President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s economy was unbalanced and in desperate need of reform for decades.

Tinubu said this in his speech on the 2024 Democracy Day on Wednesday, June 12.

The president stated that the reforms initiated by his administration were intended to create a stronger and better foundation for future growth, adding that the reforms were necessary to fix the nation’s economy.

He said: “I understand the economic difficulties we face as a nation.

“Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.

“The reforms we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship.

“Yet, they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour.

Naira trades N1,473/$ at official market

“As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.”

President Tinubu further stated that democracy is neither a foreign nor abstract concept devoid of real-life meaning for Nigerians, saying: “Neither can we afford to reduce or minimalise it to being nothing but the mere holding of periodic elections where one candidate and party outdo another.

“While elections attract dramatic attention, they are but one aspect of democracy. Democracy is a way of life that encompasses a broad outlook of which elections are but a part. As such, a nation can have elections without being democratic. But a nation cannot be truly democratic without holding elections.

“True democracy shines its light into the daily lives of the people who live under its nurturing wings. It affords us the freedom and liberty to think as we want, live where we want and pursue whatever legitimate endeavour that suits us.

“Democracy does not assume some false or forced unity of opinion. In fact, democracy assumes that conflicting ideas and differing opinions shall be the order of the day. Given the diversity and variety of the human experience, there must be diverse perspectives and viewpoints.

What democracy demands is that we do not resolve differences through force and repression. But we make allowance for the legitimacy of views that differ from our own.”

The Star