The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lagos State

  • Transport unions urged to shun thuggery, violence

    A Lagos-based Islamic Scholar, Alhaji Abdul-Hakeem Baya, has appealed to Nigerian Union of Transporters and their members to shun thuggery and violence for peace to continue reigning in Lagos State and in the country.

    He said violence does not solve solution rather than to compromise the society’s peace and harmony which always have adverse effects on economic growth.

    Alhaji Baya urged the union leaders to embrace unity and monitoring their members’ activities to ensure the spirit of God dwell in them.

    The Islamic scholar spoke at the birthday ceremony of a leader of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Adekunle Lawal (aka Kunle Poly) in Apongbon Area of Lagos State.

    Read also: NURTW tussle: Oyo artisans appeal to Auxiliary, Ejiogbe to eschew violence

    The event was well attended by dignitaries across the country. Police and other security agencies mounted every corner of the ground to ensure maximum security of lives and properties.

    The two-in-one event was used by the NURTW leader to commission his multi-million residential house built in Lagos Island.

    March 23 made it exactly a year that Kunle Poly handed over the ultra-modern mosque in Apongbon area of Lagos Island.

    The event featured prayers and tributes from those that present, among them were executives of a non-governmental group, 30Billion Gang.

    Kunle Poly, it was gathered  is a member of 30Billion Gang group and the group, according to its President, Alhaji Yusuf Mohammed, was established to use their treasures and talents to assist the less-privileged people in the society.

    He said the group was established with some likeminds people to contribute their quotas in uplifting the less-priviledged people in the society.

    He described Kunle Poly as a honest and diligent man who has passion for assisting the needies. He prayed that God will continue to protect him, his family and all his followers.

    His first daughter, Fathia Lawal described him as the best father in the universe. She said Kunle Poly is a disciplinarian, loving and caring father. She prayed for long life and more prosperity for her father.

  • ‘I will provide democracy dividends for all my constituents’

    A House of Representatives member-elect on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson, said his emergence to represent Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 1 in the National Assembly has conferred on him a responsibility for the entire members of his constituency, irrespective of party affiliation.

    His words: “My emergence has shown that my responsibility is to take care of the whole constituency. I will take care of those who voted for me and those who did not vote for me. My opponent and those who voted for me are my responsibility. The whole domain is my constituency. I have a responsibility to extend dividend of democracy to everybody; it was not only the APC that voted for me, it was the electorate that voted for me.”

    Speaking to reporters in Lagos, Johnson said he would serve the people, provide dividends of democracy by empowering the youths, through skill acquisition and provision of soft loans to kick off.

    He also promised to attend to the elderly, students and improve on the infrastructural needs of the constituents by lobbying the executives and other stakeholders.

    Read also: APC House of Reps elect Dies in Kano

    While appreciating the electorate for their support in the first election and the rerun election, he pointed out that the APC had a relationship with Lagosians. He the party’s clinching of all the 40 seats at the House of Assembly simply means that it had a connection with the people and that as a party its word was its bond.

    Expressing confidence in the electoral process, he commended Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a successful election, noting that there was improvement over the last presidential and National Assembly elections.

    He said that all the lapses of the first elections were improved upon, like lateness in delivery of election materials and card reader failures. He said that he was very hopeful that in the next election there would be much improvement and people would continue to have confidence in the nation’s democracy.

  • Statesmanship and political leadership: A festschrift for Tinubu

    A presentation by Lagos State University (LASU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun (SAN) at the 11th Bola Tinubu colloquium.

    Premised on research and anecdotal evidence, the consensus is that Nigeria is still seriously challenged by crises of unemployment, corruption, insecurity, lack of basic infrastructure, the characterisation of critical national issues by ethno-religious colouration, and the general problem of good governance.

    Poverty is still endemic, and Nigeria is struggling to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in terms of targeting those living in vulnerable conditions, increasing access to basic resources and services, and supporting communities affected by conflict and climate-related disasters. These are issues with which successive governments have battled since independence.

    What a grounded assessment of the above challenges reveals is that the dearth of leadership, and concomitantly, critical statesmanship is still very substantial in Nigeria.

    Several scholars who have explored the role that qualitative leadership and statesmanship can play in building a persistent culture of responsibility, enduring social norms, and an institutional culture of sustainability have come to the damning conclusion that the dearth of leadership has indeed become a defining challenge.

    It is against the above background that the Lagos State University deemed it necessary to bring together distinguished scholars from across different schools of thought to share perspectives on the theme: Statesmanship and Leadership in Nigeria: Analysis of Development in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.

    The edited book contains 22  highly analytical peer-reviewed scholarly presentations. There are two sections to the book.

    The first section contains intellectual discourses of the problematic dimensions of the competing perspectives of Statesmanship and Leadership.

