Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria was one the verge of collapse under former late President Muhammadu Buhari before President Bola Tinubu government came to save the country.

Mr Shettima, who visited the President in Lagos after the latter’s return from vacation in Europe, said on Saturday, “We are quite thrilled that he’s back on the beat.”

Echoing the presidency’s justification of Mr Tinubu’s delayed return to the country, Mr Shettima said, “Advances in science and technology have made it possible to really have impactful leadership wherever one might find himself.”

Mr Shettima stated Nigerians should be kind towards Mr Tinubu, who saved the collapsing economy he inherited from his predecessor, Mr Buhari.

“It is absolutely essential that Nigerians need to be generous to this poor man,” Mr Shettima said, adding that the economy was “tethering on the verge of collapse” when Mr Tinubu assumed office in 2023.

“When we assumed the mantle of leadership, our foreign reserves was a staggeringly low $3.9 billion that was not enough to import fuel for one month. He had the courage and the conviction to take power-reaching decisions. He saved the economy. I want Nigerians to understand this fundamental truism. We were on the road to Caracas; he saved our economy; he saved the nation from falling into pieces,” Mr Shettima said.

The vice president further said the government was aware of the economic hardship triggered by its policies and making moves to ameliorate the pain on Nigerians.

“We appreciate the pain Nigerian are going through. But tough times do not last forever. Tough people do. The government is rolling our programmes and project to assuage the pain of our people,” Mr Shettima said.