Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has said that the past 100 days of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has been very encouraging, witnessing different achievements and various initiatives put in place by the Federal Government.
The deputy governor stated this on Thursday at a special prayer organized to commemorate the first 100 days in office of President Tinubu, held at the Lagos Central Mosque, Lagos Island, Lagos, noting that judiciary and tax reform, education upgrade, among others were parts of the initiatives and the achievements recorded by the Tinubu administration.
“We can see judiciary reform, tax reform, education upgrade, which are part of the many things this administration has done,” he said.
Dr. Hamzat, however, said Nigerians had cause to give thanks to God for sustaining the country as there were many countries that no longer exist.
According to him, Nigerians have enormous reasons to thank God, pointing that the country was peaceful, despite the challenges facing her which are not unusual with human beings as with every nation and which needed to be solved being the essence of the government.
The deputy governor cited examples of Sweden, Libya, Iraq and many other countries that were currently undergoing different challenges, adding that Somalia used to be a beautiful country before, but today is facing her own challenges.
“First of all, our country is peaceful, though we are encountering challenges which are not unusual with human beings and we are to solve problems, so every nation has challenges and that is the essence of the government to face those challenges and to tackle them,” Hamzat said.
Justifying the Fuel Subsidy removal, Dr. Hamzat said 93 per cent of the nation’s revenue was used for debt payment concerning the said subsidy, making the to become “almost bankrupt.”
According to him, subsidy payment for fuel consumed more money than the Ministry of Works and Education put together, saying that what the government was saying was that “let’s find another means” as the Fuel Subsidy payment was “not sustainable as a nation.”
“As we all know, fuel subsidy consume more money than the Ministry of Works and Education put together. So what the government is saying is that it is not sustainable as a nation, let’s find another means and that’s what they are doing,” he said.
On the achievements made in the state, the deputy governor noted that a lot of initiatives had been put in place, particularly the Blue Line Rail, reiterating that the project took a lot of time because the state undertook the total expenditure.
“Lagos State government is the only sub-sovereign that is funding rail from its balance sheet, no other sub-sovereign has done it anywhere in the world, it took a lot of financial engineering for us to build it,” Dr. Hamzat said.
He, however, disclosed that the Red Line Rail would soon commence service, saying that it is more massive and will run from Agege all the way to Ejigbo and Yaba with 10-minute intervals.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Baba Adinni of Lagos, Sheikh Abdul Hafeez Abou, who was represented by the Bashorun of Lagos, Alhaji Sikiru Alabi-Macfoy, stated that the purpose of the event was to give thanks to the Almighty Allah for the first 100 days of the administration of President Tinubu.
He equally pointed out that Nigeria had witnessed a lot of transformation and policy reviews in the last 100 days of Tinubu’s administration, which he said would yield positive results for the citizens and country in due course.
“If God blesses you, one needs to be grateful to God. We have seen what the government has done within these 100 hundred days and we are here to thank Him and offer prayers for this administration,” Sheikh Abou said.
The Muslim cleric, however, charged Nigerians to continue to pray for the president to enable him to come up with policies and reforms that would be in the best interest of Nigerians and bring comfort to them.
Abou also commended the administration of Governor Sanwo-Olu for the successes recorded so far in the state in the last 100 days, citing the recent commencement of the commercial Blue Rail Line which he said would reduce traffic in the state and the sharing of palliative to the most vulnerable in the state to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
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