    It covers topical subjects spanning the National Question including Restructuring, Political Defection and Democratic Consolidation, Godfatherism and Political Leadership, Stomach Infrastructure and Political Culture, Historical Evolution of the Party System in Nigeria and Conflict Management in Later Democracies, and, The Institutional Challenges for Successful Electoral Management.

    The second section are a set of articles which interrogates different dimensions of Asiwaju’s political leadership brand and characterisation of aspects of the National Question.

    Two chapters examine the Bureaucracy and Media in the period 1999-2007 when Asiwaju was Governor of Lagos State teasing out important parallels and lessons for political stability and economic development.

    A glimpse into other chapters show robust discussions addressing the following: the developmental vision of Tinubu and his state-building drive; a content analysis of the Jagaban brand; the crisis of fiscal federalism in Nigeria with focus on the Tinubu-Obasanjo confrontation on creation of Local Government and the Federation Account.

    Whilst one article attempts to assess Tinubu’s contribution to pan-Africanism, two other articles attempt the psychological and sociological profiling of Tinubu as a ‘charismatic’ in a classical Weberian sense. A final article examines the place of Tinubu in the Yoruba political space.

    The authorship is a constellation of decorated scholars, with a Foreword by the Honourable Minister for Power, Housing and Works Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), a preface by distinguished Prof Peter Okebukola (OFR) and commendation by Prof Adebayo Ninalowo, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of Lagos State University. This volume was carefully planned to be top notch from conception.

    This book does not pander to Asiwaju; indeed there are copious constructive criticisms aimed at offering the honoree some feedbacks.

    Why Asiwaju Tinubu

    His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a pan-African leader whose charity in public service and political leadership is already firmly rooted.

    Asiwaju is a natural curator of talents and a rallying point of what is possible in pursuit of excellence in leadership and statesmanship. Through his foresight, Lagos remains Nigeria’s Centre of Excellence. His political leadership skills continue to inspire progressive aspirations across the nook and cranny of Africa.

    In the context of epistemology and teachings, the heritage of a Bola Tinubu is neither problematic nor complex for his followers and any curious thinker to identify. Just like Marx, Bola Tinubu’s is a theory of ideas and reality. He understands the primacy of reality and the determination of ideas by reality.

    The way Tinubu started the new Lagos anchored on the notion of an overall blueprint is idealism. On the other hand, his response of looking inwards when Lagos State was seriously challenged by the decision of the Obasanjo administration to withhold the funds allocated to Local Government Councils in Lagos is reflective of the ideology of a realist.

    For this same reason, a Bola Tinubu in engaging with other nationalists will neither elevate historicist assumption nor view it as ontologically more real than current facts or the facts of experience. In this respect, beyond petty partisanship and tribalism, Asiwaju believes that if we try, we can always find the common ground that will take Nigeria beyond ill-feeling that are mostly based on misunderstanding.

    The Lagos State University seeks to leverage on the Tinubu brand and legacy to inspire current and future generations of leaders, statesmen and self-effacing visionary leaders.

    This is a prelude to the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Spirit of Africa Awards and Annual Lecture Series which the Lagos State University will host later in the year.

    On behalf of our Visitor, His Excellency Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the Governing Council, and the entire Lagos State University community, we wish His Excellency, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a happy birthday!

  • He was a true father of Lagos, says Tinubu

    Former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has described elder-statesman Pa Hassan Fasinro, who died on Sunday, as a true father of Lagos and a committed progressive.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) national stalwart said Papa fought to establish the rule of law and to give Lagosians a democratic egalitarian society.

    “He believed in the innate goodness of the people and that democratic governance would help our people realise their fullest potentials,” Tinubu said

    In a condolence message to the Fasinro family he personally signed and released yesterday night by his Media Office, Tinubu said the late senator contributed immensely to Lagos and Nigeria as a lawyer, politician, administrator, legislator, author and community leader, adding that he would be deeply missed.

    The message, titled: “Pas Fasinro: A true father of Lagos,” reads: “Alhaji Hassan Adisa Fasinro was a true father of Lagos. Born and bred here, he personified the best of Lagos and dedicated his life to making Lagos a place of progressive governance, cultural richness and social justice for all its people. He lived and breathed Lagos till his last breath.

    “A committed progressive, Papa fought to establish the rule of law and to give Lagosians a democratic egalitarian society. He believed in the innate goodness of the people and that democratic governance would help our people realise their fullest potentials.

    “He contributed immensely to Lagos and Nigeria as a lawyer, politician, administrator, legislator, author and community leader. A devout Muslim, he committed himself to the betterment of humankind and the history of his life bears the fruits of his selfless devotion to the people.

    “Whether as the first Clerk of the Lagos City Council or Senator representing Lagos State, he gave his best. Pa Fasinro truly served Lagos to the best of his abilities. As such, he shall always stand as an example to all of us.

