Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has succeeded in putting an end to the regimes of volatility and unpredictability that once characterised Nigeria’s economy.
He said global economic uncertainties, “shocks, shifting alliances, and the rapid displacement of traditional jobs by emerging technologies” had compelled the administration to act daringly.
Shettima, who stated this on Tuesday in Abuja when he declared open the Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition 2025, noted that the ongoing reforms undertaken by the present administration are already stabilising the economy, just as they have inspired investors’ confidence.
Citing Fitch upgrade of Nigeria’s sovereign rating to B with a stable outlook, and Moody’s lifting of the nation’s issuer rating to B3 with a stable outlook as instances of the global acclaims the country is getting, Shettima said “the world is taking note of the steady course the nation is maintaining.”
“What this administration has achieved is to end the regimes of volatility and unpredictability that once defined our economy. The phase before us now is to ensure that these macroeconomic gains trickle down to the people, from the kiosks of our neighbourhood traders to the boardrooms of our multinational corporations.
“We did what we have done because we can no longer apply 20th-century solutions to 21st-century problems,” he declared.
The former governor of Borno State expressed delight with the conference and exhibition, saying it is an “affirmation of innovation for a sustainable digital future that accelerates growth, inclusion, and global competitiveness.”
Shettima observed that the vision of the conference and exhibition with the theme, “Innovation for a Sustainable Digital Future: Accelerating Growth, Inclusion, and Global Competitiveness,” aligns with President Tinubu’s economic reform agenda because the future the administration is building “is one where the young Nigerian takes the front seat, sits at the decision-making table, and has a voice in shaping our destiny.”
The VP stated that the watchword for Nigeria’s long-term stability is digital, noting that the nation must set its priorities right if it must move beyond the quick wins of simple apps to building deep-tech solutions that address foundational challenges in agriculture, health, logistics, and governance.
“We need a digital ecosystem that works as seamlessly in Lagos as it does in Abuja, in Port Harcourt, in Kano, in Gusau, and across every corner of our nation. The digital success we seek is one where the farmer in Bida can access real-time market data to sell his harvest at a fair price, where a young woman in Oguta can work remotely for a global company because she has connectivity and the skills to compete,” Shettima said.
The Vice President pointed out that Nigeria cannot keep lamenting its “absence at the table in the previous Industrial Revolutions” when the current digital wave has offered the nation “a redemptive opportunity to define its own terms in the next chapter of global progress.”
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said enabling digital policies being implemented by the Tinubu administration are on course to boost the country’s digital infrastructure.
He invited relevant stakeholders to use the platform to deepen collaboration so that Nigeria can stand as a global model for technology adaptation.
