Akume: Tinubu’s Reforms May Not Produce Instant Results, But Will Secure Nigeria’s Future

• President’s re-election done deal, says north-central group 

•Debate over Muslim-Muslim ticket settled since 2023, TSG tells Kwankwaso

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, yesterday stressed that the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu may not produce instant results but would secure the future of the country.

Akume said this at a one-day conference on the North-central region’s development under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He was represented at the occasion by his Senior Assistant, Technical, Prof. Babatunde Benard.

The conference convened by the North Central Agenda had in attendance delegates from all the six states of the North Central and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Akume said President Tinubu has placed Nigeria firmly on the path of recovery through bold and sometimes difficult policy decisions.

He stated: “The President is a trailblazer. He is taking decisions that may not produce instant results, but they are the kind of reforms that will secure Nigeria’s future.”

Akume cited the Student Loan Scheme as one of the administration’s landmark achievements, adding that while children of political leaders in previous administrations benefited from student loans abroad, Tinubu has made similar opportunities available to ordinary Nigerian students at home.

He urged Nigerians to support leaders focused on building lasting infrastructure rather than seeking short-term handouts.

“We should leave those who give us peanuts and keep us in poverty. We should support the man who is digging up the ground and creating the conditions for Nigeria to blossom,” he added.

The SGF commended the administration’s investment in infrastructure, particularly the ongoing road projects across the country.

He recalled that the Calabar to Abuja highway corridor had been conceived as far back as 1958, but had remained largely unrealised until the current administration.

According to him, “how do you develop a country without critical infrastructure? What President Tinubu is doing today is laying the foundation for economic growth.”

Akume pointed out that the Sokoto to Badagry Super Highway project incorporates 32 dams that would significantly boost agriculture, irrigation, water supply and economic activities along the corridor.

“Think about what we can do with those dams. They are not just roads; they are economic assets that will transform communities and create wealth,” he said.

On her part, the Convener of the North Central Agenda, Dr. Ene Ogbole described the victory of President Tinubu in next year’s presidential election as a “done deal.”

She stressed that the current administration was laying a solid foundation for Nigeria’s long-term prosperity through critical reforms and infrastructure development.

Ogbole noted that prior to the current administration, the North-central Nigeria had been plunged into an “abyss of huge infrastructural deficit and major security crisis.”

“However, since assuming office on the 29th of May, 2023, President Tinubu has demonstrated courage in making difficult decisions aimed at securing the region’s long-term all-round prosperity.

“For the people of the North Central region, these efforts have brought renewed hope and visible progress,” she added.

Ogbole highlighted extensive investments spanning agriculture, security, education, and road transport infrastructure across the zone.

She commended the administration’s interventions in education, pointing to expanded investments through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and stipend support for students via the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Ogbole declared that the administration’s spread of capital projects had fundamentally altered the region’s political alignment.

“The fair and judicious spread of capital projects to all the geopolitical zones by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has changed the narratives from negative to positive, from neglect to recognition… and now to socio-economic structural and infrastructural transformation of the entire North Central zone,” she remarked.

Ogbole assured of the group’s aggressive voter mobilisation campaign across every state in the region to guarantee the President’s reelection.

“Consequently, we are pledging to mobilise massively like never before across the entire North Central states to support the reelection of the President that has brought us from doom to the dawn of a new era,” she said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, the Director General of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), Dr. Umar Yakasai said Nigerians had already settled the debate over the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential election by electing Tinubu despite sustained opposition to the arrangement.

The Vice presidential candidate of Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso had in a recent interview said the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would remain an issue in the 2027 election.

But the TSG Director said the North Central, which has a significant Christian population, has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Tinubu administration through strategic appointments and infrastructure projects.

Yakassai stated: “In the 2023 general election, many people thought the Muslim-Muslim ticket would stop Tinubu. He won.

“Today, the North Central has become one of the major beneficiaries of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“INEC is headed by someone from the North Central, the APC National Chairman is from the North Central, key security institutions are headed by people from the North Central, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is also from the zone.

“You cannot talk about religion without talking about the North Central because they constitute a significant proportion of Christians in Northern Nigeria. They have moved from marginalisation to integration and from exclusion to inclusion.

“Kwankwaso should know better. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proven that he is President for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion. If he were President only for Muslims, Kwankwaso himself would not have accepted to serve as running mate to a Christian presidential candidate,” he said.

Yakasai also rejected allegations that the Tinubu administration favours the South-west in federal appointments, arguing that the President has ensured equitable representation across regions and religions.

He cited the recent appointment of Ogbole as Commissioner in the National Wages Commission and the large number of federal appointees from Kano State as evidence that appointments are spread across the country.

“The President has spread his appointments across all tribes, all regions and all religions. It is the opposition that wants to shift attention from the successes of this administration to issues that have already been settled by Nigerians,” he added.