President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said that it has never been in his character to inflict pains and hardship on fellow Nigerians.
President Tinubu, who spoke at the 48th convocation ceremony of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State yesterday, December 14, said: “I am not unaware of the harsh economic situation of our country, neither do I take pleasure in inflicting pains and anguish on my compatriots.”
The President, who was by his Special Adviser on Economy, Dr. Tope Fasua, appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his government.
He said that his government has been working to ensure that the country works in favour of every citizen by correcting the mistakes made by past administrations.
He stressed that his government will not embark on blame game but ready to change the country for better through his economic reforms.
“Our reform policies were aimed at making Nigeria work for everyone, but the pains that come with the reform must be endured in the meantime.”
Tinubu admitted that the country is faced with the stark reality of results of some policies hitherto executed by past administrations but which had no direct positive impact on the generality of our people.
“We have gladly accepted the assets and liabilities of our heroes past without any intention of apportioning blames or pointing an accusing finger at any individual or group of people.
“As we are trying to fix, reconfigure and correct past mistakes and errors, we implore all Nigerians to cooperate with us, to endure this unintentional hardship so that, like the graduates of today, we all can celebrate and be celebrated at the end of the day. I am certainly seeing the light at the end of our tunnel.”
This was even as the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, advised the graduating students to think outside the box so as to seize the opportunities that would be coming their ways.
“I charge you all to think out of the box to seize the opportunities coming into the country. We must accept that things will be done differently to achieve meaningful development.”
The Chancellor of the University and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, said that the backbone of every nation is its investment in education which will drive its developmental drive in the competitive world.
Also, the Pro-Chancellor, Professor Siyan Oyeweso, called on the 977 post graduates to deploy the knowledge to continue to build a nation full of opportunities for the coming generation.
