Chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, has appealed to the business community, as well as private Nigerians to exercise a little more patience with the Bola Tinubu administration as it works to achieve stability in the foreign exchange market.
Alhaji Rabiu, who made the appeal on Tuesday while speaking to journalists at the State House, Abuja, after he met met with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, also maintained that the BUA Group had slashed the price of its cement from N4,500 to N3,500 per bag.
Rabiu, who explained that the President had taken the need step to reset the economy, noted that though it was a hard decision to take, it was the right one because what the nation was operating hitherto was not sustainable, adding that the foreign exchange market had already started showing signs of ease.
On the harsh effect of the reforms introduced by the administration, especially as it affects foreign exchange market, he said “the unification of the Naira (foreign exchange windows) needed to be done, the subsidy removal was needed because we simply could not afford what we were doing.
“So I believe we should just be a bit patient, things are already getting better, if you check you’ll see that the exchange rate in the black market has gone to as high as N1,300 to $1, today, it’s about N1,150 and it will continue to come down.
“A lot of issues, uncertainties and panic, that is settling and we’re seeing a situation where the exchange rate is coming down because once it gets to a level where people are not able to afford it, nobody will buy and if you don’t buy, it will come down.
“So my message is that we should be patient, things will definitely get better. Nigeria is endowed with huge resources, we’re a country of over 220 million people with huge resources across the country.
“If you look at the business we’re in now, the cement business, almost 80% of everything we need to produce cement is here in Nigeria, local and those are the kinds of things we need to encourage mining, agriculture because we have the land, we have the people and we have the climate and the water.
“So all we need to do is to harness these resources that God has endowed us with. I believe that it’s a temporary thing, things will definitely get better, we just need to be patient”, he said.
He called on all Nigerians to come round the President to support him to deliver on his promises and to rebuild the country as all citizens are yearning to see a better nation.
“During my discussions with Mr President, I could see the passion, I could see the burning desire, the commitment in him to deliver, but again, Mr President alone cannot do it, we need to come and support him to ensure that he delivers. I believe I’m speaking the minds of all Nigerians by that.
“As a Nigerian and also as a business owner, I want to see a Nigeria that is stable, a country that is prosperous and we can only achieve that if we come together to support the government, support one another and support Mr President.
“So it is our collective responsibility to do that and I’m sure all Nigerians will agree with me that the support is needed so that we can progress and prosper because without stability, it will be very hard, we’ll not be able to achieve the prosperity we need in this country.
“So for us to prosper, we need to be stable, for us to be stable, we need to come together and support each other, support our government. Nigeria is the only country we have and we must all come together and support one another to ensure that we get the prosperity that we so much desire and deserve”, he said.
On BUA’s promise to slash cement price, he said “it is actually taking effect. The price of cement from BUA Group has been reduced from N4,500 to N3,500 per bag, it is happening, as a matter of fact, I just discussed the issue of cement with His Excellency, Mr President.
“We have two lines that we’ll be commissioning, God willing, by the end of the year. Mr President has agreed to come and commission one of the lines in Sokoto in January, God willing and with that we’ll have additional volumes and once that happens, the price of cement will go down, lower than what it is we have across the country and we’re ready to do that, we’re ready to support”, he said.
On why he was at the Villa, Rabiu said he came to congratulate President Tinubu on his recent victory at the Supreme Court, saying that the ruling had laid all the uncertainties about the presidential election to rest.