National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday commended Nigerians for voting former President Goodluck Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of power.
Asiwaju, who stated this in his keynote address at the 10th memorial anniversary of the late Bala Usman, a politician and former lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in Kaduna yesterday, also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the subsidy on fuel without any further delay.
Asiwaju told the gathering that the curtain would have been lowered on the nation’s future if the people had made the mistake of re-electing the Jonathan administration.
He noted that “the last (Jonathan’s) government had become threadbare of ideas. Its reaction to our challenges was more of biased reflex than of careful thought. They intended to rope the people to mast of austerity then command that we ride out the storm.
Tinubu, who observed that Nigeria needed economic liberation, said “before we can free our economy, we must free ourselves of the economic myths consigning us to our current predicament.
“To achieve this objective, we must return to Dr. Bala Usman. Confronted by the harsh realities of dwindling national revenue occasioned by crashing oil prices, saddled with collapsed infrastructure and an abused and wary citizenry, Nigeria demands a new paradigm.
“Here, I must give the Nigerian people their due. They had a stark and important choice to make during the 2015 election. They could have re-elected the government in place. This would have been the easier thing to do.
“In matters of state, the easier thing to do is rarely the better one. Reelecting that administration would have lowered the curtain on our future.”
He described President Buhari as an earnest leader who seeks to give Nigerians the lives they deserve by giving them a vibrant economy and security.
“My faith in his commitment to help the people is deep and abiding,” he said. “I believe he is on the right path and will continue to follow it.
“The task before us is grave and daunting. With oil prices having declined so steeply, the question becomes how must the federal government shape fiscal policy so that we achieve optimal economic production and employment under the given circumstance?
“The voices of old conservative mainstream economists will try to convince us that there is but one way to go: austerity now, austerity forever. They will state that the people must tighten their belts then lift themselves by their own bootstraps.
“However, they do not realise that the people will choke should they tighten that belt any tighter and that most of them cannot pull themselves up alone because they could never afford to buy any boots to strap.
“This austerity advice might be right for another time and place. However, it is the wrong medicine for Nigeria here and now.”
He recalled that last year, he published an open letter he wrote to then President Jonathan, saying: My critique of his economic policies was informed by the fact that the Nigerian economy had entered a critical stage. His government was set to foist austerity on the people. This equated to taking the lash to their economic future.
“Although, we were in the throes of an election, I thought it vital that we offer even our opponent the best advice we could give because he was our president at the time and our overall welfare was in the balance. His failure would be our deepening poverty.
“The positions I held then remain relevant. Let me recall my opening statement. I said, ‘No matter who is in power, we must do whatever is in our capacity to do to steer the nation away from economic woe. The people have suffered too much hardship already.’
“I submitted that Nigeria’s economy was as if in chronic depression. ‘After viewing the statistics, most objective economists would conclude Nigeria is mired in a long-term, secular depression. Forget the rosy GDP numbers. They signify a great economic and financial segregation between those who have and others who have not.
‘If we continue with the policy preferences of the current (Jonathan’s) administration, the haves shall become the “have–mores” and the “have-nots” shall become the “have even less….
‘The vast majority of the claimed GDP growth has fallen into the laps of those who are already enjoying obvious luxury. The rest of the people are left to gaze at the enormity of the income and wealth chasm separating them from the cabal orchestrating the discordant political economy.
‘While a small group flourishes, the rest of the nation subsidises their economic bounty. A tight confederacy rides an economic sky-rocket while the bulk of the people languish in the swamp. For one group, the economy is effervescent. For the other, it is catatonic. Nigeria is one nation with two economies,’ ” he recalled.
Tinubu explained that he opposed austerity because it would compound, not alleviate, the economic weakness.
“Indeed, as best exemplified in the Euro zone since the 2009 global financial crisis, austerity has not solved the dire economic weakness of the nations that employed this sickening remedy at a time when economic demand has already slackened.
“Austerity weakens aggregate demand, deflating an economy already fatigued and against the ropes… Jobs and commerce disappear. Debt climbs. Deflation turns a noble but poor household and neighbourhood into a committee of beggars and street urchins….
“Austerity undermines our economic pillars and breaks the spirit of the people… If you desire a nation of thralls, by all means continue this bleak path. If we want a nation of prosperity and economic justice, a different course is our due.”
Tinubu also noted that there are too many demons in the subsidy system for the hell to be turned into heaven. “It is better that we remove it,” he declared.
The APC national leader said if Bala Usman were alive, he would also call for immediate removal of the subsidy, adding, “What I have said here is more than talk. It is a call to action.”
Bala Usman was the Head of Department (HOD), history, at ABU in the early 70s, and was later appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under the administration of former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa in the late 70s.
Tinubu said, “In a perfect world, I wish we could sanitise the subsidy regime and thus continue with it.
“However, I have reached the conclusion that there are too many demons in the system for that hell to be turned into heaven.
“It is better that we remove it, not for the austere purpose of saving money but to use the money more wisely that we might better save the people. Let us begin a process of a thoughtful, but decisive subsidy phase-out.
“While this is occurring, we should simultaneously phase in social programmes benefiting the poorest, most vulnerable among us. Programmes such as transportation subsidies, school feeding, improved basic medical care and coverage for the poor, and potable water projects are some of the things that can be done with the same funds.
“This way we can undertake this massive expenditure, confident that the fruits will go to the hungry, not the already too well fed.
“End the fuel subsidy. Subsidize the people instead – Subsidize the people instead!”.
E?arlier in his welcome address, Malam Nasir El-Rufai extolled the late historian, saying, “He cared about ordinary people and spent his life fighting for the common man.
“He gave everything he had, his intellect, his resources to advance the life of the downtrodden in Nigeria, this is why we are very proud of him,” he said.
Present at the occasion were Governors Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, among other dignitaries.
https://www.today.ng/politics/54070/re-electing-jonathan-would-have-ruined-nigerias-future-tinubu

