Rabiu, BUA chairman, urges Nigerians to stay patient, says economy getting better

Abdul Samad Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group, says he is confident Nigeria’s economy will get better, adding that the dollar against naira was already crashing.

Rabiu spoke to state house correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu in his office on Tuesday.

Speaking on the economy, Rabiu said the president, although making difficult decisions, has made the right ones because the way the country had been running up until then was unsustainable.

He also urged Nigerians in the business community and the public to be a little more patient with Tinubu’s administration while it attempts to stabilise the foreign exchange market.

“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,” Rabiu said.

“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.”

RABIU INSISTS ‘CEMENT PRICE NOW N3,500’

Rabiu also insisted that BUA Group had slashed the price of its cement from N4,500 to N3,500 per bag.

Last month, Rabiu announced the reduction of the price of BUA cement as part of its contribution to support the federal government’s quest to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.

“It is actually taking effect. The price of cement from BUA Group has been reduced from N4,500 to N3,500 per bag. As a matter of fact, I just discussed the issue of cement with His Excellency, Mr President,” he said.

“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.”

Rabiu said Nigerians should support the president to deliver on his promises and to rebuild the country, as all citizens are yearning to see a better nation.