Nigeria’s president Bola Ahmed Tinubu has explained that servicing the external debt profile with 90% of the country’s revenue base is not a profitable exercise, saying that it’s a path to destruction.
Tinubu made this remark in an apparent move to justify his ongoing economic reforms, declaring that Nigeria will not sustain a failed economic theory that leads to the wastage of 90% of its scarce revenue in the servicing of external debts in the midst of the many development challenges facing the country.
He made this statement in Abuja on Sunday during the opening of the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association at the Velodrome, Chief MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
While addressing the gathering of 16,190 lawyers in attendance with an extemporaneous speech, he noted that his major goal is to banish poverty from society with the cooperation of Nigeria’s private sector leaders, many of whom were present at the opening ceremony.
“Can we continue to service external debts with 90% of our revenue? It is a path to destruction. It is not sustainable. We must make the very difficult changes that are necessary for our country to get up from slumber and be respected among the great nations of the world,” the President stated.
Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation-Building,” the President stated that hard decisions must be made to set the country on a growth trajectory, despite the initial pains that meaningful reforms usually bring.
“We cannot have the country we desire without the reforms we have initiated. It is painful at the beginning, in the short and medium term, but we must do what we have to do to take this nation to its great destiny. It is not about you, and it is not about me. It is about our generations yet unborn, for whom we must bequeath a great and prosperous country,” he affirmed.
Against the backdrop of the renowned judicial reforms he undertook as Lagos State Governor, President Tinubu renewed his commitment to deal conclusively with the pressing issue of remuneration for judicial officers and legal practitioners, noting that true justice reform must begin with world-class salaries and benefits for legal professionals in Nigeria.
“You are learned. I want to learn. Why are we so blessed, yet we are still lacking? We must have a change of attitude and a change of mindset. We accuse our nation and its previous leaders. We complain a lot about the past. Is that the solution? No. Let us look forward and be determined! God has given us what we need. We must work hard with determination to make our country great, and it begins with you, who are seated here with me,” the President said.