I Was Prepared For Resistance After Taking Difficult Decisions — Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has disclosed that he stopped reading newspapers and commentaries at the height of public criticism against his administration’s economic reforms, saying he was prepared for resistance after taking what he described as difficult but necessary decisions.

Tinubu spoke yesterday during a session at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where he defended the removal of fuel subsidy and other reforms introduced by his administration since assuming office.

The president said the reforms were painful but necessary to prevent Nigeria’s economy from collapsing.

“The reform is a very difficult decision, but necessary for the country. We cannot continue to spend our future generations’ endowment before they were born. It is very necessary to reset, recalibrate and reform the economy,” he said.

According to him, fuel subsidy had become unsustainable and encouraged corruption, smuggling and falsification.

“It is a fake life to think you can, in a global economy, continue the subsidy that is wasteful. It’s an encouragement to falsification of papers, smuggling, and that is a very critical situation for the country,” Tinubu stated.

The president said the country was already facing severe economic challenges before the reforms were introduced.

“When you look at the economic problem of the country, you see that you are almost going bankrupt.

“States, of the 36 states, 27 of them were unable to pay the salaries of the workers. Where is the money? You are oil producing, you are earning, you are given fuel. You have no refinery that is functional.

“It is not possible to continue that trend,” he said.

Tinubu likened the reform process to childbirth, saying painful sacrifices were necessary to achieve long-term benefits.

“It is difficult, it is painful, but it is just like the human reproduction process. A woman carries a pregnancy, enjoys the pain of labor, and has a very big smile when she sees a live child,” he added.

Speaking on the backlash that followed the reforms, Tinubu said he deliberately ignored criticisms and media commentary in order to stay focused on his administration’s objectives.

“First, I took hard decisions, regardless of pain. Stopped reading newspapers and commentary because I knew I was going to get a big pushback. And I did,” he said.

The president added that despite the initial difficulties, the reforms were beginning to yield positive results.

“I was sitting on a hot burner. But we made the curve. Today there is a very bright light at the end of the corner.

“The economy is stable. Nigeria is stable. Predictable. Planners can do a reasonable budget. They can plan their lives well,” he stated.

Tinubu also said his administration was supporting vulnerable Nigerians through direct cash transfers and educational assistance.

“The vulnerable are being helped. We are afraid that direct transfer to very poor households, right now going on, are able to support education.

“For those students, ordinarily, who stay out of school because their parents cannot afford school fees, they are now, I’m even giving them allowances and off-kips for their school,” he said.

The president defended taxation as essential for national development, arguing that citizens cannot demand infrastructure and public services without contributing revenue.

“Nobody wants to pay taxes ordinarily. Nobody. Taxation is not friendly to the wealthy, to the middle class, and to the poor. Every human being expects development.

“But the question they don’t answer is, how do you pay for it?” he asked.

Tinubu added that his administration would continue to pursue reforms and infrastructure development, stressing that governance requires difficult decisions taken at the right time.

“The philosophy I came with in governance is believing that the hallmark of a transformative leader is the ability to take decisions, do what you do, at the time it has to be done on behalf of the people,” he said.