Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, yesterday, advised the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to take tough and sweeping decisions on key issues militating against Nigeria within three months of inauguration as President.
Specifically, he advised Buhari to re-organise the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and address the oil subsidy controversy that has resulted in lingering fuel scarcity.
Blair spoke at the two-day Policy Dialogue on the Implementation of the Agenda for Change, organised by the Policy Research and Strategy Directorate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Prime Minister, who was represented by the British former Secretary of State, Peter Mandelson, said the incoming administration must take tough decision on major issues at a time it enjoyed widespread goodwill.
Meanwhile, the Vice President-elect, Prof Femi Osinbajo, has declared that the nation’s economy was at its worst moment in history. He put the local and international debts of the nation at $60billion even as he said the country was using N953.6 billion, 21 per cent of the nation’s budget, to service debts.
Decrying the current situation of the country, Blair said a quick and well-tailored policy, was needed and urged the incoming Buhari administration to move swiftly after inauguration to tackle key issues that made Nigerians lose confidence in the government.
He said: “A country like this has extraordinary resources -oil-and has this amazing privilege of source of energy, yet, power generation is not a happy issue. People have to wait for hours queueing to get fuel and end up buying it elsewhere. I think it needs to be addressed.”
The former Prime minister called for more investment from oil revenues in areas that would have long term impact on the welfare of the people. He named such areas as education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and power generation. He emphasised the need to apply revenues from oil better, saying: “They can be invested in a long term good of the country- infrastructure, human capital, education system. This is where the money should be going to.” – The Sun.
