Nigeria Servicing External Debt With 90% Of Revenue Is Destructive: Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has said the country could not continue to service external debts with 90% of its revenue, as this would only lead to destruction.

Speaking at the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association on Sunday in Abuja, the president shared that his administration has to make some difficult and "painful" changes.

"Can we continue to service external debts with 90% of our revenue? It is a path to destruction," he said, Punch reported. "It is not sustainable. We must make the very difficult changes that are necessary for our country to get up from slumber and be respected among the great nations of the world."

President Tinubu explained that to build a "great nation," it was necessary to make some bold decisions, adding even though those decisions might seem painful right now, eventually it was going to help the future generation.

However, he did not elaborate on the decisions the government planned to take.

He shared there was still hope for Nigeria to become great if there was cooperation and support of the private sector.

The president also addressed the electricity issue in the country and said, it is a "shame."

"Yes, it is a shame not to have adequate electricity for the mass majority of homes in Nigeria and to power our industries," he said. "How can we address poverty without electricity? We can take many people out of poverty with an uninterrupted electricity supply."

Tinubu said poverty should be banished. He also addressed the remuneration for judicial officers in the country and said that true justice reform will start when legal professionals in the country will get good salaries and benefits.

Nigerian Bar Association's President Yakubu Maikyau, who also spoke at the event, expressed his confidence in the president for delivering good governance to the country, praising his term as a governor in Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.

"President Tinubu got it right in Lagos, and it is our considered expectation that as President of Nigeria, you will not only replicate your achievements in Lagos but surpass them for our country," he said.

Since Tinubu took office as the president of the country on May 29, he made a bold decision to remove the fuel subsidy, which skyrocketed the price of petrol and food products. In fact, companies like Uber also increased their fares following subsidy removal.