Tinubu meets Dangote, Elumelu, others, seeks support for economic policies

By Ukpono Ukpong

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday sought the support of the organised private sector for his economic recovery and food security policies.

The President spoke at the presidential villa in Abuja when he met with some captains in the business community and some state governors.

Those at the meeting included billionaire business men, Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Abdul Samad Rabiu and the Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir.

Governors Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) were also at the meeting.

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Addressing his guests, President Tinubu said his administration is very much concerned, particularly about students, mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders.

He said, “Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. Like I said, many times, the people of this country are only the people who we have to please. And we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders and realising that every one of us will have to fetch water from the same well. ⁣

“We are looking for additional efforts that’s might help the downtrodden Nigerians, and we will provide that hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way. ⁣

“We are not saying that we have all the answers. But we will not be blamed for not trying. We assure Nigerians that we will do our best to get our marshall plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country.”

Commenting after the meeting, Governor Soludo said the tripartite meeting was designed to put heads together and think together.

Soludo said, “We have one national economy, and it’s the responsibility of the 225 million Nigerians to work together to make it great and we have all the potentials and we have all that it takes to make Nigeria ride through these turbulent times and put the economy back on a sustainable keel.

“I think there is unity of purpose, determination, the sense of patriotism and determination by all to make it happen and by the special grace of God, it’s now the execution, execution execution. And this is a standing committee that will be meeting from time to time to evaluate how things are going and make recommendations to Mr. President and to the nation as well.”

Similarly, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, assured that all the 36 governors have resolved to join hands with President Tinubu, to ensure that he provides the necessary intervention to cushion the effect of the hardship Nigerians are going through, whilst waiting for the implementation and the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies that are already in place.

“So the teeming public should have that confidence that we are not leaving them alone. In my state and in other states, we are bringing in rice, we’re bringing food items and were selling at rates that can be obtained before the downslide of the naira. So we are going to be doing all those kinds of things to bring succour to the common man until when you begin to see the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies,” Abiodun said.

Dangote expressed optimism that Nigeria, being a great nation, has what it takes to turn around the poor state of the economy for the better.

“I think we had a very good meeting, and what we discussed is generally about the economy, food security, and security of the nation. We discussed everything in detail. And there is the economic presidential advisory committee which has been set up. And I think this will look at all the issues and address them, coming from job creation, food security, coming from also reflected the economy.

“So, all these things, they have been discussed in detail. I can’t give you all the details right now. But we are hopeful, and we are a great nation. We have what it takes to turn around the economy, and we’re going to do that.” Dangote said

Abdul Samad Rabiu said, “It was open, it was frank and it was exhaustive. And some of the issues we discussed for example; like the foreign exchange rate, which we know has always been the problem for the past two or three months. We discussed on how to bring the foreign exchange rate down because we all know that what is happening as regards the foreign exchange is artificial. It is manipulative and thank God the CBN is doing quite a lot.

“Now, the exchange rate has come down from N1800 to maybe 1600 and N1500 now, and as you all know, everything in Nigeria is indexed to the foreign exchange, especially when it comes to stuff that we import into the country.”

Tony Elumelu, who also spoke after the meeting, said, “I left this meeting with a lot of enthusiasm, excitement and optimism about the future of our country. I believe that implementing the decisions we arrived at today will propel our economy and help alleviate the poverty in the land, help create employment and help put food on the table.

The Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said, “So I think the private sector is looking forward to the implementation of most of the decisions that we have made with the president. Manufacturers are looking forward to an environment that is conducive to business. And so the issues surrounding foreign exchange, insecurity and general operating environment were discussed. We received the assurances of Mr. President that very soon we are going to start to see some major changes. And I think the advisory committee that has been formed, the private sector will play a very significant role, and Nigerians, going forward should be hopeful that we are having solutions to the challenges that we have.”