President Bola Tinubu has revealled why he cannot blame his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, for the socio-economic and security challenges facing the country.

While some of the president’s appointees have continued to blame Buhari’s government for the hardship most Nigerians are experiencing, Tinubu says it is not in his character to do so.

Speaking in Minna on Monday, Tinubu restated his commitment to taking the right actions to re-engineer the finances of the country and stay on the right path to achieve progress. 

Tinubu said his concern is not to blame the past governments but to embark on the right reforms to set the nation on the path of prosperity.

“When you read the papers, some of us are confused whether to abuse the present or the past (governments) or make excuses for the future,” the President told the gathering which was graced by governors including the host, Mohammed Umar Bago, as well as agriculture enthusiasts.

“(It’s) not in my dictionary. My focus is to take action now, do your best, re-engineer the finances of the country and stay ahead of the right path. Those who may be complaining now have to understand that perseverance and consistency will make a nation great,” he added.

Nigeria is currently battling mass kidnapping, rising inflation, food inflation, forex crisis, economic hardship and high cost of living occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy, attracting protests in parts of the country.

The Nigerian naira has seen a dip in the last nine months since the Tinubu administration collapsed the foreign exchange window. The naira experienced an all-time low, falling from about N700/$1 last May to over N1500/$1 at the moment.

The authorities have since turned their focus to cryptocurrency platform, while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have embarked on many reforms including revoking the licenses of over 4,000 Bureau de Change operators.

The President encouraged Nigerians to make economic prosperity out of the multifaceted challenges confronting the nation.

“It that time for Nigeria to face the challenge and make it an economic opportunity. We must care for people and harness our farming population, including livestock farming,” he said.