Labaran Maku, a former minister of information, says President Bola Tinubu should make decisions that will give Nigerians respite from the economic hardship.

Maku spoke in Abuja on Thursday after he was conferred with an honorary fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

The former minister said monetary policies are crucial to the development of the country’s economy.

“I will particularly call on him to do everything possible to review and bring to fruition economic policies that will bring some level of respite to the people of Nigeria,” he said.

“I believe that you have to manage the policies of a developing nation to bring about development, and managing the policies calls for special attention to monetary policies. It is very important for the country.

“If the value of the naira continues to go down, the consequences will be that nobody will produce in Nigeria.

“We are a capital goods importing country, and whatever you want to do for the country, you must have imported machinery. We don’t produce machinery.

“If the value of the naira is up, a lot of companies will be in Nigeria, and I believe a lot are doing so. The president needs to look critically at those policies.

“I believe he has the experience and strength to pull Nigerians together by managing politics and the economy.

“I believe that under the current dispensation, we are looking forward to the proper management of the economy of this country.

“We need this. I was the Minister of Information, and I knew how difficult things could be.”