The ongoing reforms by the Tinubu Administration may come with pains but are inevitable, Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun has said.
According to him, it would have been costlier for the country to delay or put off the reforms.
The minister is confident that the policies will enable the country to fulfil its potential, “so there is no going back”.
Edun, who made a virtual presentation to the 19th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) 2023 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom yesterday, said the administration had put measures in place to boost the confidence of domestic and international investors.
According to him, President Tinubu was focused on rapid, sustained and inclusive growth.
Edun said: “Mr. President and his team have embarked on a series of reforms towards restoring economic growth, creating jobs, and reducing poverty, chiefly by securing the nation and achieving macroeconomic stability.
“Despite the predictable pains and difficulties that such major reforms bring at their early stages, the President and his team are committed to staying on the path of reform as the only way to provide a better life to all Nigerians.
“In order to advance these reforms, there is a realistic and comprehensible plan, covering all the key sectors of the economy and majorly focused on attracting domestic and foreign direct investment in the major sectors of the economy.
“The last few months have been particularly difficult for Nigerians. However, further delaying these necessary reforms would only have resulted in a higher price to pay.
“With these reforms, we are confident that we are placing Nigeria firmly on the course to fulfil its much-talked-about potential.
“These plans are set to improve the Nigerian economy, growth and prosperity of the nation.”
Edun said the government will focus more on transparency and accountability.
The government, he said, will publish comprehensive documents to inform the public about fiscal policies and government spending.
It will conduct regular audits of public expenditure and engage the public in the budgeting process to increase accountability.
Edun said the Administration will ensure that effective cash management techniques are employed for the optimal utilisation of funds.
To be established are protocols on how to manage debt and ensure that mechanisms for monitoring and regulating spending are effective, he added.
The minister assured investors of the administration’s determination to respect obligations and adhere to the rule of law.
He added: “One of the priorities of the government is to stay within the Rule of Law and the sanctity of contract.”
President Tinubu, represented at the event by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said his administration remained unrelenting in its efforts to grow the economy, attract foreign investments, create jobs, and reduce post-subsidy removal hardship.
Declaring open the conference with the theme: Stimulating Economic Growth, Technological Advancement: The Role of the Media, the President hailed the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) for choosing the theme.
He said the NGE has a role in informing the public about the numerous engagements of the Federal Government under his watch to attract investors.
President Tinubu highlighted some of the intervention programmes his administration had embarked upon to alleviate suffering.
The President assured Nigerians that better days lay ahead.
He said: “We have launched the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme that aims to develop three million technical talents by 2025, in line with our vision of making Nigeria a global hub for digital jobs.
“In just two weeks since it was launched, close to 500,000 applications have been received from across Nigeria.
“Still in line with the jobs agenda, we recently launched the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) to create one million service-export jobs over the next five years and make Nigeria a global business outsourcing hub.
“By January 2024, we will be rolling out the new Federal Student Loan Programme that was announced a few months ago.
“I urge you to provide positive media coverage that can enhance investor confidence and attract the needed investments that fuel economic development in our country.
“The media’s role in portraying a favourable business environment contributes to the stability of financial markets.
“Due to your role in setting the agenda for the government, the media on its own can advocate for policies that promote economic growth and technological progress and follow up on these advocacies through robust engagement on your various platforms.”
President Tinubu also decried the high level of false narrative and misinformation in the country.
“I urge you, esteemed editors, to be vigilant and help in ridding our media space of the ills of fake news, misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information, which portend great danger,” he said.
Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said President Tinubu holds the media in high esteem and regards it as a dependable development partner.
Describing the media as the bastion of Nigeria’s democracy and good governance, the minister said the current administration deserves credit for championing the cause of press freedom.
Alake said: “The Tinubu administration should continue to take the credit for sustaining the tempo of enlightened discourse and unfettered exercise of the freedom of the Press.
“President Tinubu’s choice of fellows of the guild, including my humble self, Bayo Onanuga among other journalists, as key players in his administration is a tacit recognition of the prodigious intellect and prolific capacity of members of the guild for disseminating truthful information, providing objective and people-oriented counsel in the pursuit of national development.
“It is a clarion call on the managers of the media to engage and participate in the evolution of responsive governance that puts the man on the street at the centre of public policy.
“Perhaps there is no better way to validate this argument that President Tinubu respects the humongous human resource that the Guild possesses than the decision to give the task of making the solid minerals sector the next highest revenue earner to a Fellow of the Guild.”
Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno urged the Guild to promote good governance in their reports on the country’s democracy.
He said: “I want to plead that you use the media, to engender a new template of reportage, one that is development-oriented, where our leaders are called to account without being overly obtrusive.
“No one desires a pliant media that acts like the cheerleaders to the government, but in trying to break the news, we should be careful not to break the fabric of the society.
“You need the nation first to freely practice your profession,” Eno said.
NGE president, Eze Anaba, said the conference was part of Editors’ contributions to development.
He urged editors to ensure balanced, accurate, factual and fair reportage and to make use of fact-checking tools in the discharge of their constitutional duty under Section 22.
Anaba urged political actors not to suppress the press, telling them: “Always remember that a free press is like oxygen to a democracy.
“Let nothing be done to stifle the press or shrink freedom of expression and media freedom under any guise.”
Hundreds of editors from across the country are attending the three-day conference which ends today
