Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
A national leader of the All Progressives
Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to
do more to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians.
He said although the administration had achieved
a lot in the two years of its existence, too many Nigerians were still too poor
to be ignored.
Tinubu made the call in his keynote address at
the public presentation of a book, “Making Steady, Sustainable Progress for
Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity” at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential
Villa, Abuja.
The 360-page book is a mid-term scorecard of the
President Muhammadu Buhari administration authored by the Presidential Media
Team.
The former Lagos State governor said though the
present administration worked hard to fix the country, it must recognised the
situation of millions of people who had been denied for a long time and were
still suffering.
He said, “True, much good has been done by this
government to ignore. However, too many of our people remain too poor and
put-out to ignore as well. Daylight comes but not yet to all and not in equal
measure.
“Due to the neglect of prior governments, our economy
was not allowed to blossom in a way that offered jobs to the poor and empowered
the common man.
“Where prosperity should have stood, poverty was
erected. Where progress should have been established, stagnation assumed
residence. We are trying hard to escape this deep hole.
“While we work towards this good end, we must
recognise the situation of millions of our people. Wrongfully denied for so
long, they suffer still. But we ask them to take heart. Don’t forfeit hope.
Understand that tomorrow will not be as the past when what was built and bought
was not intended for you.
“What we are now building, is meant for you. This
is your government and you will be the beneficiaries of its policies and
programmes. You are no longer the forgotten. You are the hope and promise of a
nation and its future.
“As this government implements its economic
plans, the griping poverty you have long suffered will give way and ultimately
turn into the fertile progress and prosperity that only good governance can
bring. We do this with a sense of urgency!”
Tinubu said the country was racing against
unrelenting time and that a time would come when the nation’s oil would lose
its value and would become “merely liquid beneath our feet.”
He said the government must train its policies to
avert the impending problem, adding that the history of a depressed economy
must not be allowed to repeat itself.
The APC chief noted that some people might
distort his observations to make them appear as pieces of evidence of
“space” between him and Buhari.
“Their evidence will be false and their news
about this will be fake. Mischief never dies. Fortunately, nor does the truth.
“What I proffer today is done in the spirit of
utmost respect and affinity by one who wants the best for this government and
for Nigeria. I say these things to encourage the government to achieve the
greatness the times demand and of which this government is capable,” he said.
While describing the economy as the battlefront
upon which the nation’s fate would be decided, Tinubu observed that the 2018
Budget that was recently presented to the National Assembly would move the
nation farther in the right direction.
He added, “It is a bolder, more creative one than
this government’s earlier editions.
“It shows this government has embraced its
progressive identity despite the chorus of opposition. Also that it more
clearly realises the depths of the economic and financial challenges before us.
“One of the important aspects of this budget is
the capital expenditure for needed infrastructure.
“This investment means the government fully
recognises our economy must grow but that it cannot expand beyond the
parameters of the infrastructural grid that serves it.
“With this book and with the budget we come to
the place where past intersects with the present to interact with the future;
the place where what we do or don’t do will dictate the Nigeria of tomorrow.
“We are inching out of recession but growth must
increase. It is time to lead our people to a place where poverty and hunger
become infrequent and where prosperity and hope are the daily fare of the
common man.”
He called the government’s attention to three key
ideas – the establishment of a robust industrial capacity, the need for a
national infrastructural plan and the need to help common farmers by improving
rural output and incomes.
He urged the government to return to commodity
exchange boards or similar mechanism to allow farmers to secure their income
and hedge against loss.
Tinubu said the nation’s future was one of beckoning
challenge yet potential greatness.
“Through no fault of their own, too many of our
people are without. Too many parents cannot properly feed and clothe their
precious children, too many young adults exist in the void of joblessness, and
too many of us do not have the resources to care for elderly parents who once
cared for them. We must cure these wrongs.
“If I were an architect, I would say that
President Buhari has used the last two years to wisely lay the deep and wide
foundation for a new building called a better Nigeria.
“Today, as I stand before you all, I implore him
and his government. The good you have started…. do it the more. The good that
you have yet to achieve …. get to it with a laser- like focus.
“If we do as we must, we can well together
construct this new building so that it will have place and habitation for those
who have lived outside and on the margins to come in and finally partake of the
bounty and good harvest a proud and true nation has to offer its people,” he
added.
Tinubu calls for true federalism
Tinubu said the nation must move towards true
federalism.
This, he said, should be done by the balance of
power and responsibility between the Federal Government and the states.
“In so doing, we attain the correct balance between
our collective purpose on one hand and our separate grassroots realities on the
other,” he said.
Boko Haram decimated under
Buhari
Tinubu recalled that before the inception of the
present administration the Boko Haram sect wreaked havoc daily.
He said the sect invaded towns and villages,
erasing the peace and normalcy of the people to replace it with wanton
brutality, hatred and death.