    “He was elected to the Senate under the Unity Party of Nigeria, a progressive party that is one of the ideological precursors of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) and All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “Pa Fasinro was an important factor in the political and traditional histories of Lagos.  On the political and administrative fronts, Pa Fasinro was Lagos Town Council Clerk when that council was an administrative unit of Lagos created under a new Local Government Law in succession to the council created by the 1941 Ordinance. He also participated in the reorganisation of the Town Council by the late Premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    “Regarding further reorganisation of the council, Pa Fasinro was a strong ally and wise adviser when I spearheaded creation of additional councils in the state to accelerate economic development in Lagos.

    “We are grateful to Allah for granting Baba a long and eventful life of almost a century and for allowing him time to accomplish so much and to enrich so many lives.

    “The country and Lagos greatly benefited from his wise counsel. Lagos and the nation shall miss him greatly. The Muslim Ulammah in Lagos, Southwest and indeed Nigeria will deeply miss him.

    “We take some solace in that Pa Fasinro left behind talented and able children, who will carry on his progressive legacy. My prayer is that God grant the family the strength and grace to continue to contribute to the improvement of Lagos and Nigeria as our beloved Pa Fasinro would want them to do.

    “May Almighty Allah also grant Baba Aljanna Fridaus.”

  • Mangoro residents on rampage as police kill another youth in Lagos

    Some residents of Mangoro/Onipetesi community in Lagos on Sunday went on a rampage blocking the Oshodi/Abeokuta expressway in protest against the killing of a youth in the area.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the angry residents blocked the major roads with tyres and woods after a youth was allegedly shot dead by policemen from AntiCultism Unit of Lagos State Command.

    NAN learnt that an unmarked commercial bus occupied by the policemen had visited the community on Sunday afternoon in search of youths dressed wildly and wore dreadlocks.

    NAN gathered that one of the police operatives allegedly shot dead a youth simply identified as Kunle from behind in an attempt to disperse a crowd which had gathered during the raid.

    A witness, who gave his name as Ayo, told NAN everything happened in a flash.

    “F-SARS had come to arrest one of the boys of a major music producer who was wears dreads; I and some others who were drinking at a bar saw what was happening and quickly explained to the policemen that he was not a Yahoo boy.

    “They ignored our talks and kept dragging the boy to their vehicle, we all came out from the bar and kept explaining to the policemen that they were arresting a wrong person.

    Read also: ‘Why Bayelsa is no longer safe’

    “In an attempt to disperse the crowd, a first shot was fired to the ground.

    “Seeing this, I and the others quickly turned back to avoid trouble but because Kunle was probably the last person in the crowd, he was shot point-blank from behind.

    “He didn’t even know he was shot till we had trekked some few metres before we all saw he was bleeding, he died on his way to the hospital at Ikeja,” the witness said.

    NAN reports that following the incident, angry residents blocked the major road, setting tyres ablaze and obstructing commuters from passing.

    Spokesman for Lagos State Police Command, Bala Elkana, told NAN he was yet to be briefed of the incident as at 9pm on Sunday.

  • Taxi driver hit, speed off with LASTMA official hanging on car bonnet

    An official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Seriki Adeyinka has narrated how a taxi driver hit her and drove off on high speed while she hung on the bonnet of his car in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

    Adeyinka, who spoke to The Nation said the incident happened around 6:35 pm on Thursday, noting that she was on the car’s bonnet from Igbogbo garage on Ikorodu road to Oluwanishola filling station on Baiyeku road.

    She said she resumed to her duty post at Igbogbo garage at 2pm on Thursday before the incident happened around 6:35pm.

    “I was at my duty post with another colleague. Usually, anytime from 4pm, traffic gets busy in the area. We were controlling the traffic when the taxi driver was coming and also picking passengers at the middle of the road, he caused a lot of traffic behind him. We told him to leave the middle of the road but he refused, I was trying to stop him to let him know that what he was doing on the road was bad, but while he sped off, he hit me with the car and I fell on the bonnet of the car”.

    “If I had not fallen on the bonnet, the car will have crushed on me. When I fell on the bonnet, instead of him to wait, he moved on with a high speed. I struggled to hold something on the bonnet; he still drove on high speed and was swerving, trying to throw me down but I held something. While the car was moving people were trying to stop him but he was speeding and no one could stop him”.

    “Even when a trailer was coming, he tried to swerve me to the trailer maybe I would fall off from the bonnet, but as God would have it, I did not fall because I was holding the bonnet tightly. But thank God an eyewitness who was driving behind was later able to overtake him and he stopped at Oluwanishola filling station on Baiyeku road”.

