President Bola Tinubu says his administration has rescued the Nigerian economy from bankruptcy.

Tinubu said this during a meeting on Wednesday in Saint Lucia. The meeting was organised by The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission Chairman, Abike Dabiri-Erewa. It involved various Nigerian professionals and students living in Saint Lucia.

According to a statement stated by Bayo Onanuga the President’s Special Adviser (Information and Strategy), Tinubu said, “We inherited a country that was near bankruptcy. But we have been able to rescue the economy. Nigeria has recovered. We have made the smuggling of our oil unattractive. We have stopped chasing forex papers at the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

Tinubu admitted that Nigeria’s per capita income is low, but said his administration was working to improve it.

The Nigerian leader also said that, based on what his hosts told him, Nigerians in Saint Lucia have demonstrated good character. He urged them to continue to be good ambassadors of Nigeria.

He said: “My plea to you all: continue to be of good behaviour, don’t break the law.”

Sharing his experience as a student in the United States five decades ago, President Tinubu urged the Saint Lucian Nigerians to remain focused and work hard.

“Life is about working hard, being consistent, he said.. “For the professionals living here, our government will not abandon you. But you must work hard. It is our job to help you succeed.”

The NIDCOM chairman, on her own part, said Nigeria is proud of what Nigerians contributed to Saint Lucia and hoped they would remember home.

The statement said Smart Okeudili Duah, President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO, informed the Nigerian leader of some of the problems Nigerians are encountering, particularly the cost of a work permit, which is $2,500 yearly.

He also urged the President to establish a diplomatic presence in Saint Lucia as urgently as possible, a plan President Tinubu has already committed to.

Onanuga’s statement further noted that Father Festus Iwuagwu, a Nigerian priest resident in Saint Lucia, said the high turnout at the meeting indicated Nigerians’ love and respect for President Tinubu.

Doctor Olugbemisola Ogunlusi, who moved to Saint Lucia after graduating as a paediatrician at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, said she was happy President Tinubu visited Saint Lucia.

In the statement stared by Onanuga, it was said Ogunlusi and her husband migrated to the country 19 years ago and raised children who are medical doctors. However, her husband returned home and appointed the chief medical director of one of the new federal medical centres.

“Since you arrived, you have propagated Nigeria more than ever thought”, she told President Tinubu. She wished President Tinubu a safe journey home.

The Nigerians, the statement said, gifted the President a portrait in his image, made by Doris, a medical student and artist.