Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria was on the verge of collapse under former President Muhammadu Buhari before President Bola Tinubu’s government came in to save the country.
Mr Shettima spoke to journalists on Saturday after visiting the president in Lagos following his return from holiday in Europe.
“We are quite thrilled that he’s back on the beat,” he said.
Echoing the presidency’s justification of Mr Tinubu’s delayed return, he said advances in science and technology had made impactful leadership possible from anywhere.
Mr Shettima said Nigerians should be kind towards Mr Tinubu, who he said had saved the collapsing economy inherited from Mr Buhari.
“It is absolutely essential that Nigerians need to be generous to this poor man,” he said.
He said the economy was “tethering on the verge of collapse” when Mr Tinubu assumed office in 2023.
“When we assumed the mantle of leadership, our foreign reserves was a staggeringly low $3.9 billion that was not enough to import fuel for one month,” he said.
He said the president had the courage to take far-reaching decisions that saved the economy and the nation.
Mr Shettima said the government was aware of the hardship triggered by its policies and was working to ease the pain.
“We appreciate the pain Nigerians are going through. But tough times do not last forever. Tough people do,” he said.
