The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has alleged that past political leaders were not as courageous as President Bola Tinubu in charting a veritable pathway to economic development for the country. He spoke in Abuja at the 2026 NRS-MSMD Joint Stakeholder Sensitization (North Central), according to a statement by the Minister’s Head(Press and Public Relations Department), Kania Maliki, on Thursday.
He reassured that the ongoing reforms by the President are aimed at resetting the Nigerian economy. According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration in 2023 stopped the economy from crashing. It was themed “From Resource to Revenue: Aligning Solid Minerals Operations with the 2025 Tax Reform Act.” The Minister traced Nigeria’s economic decline pre-Tinubu’s administration to a shift from local production in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s to heavy Importation.
Dr. Alake noted that societal shift towards a consumptive mentality led to heavy importation of goods that could be produced locally, which in turn led to the closure of factories and job losses in the country. The Importations, he said, weakened the naira, stressing that the naira’s strength was stronger up to the early 1980s, Reflecting on the strength of the naira in the early 1980s, he said that the official exchange rate of $1 was 52 kobos, while at the black market it was $1 to 80 kobos.
“We were importing everything importable, including toothpicks, including orange juice. Things that we could produce internally that we were producing before, when our currency was strong. “I was privileged to have lived in this country when the naira was strong, and in the early 80s, I bought $1 for 80 kobos.
$1 for 80 kobo, that wasn’t even the official rate. Then the official rate was 52 kobo,” he added He criticised past leadership for failing to address the challenges, which led to spending up to $600 million on items such as wigs and a reliance on borrowing to pay salaries.