    Adeyinka said her hands were still paining her as she used it to hold the bonnet tightly. She said she is still in pains on her knee which the vehicle hit, adding that her shoulder was dislocated. She said she is still under treatment.

    “It should not be when LASTMA officials are killed that it should be taken up. This taxi driver should pay for what he has done, it is total wickedness and to me he is like a murderer, he should get the consequences of what he has done,” she said.

    An eyewitness, Oyeyemi Akieu, a Security Expert, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Indepth Watcher Security Services, said he was on his way to his Ikorodu home when he saw the incident.

    “I was going home that Thursday, when I got to Igbogbo garage, there was traffic and the LASTMA officials were trying to clear it. As I moved forward, I saw that people were putting their hands on their head and saying, ‘do you want to kill her. I tried to look ahead of me to see what was happening, and then I saw three vehicles ahead of me was a lady LASTMA official on the bonnet of moving vehicle and the driver was not waiting for her to come down. She was shouting ‘will you stop, I must not fall, let me come down’, but the driver was just swerving the car as if he wanted to throw her to an oncoming vehicle.

    Akieu, who video recorded the incident said; “This made me to bring out my phone and I started recording the session. The distance he carried her was about 500 meters, it lasted for about five minutes.

    Read also: Slain LASTMA official’s family gets N10m compensation

    “I overtook the cars ahead of me, I overtook him and stopped at the front of his car at the filling station, so he had no choice than to stop. Immediately he did, the okada riders and passer-by who saw what was happening ran towards him not long, other LASTMA officials and the mopol came around.”

    Akieu said: “For this to have happened day time, it shows the kind of person the driver is, How can a man leave a woman on the bonnet of a moving car, the bonnet will be hot because the car was moving, the man must have killed someone before, to have had the capacity to do such in daylight. He cannot be an ordinary man because an average mind will be afraid of the law, people around and the uniform she was wearing. The woman must be strong for her not to have fallen. He wanted to kill her but she held on to the bonnet.”

    He called for proper investigation on the driver. “If his background is well investigated, that man must be a criminal, but thank God the woman did not die,” he said.

    Zonal Head, Zone 33, Ogolonto, Ikorodu, Kayode Odunuga, said he received a distressed call from Adeyinka and her colleague, Yusuf, around past 7 that Thursday that they needed attention.

    “We urgently called the attention of the commander of mobile unit 63 Igbogbo, where they deployed three armed men to trace our officials down to the scene of the incident. The vehicle was recovered but the driver took to heels. The vehicle was taken to Igbogbo police station and statement was taken.

    “We learnt the driver lives in the area; he fled when he sighted the police at the scene,” he said.

  • I’ll not betray Lagosians, says Sanwo-Olu 

    Lagos State Governor-elect Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday promised not to betray Lagosians when he assumes office on May 29.

    He pledged to run an all-inclusive government and fulfil other campaign promises he made to the people.

    The governor-elect spoke at the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), shortly after receiving his Certificate of Return from Resident Electoral Commissioner Sam Olumekun.

    Describing himself as a winner of a free, fair and credible election, Sanwo-Olu said the electoral commission deserved applause for conducting a peaceful exercise.

    He also extended a hand of fellowship to the 40 opposition candidates who competed with him, stressing that their input are required in tackling the myriad of challenges in education, health, transportation and the environment.

    “A victory for one is a victory for all. It is a victory for all Lagosisns. No victor, no vanquished. We will all make life better for Lagosians,” he said.

    Read also: PHOTOS: INEC issues certificates of return to Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat

    Sanwo-Olu was accompanied by his wife, Dr Ibijoke; his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat and wife, Oluremi; Lagos State APC Chairman Tunde Balogun; party secretary Dr. Wale Ahmed; Governorship Advisory Council (GAC) deputy leader Prince Oluyole Olusi; Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Chief Demola Seriki.

    Also at the ceremony were Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi; Pa Sunny Ajose; Jumoke Okoya-Thomas; Hakeem Bamgbala; Joe Igbokwe; Abiodun Salami; Bayo Ajisebutu; Ayodele Adewale; Fausat Gbadebo; Emmanuel Bamgboye and Imam Shakiru Gafar Mofesayo of Lagos Central Mosque.

    Thanking the stakeholders, Sanwo-Olu commended INEC and other apparatus of government involved in the election, saying that the reward for hard work was more work.

    He also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for showing leadership example.

    The governor-elect also applauded the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Lagos APC GAC leaders, and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who he noted, was in birthday celebration mood.

    He prayed that all the critical stakeholders would be present at his inauguration on May 29.

    However, in an emotion-laden voice, Sanwo-Olu said the inauguration date would coincide with the post-humus birthday of his mother who had passed on a few years ago.

    Reiterating his commitment to an all-inclusive administration, the governor-elect said his doors were already open to stakeholders, including the opposition, to make their contributions to governance.

