The Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima has urged citizens across the country to remain clam despite the prevailing challenges, assuring that the President Bola Tinubu’s led-administration is determined to fix the nation’s challenges.
Shettima stated this on Wednesday in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital during the opening ceremony of the Nasarawa Investment Summit 2026, slated for May 6 to May 7.
He explained that as of the time Tinubu took over power in 2023, the nation was plunged into dept servicing which was a huge burden on the nation.
The Vice President, however, stated that following the various economic reforms of the current administration, the country has been able to record successes in all sectors of the nation’s economy, noting that as a result, state governors across the country now embark on infrastructural projects without having to borrow funds.
He said, “When this administration came into office in 2023, Nigeria was at the edge of a fiscal trap. But President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a man of honour. Instead of blaming the previous administration, he took the bold decision to work for the nation.
“As I said, Nigeria was at the edge of a fiscal trap. Debt service had consumed about 96% of revenue. The old order had rewarded arbitrage modern production. Oil subsidies and exchange rate distortion had become feeding bottles for privileged intermediaries, while the public treasury was top of the revenue required to build roads, fund schools, support states, and protect the vulnerable.”
According to him, Tinubu’s administration is currently laying the foundation for an economy that rewards production, protects enterprise, and gives states the room to become engines of growth.
He, therefore, appealed to the citizens irrespective of religious, tribal or political backgrounds to give the administration the needed support to succeed.
Speaking on the Nasarawa Investment Summit 2026 tagged “Bold Transitions, Building a Legacy for a Sustainable Future,” Shettima commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for priotising investments for the state, noting that through the numerous investments attracted within the past seven years, Nasarawa State has now become an investment destination for many.
He said, “Over the past seven years, Nasarawa has pursued development with a calm conviction of a state that knows where it is going. A government such as this is a meeting point of ideas and capital.
“Governor Abdullahi Sule is a good man. I am absolutely certain that the people of Nasarawa State will miss him. I have no doubt that Nasarawa is an answer to every investment dilemma. It has land, it has minerals, it has proximity, it has agriculture, it has energy prospects, and most importantly, it has a government that understands the consequences of energy.”
According to him, the greatest gift any leader can leave is the certainty that progress will survive after him.
The VP therefore urged governor Sule to work towards ensuring that his successor in 2027 continues the good works he has been doing in the state.
On his part, Governor Abdullahi Sule said the 2026 summit marks the final investment forum under his administration and represents a defining moment for the state’s economic trajectory.
He described it as “a strategic platform to consolidate on the existing gains and chart a pathway for the next phase of economic transformation.”
Sule recalled that the 2022 ‘Diamond in the Rough’ edition introduced Nasarawa’s natural resources and proximity to Abuja to investors, while the 2024 ‘Industrial Renaissance’ shifted focus to agriculture, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure.
The current edition, he said, is designed to protect and embed reforms in durable institutions so that progress endures beyond individual administrations.
“A key concern is that political transitions can create uncertainty for investors, particularly when reforms are tied to specific leaders rather than embedded in institutional frameworks. “Maintaining investor confidence requires clear signals that policy, regulatory systems and contractual commitments will remain stable and predictable,” Sule said.
