Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that President Bola Tinubu inherited an economy that was in a mess from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Mr Shettima stated this at the launch of a book titled ‘Navigating the Politics of Universal Education Policies in Nigeria’ authored by Prof. Modupe Adelabu, a retired professor of Educational Administration at the Department of Educational Management at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
He said that although they were part of the Buhari administration, Mr Shettima said the Tinubu administration is determined to revive the dead economy.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to rally around Mr Tinubu as he works to address the country’s socio-political, economic, and security challenges.
Mr Shettima said: “In President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have a leader that we can invest our trust in. I’m not playing politics, I’m speaking from the heart. I have seen the soul of Bola Tinubu, and he has a good soul.
“He means well for the nation. He wants to live in a place of glory. He is not in power to engage in primitive capital accumulation. He is in power to leave landmarks in the sands of time. He is the most demonised politician in Nigeria.
“The first time I went to his house at Bourdillon, I was looking forward to seeing a mansion comparable to the Buckingham Palace, with gardens, and swimming pools, but there was nothing special about that house. My house in Maiduguri is better than the house in Bourdillon.
“And at the formative stage of the APC, we held a meeting in his house. They served us a variety of meals, but he opted to take garri with groundnuts for lunch. Since I have known him, he has been using only one wristwatch, and in fact, I dress better than him.
“He doesn’t even care. He has overcome all those odds to dress well. So we need to rally around this poor man. He has taken some bold steps. The economy that we met was in a huge mess.
“But it wasn’t for us, we were part of the Buhari administration, we cannot deny that. We belong to the political family. It’s not about apportioning blame, but it’s about finding solutions to our nation’s needs.
“We knew there were challenges. Forget about the politics being played by the Atiku Abubakar and the obedient crowd, they all said they are going to withdraw the fuel subsidy.”