    He promised to re-enact the true greatness of Lagos which the stakeholders stand for.

    Sanwo-Olu added: “We will not betray public confidence. Better times are coming. Lagosians deserve the best. We must get it right in Lagos. If we get it right in Lagos, we will get it right in Nigeria.

    “We are ready. We are committed. We will do the job that Lagosians have given to us.”

    Imam Gafar, who paired with a Christian priest to pray for Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat, urged them to work for public good.

    The cleric, who also advised them to beware of sycophants who peddle falsehood, wished the governor-elect a successful tenure.

    Also, he charged Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and Mrs Oluremi Hamzat to be prepared for the challenges of adjustment to new life and cooperate with their husbands.

    The REC reflected on the election, saying that it was adjudged credible, smooth, peaceful, free and fair by the international community.

    Hailing Sanwo-Olu for his victory, Olumekun said: “Lagosians have spoken, Your Excellency, and I dare say that they spoke loudly and without equivocation. Therefore, the journey to a better Lagos is laid squarely in your court. May God Almighty be your lode-star in this journey.”

  • Court sentences driver to 30 years in prison for defiling a 10-year-old girl

    Justice Sybil Nwaka of the Ikeja Sexual Offence and Domestic Violence Court in Lagos, on Friday, sentenced a commercial driver, Sunday Umeh, to thirty years in prison for allegedly defiling a 10-year-old child, (name withheld).

    Nwaka, who did not give the convict an option of fine, said the sentence will serve as deterrent to others.

    ” I find the defendant guilty of the offence of defilement, he is sentenced to thirty years imprisonment.

    ” It is the desire of every well-meaning Nigerian and Lagos State Government to make the state safe for the girl child.

    “Sexual offenders have no place in the society, they must be put away for good,” she said.

    The convict, who was earlier charged with defilement, pleaded not guilty to the charge

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judgment which lasted for over an hour, started at 3.55 p.m.

    During the trial, the prosecution led by Mr B.T Boye alleged that the convict,36, committed the offence on August 5, 2016 at 7.30 pm. at, Adeniji Adele Street, Lagos Island, Lagos.

    Read also: Clergyman arrested for allegedly infecting minors with HIV in Lagos

    According to Boye “The convict defiled a 10-year-old girl who was sent on an errand by her grandmother to buy drugs for her.

    He said that the case was reported by the victim’s father at Adeniji Adele police station, Lagos Island in Lagos.

    “The victim was given N200.00 to go buys drugs by her grandmother by the roadside but on getting to the shop she discovered she had misplaced the money.

    “The victim started crying which made the defendant asked her why she was crying.

    He said Umeh told her to stop crying and promised to give her N200,00.

    He alleged that the convict told her to follow him upstairs to his house.

    When they got upstairs, he said the convict the dragged and pushed her to the floor, removed her underwear and sexually assaulted her.

    The prosecution presented two witnesses to give their evidence in court.

    The first witness was the Investigating Police officer Comfort Bawa, in her evidence, she told the court that the defendant hit the victim on the head.

    The second witness was Dr Oyedeji Alagbe who interpreted the medical reports after a medical examination was carried out on the victim.

    While giving his testimony, Alagbe confirmed that physical injuries was found on the genitals of the victim.

    Umeh, a commercial driver in his testimony, however,  denied the allegations.

    The offence, the prosecution said, contravened the provisions of Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 (Revised).

    Boye said that the sentence will serve as deterrent to other perpetrators and that Lagos State Government will continually fight sexual offenders until it has to come to the nearest minimum.

    “The state will continually fight until it becomes a safe society for the girl-child to live in,” he said (NAN)

  • Tinubu advises Fed Govt on how to fix economy

    Ex-governor: any hike in VAT will be a burden on Nigerians

    Buhari, Osinbajo, others honour Tinubu at birthday colloquium

    BEFORE a colourful crowd of dignitaries, former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu yesterday advised the Federal Government not to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT).

    To the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, a new VAT regime will increase the burden of Nigerians. What should be done, he said, is to widen the tax net for more people to pay.

    The Federal Government has said there are no plans to increase VAT from five per cent.

    Tinubu noted that the time had come for Nigeria to look inward and initiate people-friendly policies. He warned that there were clear indications of the global economy gradually going into recession.

    According to him, forecasters have been predicting that the global economy will go into recession within the next 12 to 18 months.

    The audience applauded as Tinubu spoke. It was all at the 11th Bola Tinubu Colloquium at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja in commemoration of his 67th birthday.

    He advised the government to revisit the privatisation of the power sector for a faster industrial development and job creation. Besides, said Tinubu, estimated billing should stop.

    He said: “I want to appeal to Prof Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President and his team to put a huge question mark on any increase on VAT. If you reduce the purchasing power of the people, we can further slow down the economy.

