The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris says the reforms of President Bola Tinubu- led Federal Government are well-intentioned and are for the good of the country .
Idris spoke at the Punch Nigeria Ltd 50th Anniversary Lecture on Thursday in Lagos.
He said Tinubu’s commitment to the Nigerian project was of resilience and hard work, to put the nation on track again
Idris, who noted that though Nigeria was passing through a challenging period , issues in the country were not peculiar.
He said that the President removed subsidy and implemented other reforms in the interest of the nation.
“The government of President Bola Tinubu has taken, as you know, very bold steps from inception.
“He (Tinubu) didn’t pretend from Day One that it was going to be an easy thing. Of course, we are seeing the effects of some of these hard decisions.
“The good story is that, government is taking very bold decisions to ensure that we turn the corner and Nigerian economy come back again.
“Government believes that all these things happening are for the good of the country,” the minister said.
He said that the President was working on the unification of the foreign exchange regime and had also met with key drivers of the nation’s economy to discuss how Nigeria would get better.
“Of course the challenges are going to be there, no one is pretending that they don’t exist, but we see a situation where in another one year, the story is going to be quite different,” he said.
He said that the government needed more time, adding that people could criticise the government and offer suggestions, “but this country has to exist.”
According to him, the National Bureau of Statistics only recently said that for the first time in a very long time, Nigeria is witnessing capital import improving by about 66 per cent.
Idris said that the nation’ domestic refining capacity had also gone up by about eight per cent.
He noted that insecurity was inherited by Tinubu,but that his administration had done a lot to significantly respond to the problem
“We are not saying that your security has gone away completely, but it has improved significantly, he added.
On the Organised Labour’s demands, the minister said that many of the demands had been met,but pointed out that all the issues could not be resolved overnight.
The minister also said the FG had done a lot ,including interventions in social security system for teeming youth population, consumer credit scheme, among others ,that the media needed to talk about.
On food supply, he said that the FG was working hard to see how to end the challenge
He said that the government had been listening to the people and reviewing some of its policies from time to time, to ensure a better life for citizens
Whie urging the media to propagate government’s efforts, Idris said that Tinubu remained a strong believer in press freedom and would do all to uphold and deepen it.
He ,however ,said that press freedom also came with enormous responsibilities.
“You do not have the liberty to report what you know to be absolutely untrue. We have seen how other countries are also promoting their own.
“Let us please talk about all those good things happening in this country, it is not all bad story all the time.
“So as all these things are happening, investors are coming to this country.
“Now all these ones are good stories that we should talk about and I implore the media to please report well.
“This is the country that we have, we don’t have any other country. If we run down this place, there is no other place for all of us to go to,” the minister said.
In her goodwill message, the Deputy Governor of Ogun, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, said that the media had the ability to hold leaders accountable, urging it to maximise such, for the betterment of the nation.
Also speaking, former member representing Ethiope Federal constituency, Delta State, Mr Lovette Idisi, urged the media to stand against publications or anything that could affect the future generation.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture in memory of Chief James Aboderin, the founding Chairman, Punch Nigeria Ltd, titled “Recovering the Narrative” was delivered by Noble Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.
The event had in attendance media executives, captains of industries, academics , leaders of thoughts, security chiefs, among others.
Other dignitaries at the events included a former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Mr Bayo Onanugu: former spokesman to immediate past President, Malam Garba Shehu, among others. (NAN)
