- Kukah Lampoons Leaders
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, has expressed confidence in the reforms of the Tinubu administration, saying Nigeria is undergoing a reset caused by fuel subsidy removal.
The Anambra State governor described what the country is undergoing as a “fundamental and disruptive reset” which he added is a result of the removal of subsidies by the current administration.
He stated this while delivering the 13th Convocation lecture of Veritas University, Abuja, tagged, “Let us Make a New Deal for Nigeria,’’ on Thursday.
He said: “Hopefully, we have ended the debilitating scam called fuel subsidy as well as the forex and electricity subsidies. We have entered a ‘muddling-through’ phase which we must navigate carefully.
“As we muddle through the shocks occasioned by the needed disruptive changes, we must sit and craft a pragmatic new deal for Nigeria plus an emergency national infrastructure plan akin to the US Marshall Plan for Europe after the Second World War.”
The Anambra state governor said the government must migrate from the destructive subsidies that benefitted largely the urban elite to a productive social contract that create opportunity for all.
The convocation lecturer said the current situation in Nigeria is not an issue of destiny, and urged everyone including the graduating students to do something about it.
Meanwhile, the pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council of the varsity, Most Rev Dr Matthew Kukah, expressed concern with what he called “the ways uneducated persons hold the country hostage as a result of banditry activities”.
Kukah explained that the consequence of this is that people no longer feel safe in their country while stressing the need to clear the circle for the sake of the younger generations.