    “Let us widen the tax net. Those who are not paying now, even if they are relatives of Bola Tinubu, let the net be bigger and we take in more taxes. That is what we must do in the country instead of another layer of taxes, for now.”

    Speaking on the need to industrialise the country, Tinubu said: “We require serious and bold reforms to achieve this. What is happening to our gas pipelines? Whatever we have to invest now for our future is a task that must be done boldly. The PDP administration shared out generation, distribution and transmission to their friends and cronies without very deep and thoughtful research and evaluation.

    “It has now become pork chops. This privatisation must be revisited. Put experts together for a more constructive reform to improve generation, transmission and distribution by any means necessary. We cannot afford to be too legalistic about this.

    ”We should push to end the practice of billing people for electricity they never received. This practice is a vestige of the past that should not accompany us into the future.  A person should be charged accurately and only for the power that they use.

    “Government should continue to aggressively implement its national infrastructure plan. We must commit ourselves to a national highway system linking our major cities and towns, our centres of commerce, with each other. This will save lives, spur commerce, cut costs and bring Nigerians closer together.”

    The co-Chairman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council stressed that the “Next Level” campaign slogan of the ruling party was not just a campaign jargon that should be discarded after the victory.

    He said: “The Next Level is not just a trendy campaign phrase to be quickly discarded once victory has been achieved. It has a much deeper and more profound meaning, perhaps even more than its authors contemplated. This is because we are a nation still in the process of defining itself politically and economically.

    “In this process, it is tempting and easy to borrow indiscriminately from those nations that seem to have mastered the art of democratic governance and to have achieved economic prosperity. However, to achieve durable progress, we can’t afford to work hard but in mindless devotion to the ways of other nations.

    “This truth is particularly acute when these very nations now face fundamental political and economic questions that cast doubt on the social utility and viability of the economic model under which they have travelled for the past 50 years.”

    He told the gathering that the global economy was facing stiff headwinds as “factors that are not of our making now cast the world economy towards low growth”.

    “Consumer spending is slipping. Aggregate private debt has attained historic levels. America and China are in a trade tug-of-war. Brexit is imminent. Whatever form Brexit takes, economic dislocation will emerge from the political confusion now underway.

    “Even without Brexit, the EU itself has entered a rough patch. The Eurozone may already be in recession. Stock markets experience wild swings that speak to an underlying weakness and pessimism about the immediate future.  Forecasters are predicting a global recession within the next 12-18 months.

    “I render these observations not to frighten anyone, but because they ring true. Wisdom requires that we accept reality instead of obscuring it under the cloak of wishful thinking. We must build policies that interact with the world as it is, and not with the world as it should be.”

    In Tinubu’s view, Nigerians must recognise these harsh economic tidings as advance warnings to the wise and those at the helm of affairs “must think deeper and work harder for our people in Nigeria”.

    Tinubu said: “I would be a most wicked friend if I knew a storm was approaching yet convince you to ready your family for an outdoor picnic under the tallest tree. The truth is always a more valuable guardian than fantasy.”

    He went on: “Nigerians must recognise a fundamental truth of our time. The economic model upon which the world is built is unravelling. The coming downturn is just a symptom of this great upheaval. The global economy faces either genuine reform or gathering ruin.

    “Because of this, the economic cohesion of Western nations is weakening. Income inequality has reached levels unseen in a century. The middle class in most countries is shrinking. Wages stagnate while prices are on a ceaseless march upward.

    “People the world over are questioning the centre-right conservative model that has, with few exceptions, governed the world for the last half century. In one form or another, people are protesting the way things are, and progressive politicians are trying to help the people change things for the better.”

    The Next Level, he said, must be seen as part of this global and historic dynamic. “Our pursuit of the Next Level cannot be achieved by blindly following the economic path of other nations. That would be tantamount to racing to live in a building just as its long-term occupants were frantically rushing out, screaming that the edifice was crumbling.  If we are smart, we dare not enter.

    ”Instead, we must construct our Next Level on a progressive ideology and vision that will take our people out of penury, diversify our economy more aggressively, and empower and retrain our youth.

    “To be the great nation we purport to be, we must reform and retool our economy according to our definition of what is best for our own people. We cannot assign that duty to anyone else. We must do more than simply work for the people.

    “The government must ‘work for the people in a way that enables them to better work for themselves. We must amend our basic ideas about the economy.  We must divorce ourselves from our fixation with GDP rates and similar statistics. These things were initially intended to be indicators, suggestive measurements.

    “However, we have misinterpreted these road maps by treating them as if they were the destination itself. This has caused us to distort the organic relationship between the people and the economy.

    “This dominant train of thought has made the people servants to the dictates of abstract economic theories. In a more effective system, the economy would be fashioned to serve the concrete needs and legitimate aspirations of the people.

