The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has urged Nigerians to remain hopeful, saying President Bola Tinubu’s policies to transform the country were already yielding results.

Mr Bagudu said this at a National Policy Summit in Abuja, organised by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu(P-BAT) Academics and Professionals.

The minister said that the president had not relented on his oars since assumption of office, ” working within the resources available.

He stated, “These P-BAT academicians came together to say, what can we do for our country? This is really humbling and encouraging to all of us that we should not just lament but come together to put our best brilliance to draw the government’s attention to what can be done better.

“This is what the president has invited Nigerians to do to ensure that they take ownership of the government and keep public officials on their toes by asking questions, especially because we took measures that are not convenient but demanded.

“Sometimes, in order to rebuild, you have to live with some inconveniences. Our country, Nigeria, is a great and blessed country, but for decades, particularly under democracy, Nigeria has been literally on a tiny budget.”

The minister added, “The highest our budget has been is less than $40 billion. Of all the countries in the world with populations of 150 million and above, we are the ones with the smallest budget.”

According to Mr Bagudu, a study by the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation and Development reveals that Singapore spends between £20,000 and £27,000, followed by the United States, where different states spend between $10,000 and $14,000.

 “This is followed by Brazil, Mexico, and China spending between $4,000 and $800 and $5000 to $700. The study went further to extrapolate that for you to have a good primary education system, you need to be spending at least $700.

“This calls for a fundamental rethink, and to achieve this, we need those blessed with that capacity to contextualise beyond the polity so as to quit the blame game, which is what the president is doing,” he said.

Mr Bagudu also said insightful leaders needed to accept the challenge and take on new ideas. He said Nigerians had a reason to be optimistic because they had found a leader in Tinubu who had succeeded before in a leadership capacity to transform Lagos from what it used to be through inclusive leadership.

“Today, there is a cry for inclusion across the country, and we have a leader who believes in inclusion and has practised it in Lagos by creating a state that worked for all, carrying everyone along and giving them the opportunity to excel.

“All that is needed is a support system for Tinubu to work. His policy to move the economy from less than N500 billion GDP to a trillion naira GDP in three years requires boldness and requires risk-taking with the support of his leadership.

“The decision to remove fuel subsidy is a necessary step. As painful as it may be, that needed to be done to lead to a greater tomorrow. So, some of the measures being taken, particularly under the leadership of the president, are measures we believe will lead to a greater tomorrow.

(NAN)