President Bola Ahmed Tinubu weekend tasked researchers and all tetiary institutions to come up with home-grown solutions to the current socio-economic challenges in the country.
He gave the task at the 34th and 35th convocation ceremonies of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).
President Tinubu called on captains of industry to collaborate with researchers and higher institutions of learning in the country to explore outputs for the development of the nation and the citizenry.
Tinubu who was represented by Professor Wahaab Egbewole, SAN, vice chancellor, University of Ilorin, declared that with the cooperation of all stakeholders in the university community, stable academic calendar is possible.
He said: “Our tertiary and research institutions are much more relevant at this time. The present economic situation in our country requires our institutions to join our efforts towards giving better life to our people and making for ourselves a prosperous nation.
“The government is expecting home-grown solutions to our common problems. I encourage all our researchers to bring up their research outputs that will improve the well-being of our people.
“Let me at this juncture call on the organised private sector to collaborate with our research institutions with a view to developing and replicating our research outputs for the benefits of our citizens and improvement of the economy. Let us intensify the training of our students, especially for enterprise, and together, we shall move our nation forward.
“As you are all aware, we took the baton of authority at a time when our economy was nose-diving as a result of heavy debts from fuel and dollar subsidies. The subsidies were meant to support the poor and make life better for all Nigerians.
“We are all aware of the fact that the poor and average Nigerians were the sufferers of what was supposed to give them succour and improved standard of living. Unfortunately, the good life we thought we were living was a fake one that was capable of leading the country to a total collapse unless drastic efforts were urgently taken.”
The president noted that the need to salvage the future of children, and bring the country back from the brink of collapse necessitated the strategic decisions to remove the fuel subsidy and also unify the exchange rates.
He said: “I am not unaware of the consequences of the tough decisions on our people. I sincerely wish there could be softer options.
“The results of the policies are already yielding the expected results. The macro-economy of our dear country is improving by the day and beyond expectations. The micro-economy, which directly affects our citizens, is also taking shape gradually with positive results.”
