By COLLINS YAKUBU-HAMMER

The Federal Government says, notwithstanding the obvious challenges daily faced by Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu has planted the seeds of national transformation, growth and all-round development in his 100 day in office.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris, stated this in a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the 100 days of President Tinubu in office.

In the statement personally signed by the minister and made available to newsmen in Abuja, he appealed to Nigerians and the labour unions, in particular, to continue to support the government and show more understanding.

NAN reports that Tinubu who assumed office in May 29 after he was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election clocked 100 days in office on Tuesday.

The minister noted that, since assumption of office the Tinubu’s administration has been making steady progress and engendering national rejuvenation

He said, realising that the country was in a difficult situation with both local and foreign debts, Tinubu took a courageous decision to remove the fuel subsidy to avert a national economic catastrophe of epic proportions.

The minister described the scrapped fuel subsidy as “a Sword of Damocles that hung over Nigeria for decades, stunted growth and set the country a-borrowing”.

“President Tinubu took a bold and courageous decision to remove the fuel subsidy to avert a national economic catastrophe of epic proportions.

“In addition to subsidy removal, President Tinubu took further steps to unify the multiple foreign exchange markets.

“While these two vital steps to save the country from hitting the rocks brought momentary discomfort to Nigerians, President Tinubu has never failed in his appeal to Nigerians to see the current inconveniences as a price we must all pay to save our country from disappearing,” he said.

To ameliorate the pains, the minister said the government rolled out intervention programmes to help cushion the unintended negative impacts of the reforms.

The interventions, according to him, included, working out a minimum wage and salary increase, supporting states and local governments to enable them to cater for the most vulnerable and providing fertilisers to farmers.

He said the government also provided grains to people, in addition to rolling out over 11,000 CNG buses for affordable public transportation.

“While striving to reduce the impact of the high cost of living on the citizens, President Tinubu has focused on redirecting our economy and removing the impediments to productivity and competitiveness.

“With these, the real sector will grow and create millions of decent jobs that are essential for long term economic growth,” he said.

The minister added that in the last 100 days, the government set up a Tax and Fiscal Reforms Committee that is fully at work to deepen the ongoing reforms and reposition the national economy for long-term sustainability.

According to him, the committee would simplify the nation’s complicated tax system, eliminate multiple taxes, streamline regulations that negate the ease of doing business, and close the over 20 trillion annual tax gap.

The minister assured that the administration will promote efficiency in revenue collection, expand the tax net by ensuring that those not paying are made to pay while those not paying the correct amount are made to pay their fair share.

On the political scene, Idris said that in 100 days, the administration had worked to promote political stability to engender peace, progress and development

“The administration has stabilised the polity and reduced tensions associated with ethnic and religious agitations by better managing our diversity. .

“To strengthen the bond of national unity and social harmony, President Tinubu ensured balance in all the appointments into key government positions including that of service chiefs from diverse parts of the country.

“While promoting peace and political stability within the country by carrying along every segment of our country, the President also prioritises adequate information about government activities and policy direction.

On the global scene, Idris said that the president emerged as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government within his 100 days in office.

He said the president had commendably raised the profile of Nigeria globally and within the West Africa sub-region

Specifically, he said Tinubu has been promoting the rule of law, defending constitutional order, and standing as a bulwark against military incursion into governance, especially in Niger, where a democratic government was toppled recently.

“It is not by accident that Nigeria continues to enjoy the respect of the rest of the world. It is so because of the firm and principled stand of President Tinubu for the ideals of democracy, rule of law and good governance.

In his drive to rejuvenate and revitalise the national economy, he said the president embarked on a journey to India accompanied by a select delegation of cabinet ministers and over 30 entrepreneurs across various sectors of the economy for the G20 summit.

The initiative, according to the minister, is to showcases Nigeria’s readiness to collaborate meaningfully for sustainable economic development.

The minister noted that since assumption of office, the President had been at his duty post, working assiduously to deliver on his campaign promises as enunciated in his “Renewed Hope Agenda” for a better and greater Nigeria.

He stressed that in the last 100 days, the Tinubu’s government has offered purposeful leadership and set the administration’s tone, texture, and character. (NAN)

Update news