President Bola Tinubu says his administration is rewriting Nigeria’s decades-long story of economic underperformance through far-reaching reforms designed to unlock the country’s enormous economic potential.

Mr Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, stated this on Monday at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja. The president said his administration began its tenure with difficult economic decisions to address structural challenges that had hindered Nigeria’s growth and development for decades.

“There is no shortcut to economic growth,” the president said, stressing that the government had embarked on a difficult economic reset to build a sustainable foundation for national prosperity.

According to him, the administration is pursuing its original mission of transforming Nigeria’s economic fortunes and reversing years of performance below the country’s potential.

“We came to rewrite the story of a nation that has performed below its potential for far too long,” Mr Tinubu said, explaining that the reforms were necessary to dismantle longstanding economic barriers, strengthen national productivity and create opportunities for Nigerians across different sectors.

The president said rescuing the economy involved more than improving economic indicators, noting that the ultimate objective was to improve livelihoods and expand opportunities for citizens.

“For us, rescuing the economy means rescuing livelihoods and transforming the fortunes of young jobseekers, farmers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and innovators,” he said.

Mr Tinubu stressed that economic stability remained essential to harnessing the opportunities presented by Nigeria’s growing population and abundant human and natural resources.

“We cannot harness the immense opportunities offered by our growing population without first stabilising the economy,” he said.

He said the administration had created conditions for the public and private sectors to invest, expand their operations and generate productive employment.

According to him, the government has introduced reforms to dismantle structural barriers that prevented the country’s resources from translating into widespread prosperity.

“These reforms are restoring confidence, strengthening our economic foundations and laying the groundwork for sustainable growth,” the president said.

Mr Tinubu said the administration was encouraged by the progress recorded so far, adding that the next phase required greater attention to productivity, employment quality and the effective utilisation of the workforce. He stressed the need to improve work quality, reduce underemployment, and harness the potential of Nigeria’s underutilised workforce.

The president said sustainable prosperity would require greater productivity from workers, businesses and investments across the economy.

“Our pursuit of prosperity demands greater productivity from every worker, enterprise and investment,” he said.

He noted that the government must assess infrastructure investments based on the economic activities they generate, while education should be evaluated by the skills and productivity it delivers.

“We must judge infrastructure by the economic activity it generates and education by the skills and productivity it delivers,” Mr Tinubu said.

(NAN)