    “Our economy must be redefined to be an efficient yet moral social construct with the primary goal of optimising the long-term welfare of the people through the sustained, productive and full employment of labour, land, capital and natural resources.

    “In the current global context, the best translation of laissez faire economics is ‘let’s stay poor’ economics. To believe that we are at our best when everyone focuses solely on maximizing their own position is to believe that one hundred hands can clutch at the same naira note but no one will get scratched.

    “To pull the nation from poverty, government must play a decisive role. It must at times direct and even develop markets and opportunities. This is nothing novel. I am only restating what the established economies did when they were young and assumed their trajectories toward growth.”

    Tinubu believes that in its second term, President Muhammadu Buhari administration will dedicate itself to changing the very structure of our economy for the better. The single most important sector for the government’s focus is infrastructure, the most important of which is power, according to the former governor.

    Tinubu argued that affordable and reliable power will drive industrialisation that can provide jobs and produce goods for Nigerians and take the people out of the dark ages and bring the nation into the light of a better day.

    He went on: “I believe the Buhari administration will work to increase electricity generation, transmission and distribution by more than 50 percent within the next four years.

    “In working to transform the face of our economy, government must also enact policies that encourage industrialisation and modern agricultural practices. We must applaud President Buhari for the historic innovations made in the agricultural sector.

    “We must further encourage him to do even more. Government funded social security for the aged and government backed affordable housing and mortgage facilities are things we must continue to explore in an aggressive manner.

    “In the end, our future is uncertain until we enter it and make of it what we will. We can either let the future happen to us or summon the courage to make the future belong to us as other nations have done. I don’t think we really have a choice in the matter. We must take the people to the next level. It is a promise made and thus a promise that must be kept.

    ”Our goal is nothing less than enabling the people to enjoy lives free of penury and lack. We seek to constitute a nation where all have basic sustenance and sufficient food on their tables, a sturdy and sheltering roof over their heads and the fair chance and means to sustain and further enrich their lives as they see fit.”

  • Ambode, Obasa, Fasanmi, others hail Tinubu at 67

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, the National Leader of Egbe Afenifere, Pa Ayo Fasanmi, and many others yesterday congratulated ex-Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on his birthday.

    Tinubu turns 67 today.

    Ambode saluted the role played by the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, saying Nigeria was already on threshold of greatness with the duo in the next level government.

    Ambode, who spoke at the 11th Bola Tinubu Colloquium held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja as part of activities marking the 67th birthday of Tinubu, said it was gratifying to note that the next level promised by the APC government was already unfolding, adding that the next four years would engender massive development and service to the people.

    He said: “We are all expectant and we can feel the next level unfolding. Our country is on the threshold of greatness because for the first time since our independence, we would have successive administrations of a progressive and visionary government; a government of integrity, a government whose sole interest is the well-being of Nigeria and Nigerians.

    “We are lucky to be here in this exciting time; in a time when our country will be led by selfless individuals who have the progress and prosperity of our people as their major objective and we are here today because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been a very key part of this story.

    “We are here not only to celebrate him (Tinubu) but to celebrate the incoming dawn in Nigeria; we are here to celebrate the next level in Nigeria where Nigerians will be served and given what is due to them.”

    The governor, who attended the colloquium with his wife, Bolanle, hailed Tinubu for his political dexterity, doggedness, undoubted courage and political acumen, saying the attributes of the national leader played key part in the electoral victory of APC at the Federal, National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections.

    While describing the theme of the colloquium: “Next Level: Work For People,” as perfectly conceived and apt for the moment, Governor Ambode said it was instructive that it was coming at a time when Nigerians were eagerly looking forward to revolutionary transformation in key sectors and sections of the country.

    “This colloquium is coming at a time when the APC has spread its political tentacles even further in the country and this colloquium is coming at a time when Nigerians are eagerly looking forward to the next level in progressive politics, economic growth, social welfare and increased national security,” the governor said.

    Fayemi, in a tribute to Tinubu, described him as the leading light of progressive politics in the country, a fact which he said critics of the APC leader usually acknowledge.

    He recalled his working relationship with the former NADECO chieftain and said Tinubu remained a dependable, reliable and passionate leader, whose record of grooming successful disciples is unmatchable.

    Read also: Tinubu: Why Fed Govt can’t increase VAT now

    Fayemi said: “I celebrate you today as always because you have been a reliable, dependable and passionate leader. The hallmark of a great leader is not measured in castles and materials, but in his ability to groom and lead successful disciples.

    “Like a colossus in the jungle of life, your ability to identify, nurture and engage talents is unequalled. Your life has been a testimony of human capital development in an unrelenting struggle for a better life. Even your political detractors secretly admire your courage, vibrancy, intelligence, ebullience, kind-heartedness, warmth and sagacity.

