President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed that his administration is 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.
Tinubu, who spoke at the 48th convocation ceremony of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State yesterday, implored Nigerians to be patient with his government.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Economy, Dr. Tope Fasua, the President said: “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.
“Fellow Nigerians, 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.
“However, we were 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.”
He continued: “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.”
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, charged 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,” she said.
She lamented the high number of okada (commercial motorcycle) operators in Ile-Ife, saying: “I was telling the Ooni about the too many okada. We don’t see that in UNILAG.
“I spoke with other awardees and other young billionaires on the need to get shuttle buses to check the okada menace.”
The Chancellor of the University, Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, posited 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, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso, admonished the 977 post graduates to deploy the knowledge to continue to build a nation full of opportunities for the coming generation.
