By Yadnom Awu/ Asaba
A security consultant and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Lucky Ehiwuogwu Monye, has held that the policies of the APC -led Federal Government (FG) under the Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency were in Nigeria s best long-term interest.
He acknowledged that the reform principle inherent in the policies could initially trigger and sustain discomfort for the citizens, but said it was meant to restructure existing policies in line with the goals of sustainability and cost – efficiency.
Monye, the Managing Director of Monaco Ventures Nigeria Limited, spoke in an interview by telephone from Agbor, seat of Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, on Tuesday.
The private security consultant affirmed that , just as elsewhere, the reforms were bound to cause short and medium- term discomfort for the citizens , but stressed that the goal of cost- efficiency inherent in them would whittle public waste, promote transparency and ultimately beat down the cost of goods and services in the affected sectors of the general economy.
Monye named the core areas of the effective reforms of the Federal Government to include taxation, ease of doing business, the petrol distribution sector, health and education where, he said, the introduction of a soft loan programme for higher education seekers had benefitted hundreds of thousands of those who would otherwise not have the privilege for reason of inadequate means.
According to him, the Federal Government ‘s prompt full removal of subsidy on petrol, which he described as inevitable if Nigeria must survive economically, would ultimately ensure the steady availability of the product and ensure a drastic fall in its price, over the long term.
Monye said that while the government continued to make slow but steady gains in its battle with insurgents, terrorists , kidnappers and other criminals, its strategic huge investments in the health sector by the upgrade of selected teaching hospitals and the massive ongoing retrofitting of primary healthcare centres would positively impact the lives of the ordinary Nigerians , in the long term.
He commended the Tinubu- led Federal Government for the courage to take some of the painful but inevitable reforms needed to curb public waste and structure the economy in a way to ultimately yield enhanced benefit for the country, rather than a few privileged citizens.
He lamented that previous administrations lacked the courage to initiate the reforms that President Tinubu had begun to undertake in the overall national interest.
Aside from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chief Executive of Monaco Ventures singled out Engr. Dave Umahi for commendation for his revolutionary initiatives in road construction.
The security consultant called on Nigerians to be patient with the Federal Government in the light of the harsh economic realities triggered by the inevitable reforms, and to cooperate with it to entrench an economy that works sustainably for the generality of Nigerians, rather than a privileged few.
Monye said that every advanced country had at a time in its history contended with what Nigeria was currently passing through in its development journey.