    “I will forever cherish the memory of our struggles for the enthronement and sustenance of democracy and good governance in Nigeria. Your infectious smile, as we have witnessed together on a number of occasions, is disarming. You have, over the years, succeeded in constantly reinventing yourself as a leading light of progressive politics.

    “You mean different things to different people. To some, you are a patriotic politician, while to others, you are a political strategist who loves challenging the powers-that-be as a result of your passion and desire to see that your people are not deprived of their rights at any time.

    “You might not be the darling of all, but you have carved a niche for yourself in the political history of Nigeria. May providence reward your labour of love with long life in good health, unspeakable joy and everlasting bliss.

    “On behalf of the government and good people of Ekiti State, I wish you the best of what your new year can offer. Above all, I wish you many more useful and productive years,” he added.

    Obasa described Tinubu as the greatest politician of the present generation. The speaker, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Rasak, yesterday said:  “Asiwaju is the greatest politician of this generation. His leadership qualities and ability to discover and nurture talents for the greater good of the public is uncommon and unrivaled among his peers.

    “But for the special discovery talent of Asiwaju, great administrators like the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; former Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; former Lagos Governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode; Messrs Wale Edun, Yemi Cardozo and Dele Alake among others would not have had the opportunity to show Nigerians and the world at large, the stuff they are made of.”

    Obasa also praised the pioneering efforts of Asiwaju Tinubu for the creation of modern Lagos which has become the role model for others to emulate in the country.

    “He’s the architect of modern Lagos, laying the solid foundation on which successful governments continue to build on making the state the best among its peers in the country and the continent,” he said.

    The Lagos Assembly Speaker stated further that the APC National Leader deserves all the accolades, best wishes and praises showered on him because he has always stand for good governance anchored equity and fairness nurtured by justice and strict adherence to the Rule of Law.

    “On behalf of my colleagues at the Lagos State House of Assembly, I rejoice with our Leader, the great Jagaban of Africa on this glorious birthday celebration. I wish you many happy returns sir,” Obasa said.

    Fasanmi, in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Adebayo Temitope, said: “No matter what you may say about Bola either you like him or not, there is no way you can discuss the democracy that is being enjoyed by many people today without mention Bola.”

    He added: “During the NADCO era, he played a vital role which is still fresh in everybody memory. Asiwaju Bola has fought a good fight for the sustenance of democracy and he has won. If not because of Asiwaju’s struggle, some have determined to turn this country to their private business. Bola, what you are celebrating is the reality of unprecedented, steady and consistent progress in the entire nation, even the foundation which you laid as the former governor of Lagos State during the AD still continues. As you are celebrating your birthday Bola, I can say you have come, you have seen and by the grace of God you shall conquer. Wishing you a many more good years. I pray you shall celebrate 93 like me.”

    Osun APC also congratulated Tinubu. The party said: “What makes this moment worthy of celebration is the quality of the series of achievements that the Jagaban of Borgu has made in less than four decades, from a local hero to a huge national figure.”

    In a message of goodwill signed by the chairman of the ruling party, Prince Gboyega Famodun, the APC added: “One of Asiwaju Tinubu’s greatest achievements is his contribution to the political engineering that brought the APC into being and led it to a historic victory in 2015.

    “And as if that was not historic enough, the Asiwaju led the new party to a second term victory in the just concluded elections.

    “These events were first of its kind in the history of Nigerian politics, and one that will occupy a special attention of historians,” the party said.

    He praised Tinubu for what he described as the  “unique generosity of the APC leader”, which has changed the lives of “hundreds of thousands of people”.

    He went on: “These people (that spread across party lines and nationalities) will never forget Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a hurry.

    “They will be amongst the millions of Nigerians who will be praying today to Allah that He grants the APC leader long life and prosperity for the good of Nigeria.”

    A socio-political group, Akwa Ibom Visionaries’ Choice for a Better Tomorrow Initiative (AKV), has described former Lagos State governor as ‘an apostle of one Nigeria’.

    The group said Tinubu has salvaged the country’s democracy through his brand of politics. Its National President, Emmanuel Effiong, said: ”Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is an Apostle of one Nigeria and a dogged fighter for the sustenance of unity and democracy in Nigeria.”

    Effiong said the group has been closely following the political contributions of the APC leader, adding that the posterity will not forgive the present crop Nigerians if they failed to identify with the lofty ideals and inputs of the former Lagos state governor to the country.

    Effiong eulogised Tinubu for his outstanding achievements, noting that the APC leader is an ”American-trained accountant of no mean repute, a party planter for the sustenance of Democracy and a political activist who struggled for the emancipation of Nigerians”.

    He urged all Akwa Ibom people to identify with and celebrate Tinubu as a stateman on the occasion of his birthday anniversary.