President Bola Tinubu has said Nigerians are not the only ones facing poverty in the world. While admitting the existence of poverty and suffering in the land, Tinubu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale, yesterday, promised to tackle the challenges. One of the ways of tackling them, he explained, is to eliminate banditry and terrorism so that farmers can return to the farm.
According to the statement, the President said this in Lagos on Monday when he received a delegation from the National Assembly that came to felicitate with him on the occasion of Eid-el-Kabir.
The delegation was led by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, alongside the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, among others.
Nigerians must have a change of value system for the nation to make progress, he added. Tinubu stated, “Yes, there is poverty; there is suffering in the land. We are not the only people facing such, but we must find a way to eliminate banditry and terrorism so that farmers can bring out food from the farmland.
“If you do not have good roads to bring the food to the population, even if you grow the food, you will be losing 60 to 70 per cent to post-harvest losses.” He challenged citizens to have a change of mindset about Nigeria if the nation is to overcome its current challenges.
“The need (for some citizens) to change the rent-seeking mindset and become more productive to the economy is a challenge. They need to stop smuggling and all economic sabotage. Why should we have people removing rail tracks, stealing electric cables and sabotaging the economy?
“We must embrace the campaign to change our value system. We must tell our people that the challenge we face is for all of us to change our mindset about our country,” Tinubu stressed.
The President also commended the leadership of the National Assembly for the support extended to his administration, which he said resulted in some of the important developments recorded by his administration.
