two Senate seats, the governorship slot and majority of the House of Representative seat.”

“The most crucial of the South South states is Rivers and the Nigerian candidate defeated the religious candidate in Rivers. One thing, I believe, is that what binds us together surpasses whatever that divides us”, Shettima said.

The vice president described the author of the book as one of the few Nigerians, who transcended the mission of those who shy away from truth in the most uncomfortable places and in key areas of circumstances.

According to him, the book effectively chronicles how Tinubu won the elections because truth has prevailed over falsehoods.