Allegations have been made that the Muslim-Muslim ticket put out by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the current government, may be an attempt to islamize Nigeria.
Concerns that the Vice President-elect and Bola Tinubu, his boss, have a plan to destabilize Nigeria have been allayed by Senator Kashim Shettima on Saturday.
Divergent opinions have been expressed since Tinubu named Shettima as his running partner last year. Some claim that the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) might be a plot to Islamize Nigeri
However, the new vice president allayed such concerns by stating that there was no plan to Islamize Africa’s most populous country when appearing at a lecture in Abuja as part of the festivities surrounding Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29.
He identified his boss as a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God who is Muslim and married to a Christian.
“There is no Islamization goal; I was a kid born out of desperation. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a Muslim who is married to a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God who also happens to be a Christian.
People are implying that someone who has not islamized his family intends to islamize the country, the speaker said.
The newly elected vice president said that he specifically chose an Igbo guy of Catholic religion to serve as his chief security officer.
He also chose a Northerner to be his Aide De Camp (ADC), citing inclusion and cohesion as the reasons for his choice.
“Perception is key in politics. I purposely chose an Igbo guy who is a Catholic to be my Chief Security Officer as we start the construction of a new government, he said.
“Again, I purposefully chose a Northern Christian to be my ADC in order to foster inclusion and unity. Therefore, the alleged Boko Haram founder would get protection from…
Eliminate Fuel Subsidy
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, also spoke at the event and criticized the Federal Government’s gasoline subsidy program, claiming it solely benefited the wealthy.
Adesina bemoaned the fact that Nigeria’s economy was being killed by the ongoing subsidization of petroleum goods and said that only in 2022, fuel subsidies consumed $10 billion.
He said that Nigeria continues to borrow money for purposes for which it shouldn’t be doing so and suggested that this money be used for national development instead.
“Removing the wasteful gasoline subsidy is obviously where we should start. Fuel subsidies in Nigeria help the wealthy at the cost of the poor, he said, fueling their unending fleet of automobiles as well as the government’s.
According to estimates, just 3% of gasoline is used by the poorest 40% of the population.
Fuel subsidies are harming Nigeria’s economy and would cost it $10 billion by 2022, according to the economist. Therefore, Nigeria is taking on debt that it does not need.