lies

If I had read this $hit by Tinubu, it would have ruined me psychologically.

GEJ my Hero.

My humble prayer to God.

God as I struggle to make it in life, may my little effort bring me to limelight like PGEJ.
May I be even more humble than PGEJ.
God please shower me with just %50 of the grace you granted PGEJ my Hero.
May it be so to me and those who see your awesomeness in PGEJ's life.

click like if you share in this prayer

Is apc the opposition party....am confused
Hw much is fuel now
Hw much is one dollar to naira
Apc members are now saint
I thought we voted dem in to fix and not to blame

Even if Jonathan is caught dining with Shekau, raping zahrra, murdering someone or burning down Mbaka's church with picture evidence, he remains my HERO.

Jonathan we love you.

Since you left buharrri and burrratai has been slaughtering nigerians using the sunnni illiterate milllitary.
The economy is gone completely while the blood thirsty dulllard locked up shop and is only interested in settling old scores in the name pyting kwarrupsion.

Only '_IMBECILES' would disagree with this synopsis!!! Nigeria dodged a mighty bullet!

God showed that he loves Nigeria by kicking the fisherman out of office

DickDastardly:
Even if Jonathan is caught dining with my enemy, raping my mother and sister, murdering my brother or burning down my father's house with picture evidence, he remains my HERO.
.

Fixed. You're welcome. Don't menshun

This talkative again! Jonathan has gone. Pls focus on the Nation's problem and stop ranting

Asiwaju is 100% right on this!

That's very true, Jagaban.

That's the reason why some of us worked assiduously to remove the clueless, incompetent and reckless Jonathan. Not because we like Buhari personally.

okay, 7th month already of the APC government.
0 conviction of past corrupt government official.
Economy is worse than it was before.
These APC crooks need to get their acts together. We voted change in Canada, and the liberal party started their reforms on the day they were sworn in. It seems change has a different meaning in Nigeria.

YoursGEJ:
God showed that he loves Nigeria by kicking the fisherman out of office



Fixed. You're welcome. Don't menshun

Still i stand on my word!

Lordave:
[b]Yes, he is.
And that's why Buhari has come out to tell us that we should brace up for dark days ahead.
Maybe the 'days ahead' are the past not the future.

Blame Jonathan if any dark days befall Nigeria. They're the products of his corrupt legacies.

Nigerians are in wrong hands. This is one them. How many problems have APC solve so far?

osazeeblue01:
How many problems have APC solve so far?

None

DickDastardly:
Even if Jonathan is caught dining with Shekau, raping zahrra, murdering someone or burning down Mbaka's church with picture evidence, he remains my HERO.
Jonathan we love u

Na wa o! See person papa.

Your sub-zero level of reasoning and rationality is very appalling.
Donno if this should be tagged as idiocy...because it's way beyond it.

funlord:


Only '_IMBECILES' would disagree with this synopsis!!! Nigeria dodged a mighty bullet!

And only IMBECILES would agree with this crap. Nigerians have not seen anything yet

saxywale:
None

God bless you

saxywale:
None

God bless you

saxywale:
None

God bless you

saxywale:
None

God bless you

bobmalu83:

And only IMBECILES would agree with this crap. Nigerians have not seen anything yet

"_IMBECILE SPOTTED "!!!

Initiating "anti-wailing defense measures"...

Jonathan and PDP are cankerworm!

A failure will always be quick to blame the past without making any effort to find solution to the present predicament


Tinubu is a failure who never thought the oil wells he betrayed the South for will lose value once he gets to power


As long as 97% regions think they can force themselves into power, no oil of the 5% regions will ever be of help to the 97% regions.

Lordave:
The same corrupt legacies incorruptible Buhari is ridding on?

You can add the Nigerian constitution and even Aso Rock to Jonathan's legacies.

Instead of you schmucks to advise him to create good legacies during his near 6years rule, you were cheering and shouting [i]GEJ Till 2019[/b] while he went around attending rallies, dancing azonto, hosting dinners and distributing cash to his cronies.

Now, you're left with nothing other than rot, #DasukiGate, & claiming legacies for the failed drunkard.

Because your likes and the north would have made it ungovernable for him

Obasanjo must have given Tinubu mouth cancer coupled with his exessive WEED intake

Tinubu talking thrash

end time man has spoken!!!