The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has raised an alarm of coronavirus affecting the revenue of the country.
The President disclosed this while receiving workers in the health sector under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations yesterday, March 10.
Buhari who urged the health workers to moderate their demands on government as it could affect the economy, stated that his administration is looking for different ways to address the challenges the outbreak of the virus poses to the Nigerian economy.
In a statement released by Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, Buhari said;
“Your case is certainly receiving attention, but you must bear in mind the condition that the country is in now. Coronavirus is not improving matters. It is affecting what we very much depend on, the petroleum industry and therefore revenue.
“So, please try and help us with your people. Let us be patriotic, let us look at the ways and means of the government and appeal for restraint…We have to emphasize that it is very important we maintain cohesion together, because if we allow sentiments or popularity to overwhelm our reasoning faculties, we will be in trouble and it will be too late for us to adjust, so please bear with us.”
President Buhari also expressed hope of his administration’s drive for food sufficiency in the last four years, coming in handy with the drop in government revenue.
He added;
“We thank God; God is very sympathetic to us. The three previous rainy seasons were good. We had good foresight in getting fertiliser, making it available and we virtually achieved food security. We made good decisions, and we saved hundreds of millions of dollars on importation of food. If not, we would have been in real trouble.”
