A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Kehinde Olaosebikan has expressed confidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term would propel unending growth and development in Nigeria.
Speaking with media correspondents in Ibadan,the Oyo State capital, over the weekend, Olaosebikan stated that the President would at the end of his second term in 2031 give Nigeria a Nigerian with the leadership qualities of a former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, as his successor for ceaseless progress of the evolving new and greater Nigeria just as he did in Lagos State in 2007.
He described the gang-up by some politicians of Northern extraction against the president as pointless, counterproductive and anti-development as, he said, the full utilisation of the constitutionally-allowed two terms for President Tinubu was in the best interest of the North and the country generally.
Olaosebikan maintained that the President would not only leave the country far better but ensure sustained growth and development through strategic leadership transition.
At the expiration of the second term in 2031, Tinubu, according to Olaosebikan, would deploy his time-tested stratagems and hand over the baton of leadership to the best and most competent Nigerian.
According to him, ‘’With the far-reaching policies and audacious steps being taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that are already leading to unprecedented growth of our economy, industry and commerce, what he needs from all of us, both the North and the South, is our total support and prayer.”
He further described Tinubu as a leader with proven antecedents of attaining and sustaining successes seamlessly, asserting that he was certain that Nigeria was in excellent hands without any fear of any form relapse when he leaves office.
He therefore appealed to the agitators to end their bitterness and hate against the President and join the overwhelming majority of Nigerians already supporting and “working for his much deserved and desired second term.”
Olaosebikan, who was Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor of Oyo State from 1999 to 2003 and served as Regional Coordinator, Media and Publicity, for APC Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, recalled that against all political permutations and expectations, President Tinubu when serving as Governor of Lagos State in 2007, strategically made “the outstandingly brilliant lawyer, highly organised and ever objective administrator, Fashola, who was eventually adjudged as the best man for the job”, the governor of Lagos State.
Building on the solid foundation laid by Tinubu, Fashola,he noted, followed by all his successors consolidated on Tinubu’s policies and programmes and progressively developed Lagos State, making it a model for other states in Nigeria in virtually all aspects of life.
From an internally generated revenue of about N600million in 1999 (like most states then), Lagos State now generates over N100 billion monthly. The state, the second biggest economy in Africa, generated over N1.3 trillion internally last year.
Olaosebikan, who is also a former Chairman of Oluyole Local Government of Oyo State, added that if President Tinubu could accomplish and sustain such unmatched feats in Lagos State for 26 years, the greatness being established for Nigeria by the present government would be permanent.
