President Bola Tinubu has said his administration’s tough economic reforms are paying off, with policies introduced over the past three years stabilising Nigeria’s economy, strengthening public finances and laying the foundation for sustained economic growth despite the hardship they have imposed on citizens.
He said the reforms, centred on fiscal management, revenue generation and taxation, were designed to rebuild the country’s economic foundation, improve investor confidence and position Nigeria for long-term growth, adding that the positive impact is becoming increasingly evident.
Tinubu stated this on Wednesday while receiving a delegation from Deloitte Africa, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Ruwayda Redfearn, at the State House in Abuja.
According to the President, the reforms have strengthened the country’s fiscal and revenue systems, repositioned financial institutions and enhanced Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global economy.
“Reforms are difficult. It has not been a McDonald’s customer relationship but a harvester of good things, if implemented well, and that is what we are about,” he said.
Tinubu described the reforms as “bitter medicine” that Nigerians have had to endure but maintained that they are delivering the desired outcome.
“The reforms on revenue will continue to stimulate growth. Yes, some issues are difficult to take the bitter medicine, but it is working well. For the economy, Nigeria is making serious foundational progress,” he said.
The President also called on Deloitte Africa to deepen its partnership with Nigeria by supporting investments, youth training and job creation, noting that the firm’s global expertise could help equip young Nigerians with skills needed to drive economic development.
“We are following the example of Deloitte’s greatness to change things from the foundation, building the necessary future for our people,” he stated.
He said Nigeria’s youthful population presents enormous opportunities and expressed confidence in Deloitte’s capacity to help develop the skills required to drive economic growth.
“The family of Deloitte; you just reminded me of my cradle years in accountancy and where I cut my childhood accounting teeth in Chicago. Deloitte has a good training programme, and I believe you will continue to reflect that,’’ the president added.
Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the administration’s fiscal, revenue and tax reforms were strengthening Nigeria’s economic framework and called on Deloitte to support efforts aimed at building the capacity of young Nigerians.
Earlier, Deloitte Africa Chief Executive Officer, Ruwayda Redfearn, commended the Federal Government’s reform agenda and pledged the firm’s support for the administration.
She said Deloitte, with more than 500,000 employees worldwide and over 6,000 across Africa, was ready to deploy its local and global expertise to support Nigeria’s digital and business transformation.
“We are before you to say that we want to serve. We have a local team on the ground that is ready, as well as the global firm, to support you and support your administration as you lead the country,” she said.
Also speaking, Deloitte West Africa Chief Executive Officer, Yomi Olugbenro, said the reforms had laid a solid foundation for economic growth but stressed the need to ensure their benefits reach ordinary Nigerians.
He said the firm’s global experience in supporting governments around the world would be useful in helping Nigeria translate the reforms into tangible gains for citizens.
“We believe that the ground has been solidly laid. There is a need to truly extract more value and deliver the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians on the street. The bigger work is really about how to cascade some of those big reforms further down,” Olugbenro said.