“They hoisted their dreadful flag where only the
green and white of Nigeria should have been.
“Today, that evil flag is not planted over an
inch of our precious land. This violent scourge recedes into the darkened
shadows of inhumanity from whence it came.
“People once under its horrid dominion now
breathe the air of freedom and safety.
“Boko Haram has not been completely defeated. But
there is no question, that it has been decimated and made shorter and weaker.
They shall never constitute the threat they once were.
“This is no accident. It is the result of the
policies and commitment of President Buhari, his government and the men and
women of our armed forces who place their lives on the line in silent heroism
to protect this nation and its people.
“Had the previous government remained in place,
Boko Haram would have surely eaten more territory and devoured more people. This
nation might have indeed been divided and cut asunder, not by choice but by the
knife of terrorism,” he said.
Nation’s common wealth squandered under
Jonathan
The former governor also said that the previous
government used the public treasury as a private hedge fund or a charity that
limited its giving only to themselves.
He said, “So much money grew feet and ran away
faster than Usain Bolt ever could. That which could have been spent on national
development was squandered in ways that would cause the devil to blush.
“One minister and her rogues’ gallery picked the
pocket of this nation for billions of dollars. While poor at governance, these
people could give a master thief lessons in the sleight of hand. In
governance, they earned a red card but in the corruption, they won the gold
medal.
“It was not that our institutions had become
infected by corruption. Corruption had become institutionalised.”
He noted that Buhari had set an axe to the
root of corruption which he described as a dangerous tree.
He however admitted that the war against
large-scale corruption had not been won yet.
He said it would take time and countless swings
of the axe to fall such a deeply-rooted tree.
“Gone are the times when a minister can pilfer
billions of dollars as easy as plucking a piece of candy from the table.
“We have much to do to combat this disease.
Not only must we track down the takers. In the long term, we must review the
salaries of public servants and create universal credits for our people to
reduce temptation.
“We must also take greater care by placing people
of character, competence and goodness into key positions. When they fail, they
must be removed without remorse or favour.
“Unlike its predecessor, this government has
demonstrated the will to walk this path. While this might not cause much
fanfare or celebration, this cleanses the institutions upon which a nation’s
wellbeing is founded with a future assured,” he added.
I’ve tackled terrorism, economy is work-in-progress
–Buhari
Meanwhile, President Buhari has said his
administration has succeeded in reversing the affront of members of the Boko
Haram sect who were overrunning troops and encroaching on the nation’s
territorial integrity as of the time he took over from former President
Goodluck Jonathan on May 29, 2015.
He however admitted that the task of revamping
the nation’s economy which exited recession recently remained work-in-progress.
Buhari stated this in the foreword he wrote for a
book, “Making Steady, Sustainable Progress for Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity”
put together by his media team.
Our correspondent on Tuesday obtained an advance
copy of the book, which is the mid-term scorecard of the present
administration, ahead of its public presentation scheduled for Thursday in
Abuja.
In the foreword titled, “Come, let us reflect
together,” Buhari said he was tackling corruption, insecurity and parlous
economy boldly and honestly.
He insisted that he inherited the challenges from
the last administration.
The President said the promise he made, during
electioneering that preceded the 2015 presidential election, to sweep away the
filth that had been standing against national development was not made lightly.
He said, “Part of the attributes of humans as
sentient beings is the gift of reflection, which enables us to ruminate on
issues, challenges, opportunities and situations.
“Reflection is an integral part of human memory;
attempting to detach one from the other is to embark on an impossible mission.
“Reflection is the signpost to our thinking
faculties as it enables us to evaluate where we are coming from, where we are
and where we are headed.
“The administration came into office two years
ago on the promise of change; to sweep away the filth in our national life
which has been standing in the path of our manifest greatness.
“That promise was not made lightly, nor has the
government relented in its commitment to a sacred mandate to better the lot of
the citizenry.
“Corruption, insecurity and the parlous economy
were the challenges inherited at inception. They have been addressed and are
still being addressed boldly and honestly.
“Steadily, the culture of impunity is receding;
the affront of terrorists overawing security troops and encroaching on our territorial
integrity has been reversed. The task of revamping the economy remains
work-in-progress.
“Reflection on the intrinsic link between the
past, the present and the future is useful to help us come to better terms with
the challenges facing us as a people and a country.”
Buhari said every objective observer will agree
with him that in two years, Nigeria has made steady progress under him.
He promised to do more to make steady progress a
permanent feature of the country.
The 348-page book listed the achievements of each
ministry in the two years of the present administration.
It also highlighted the achievements of some key
government agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Code
of Conduct Bureau, Federal Road Safety Commission, Nigeria Customs Service and
the Niger Delta Development Commission, among others.
The book was jointly edited by the Special
Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina; Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu; and the Senior
Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.
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