National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has stressed the need for the Muhammadu Buhari administration to work hard to eradicate poverty and hunger in the country.
Tinubu made the call on Thursday when he spoke at the public presentation of the book, “Making steady, Sustainable Progress for Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity: A Mid-term Scorecard on the Muhammadu Buhari Administration.”
The former Lagos State governor who was the Keynote Speaker at the occasion said the government must begin to work hard on moving away from total reliance on oil as the major means of income for the nation.
He said it was important to ensure that when oil dried up, there would be something to fall back on.
“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 emphasized.
Tinubu said he had made the call on the president to do more not because of any gap between them, but because of his regard for the president and desire for him to succeed.
“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.
He praised the government over the 2018 budget submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.
He stressed that to him, the most important part of the budget was the capital expenditure which would make a lot of difference in improving the economy.
He said: “This investment means that the government fully recognises our economy must grow but that it cannot expand beyond the parameters of the infrastructural grid that serves it.”
Tinubu added that “Government policy must push and incentivize the private sector into the production of goods that will be demanded in the immediate future and for some time to come.”
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The APC leader also pointed out the need for the government to ensure true federalism 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.
In another instance at the occasion, Tinubu who applauded the war against corruption by the Buhari administration chastised former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.
He said the previous government encouraged corruption.
His words: “The prior government used the public treasury as a private hedge fund or a charity that limited its giving only to themselves.
“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 corruption, they won the gold medal.
“It was not that our institutions had become infected by corruption. Corruption has become institutionalized.”
