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Tinubu’s policies best for economic devt —Igbasan, Agagu, Kunlere

By Adekola Afolabi
& Saheed Ibrahim

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Eminent Nigerians have applauded the policies of the new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing them as profound policies that will create productivities and strengthen the economy of the country.

The political experts lauded the president for the well thought-out policies which they said have raised the hope of Nigerians.

They, however, noted that it will take committed political will for Tinubu to effectively implement his policies

The leaders who spoke with The Hope in a separate interview include: Ondo State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Pastor Emmanuel Igbasan, Prof Akinsola Agagu of Political Science Department, Ekiti State University and former Ondo South Senator and PDP chieftain, Boluwaji Kunlere.

They, however, encouraged President Tinubu to ensure the successful implementation of all the good policies for the benefit of the masses, just as they called on Nigerians to always ask the right questions from their leaders at all levels and monitor budget implementation for their benefits.

Igbasan said, “the policy statement can be divided into four or five critical areas which centre on public sector reform, human capital development, economy, infrastructure and financial reform.

“If you look at the beautiful and well thought-out policies of President Tinubu, and I give it to him, there is a profound one that is not too obvious to everybody and around which every other thing will revolve, which will serve as the fulcrum of development in any nation all over the world, is creating superb financial system that will take us from this cash policy system that will we are running, to truly, ideal cashless policy system.

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“It is a radical departure from the failed cashless policy of Emefiele which was not well thought-out, and harshly implemented. In any public policy, you will need to x-ray different parts, the linkages, what will it affect if I do this.

“But President Tinubu has said, for the economy to grow you did not need to deal in cash. Whether you pay bank draft, or you pay through POS or physical cash or through debit card, insofar you cannot access any goods without paying 100 percent, it is still a cash policy you are running.”

The Commissioner, however, said to create credit system in the country, as one of the programmes of the new President, a credible, unified and centralised identification management is needed to monitor every dealing and transaction to prevent fraudulent activities.

On his agric policy, Igbasan charged the President to devolve its implementation to sub-nationals to ensure a successful implementation of the good policy, adding that those in Abuja cannot understand states or local governments better than the state governors and local government chairmen.

On the removal of fuel subsidy, Igbasan noted that it is long overdue, stressing that Nigeria is subsidizing inefficiency and fraud for the benefit of the few, and at the expense of the masses.

He noted that all the four refineries in the country are already expired with obsolete technology, saying that Nigeria has no refinery which has sadly thrown the country into a net importer of what it has in its backyard.

On his part, Senator Boluwaji Kunlere, however, charged Tinubu not to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari if he wants to succeed and make lives meaningful to the masses.

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He explained, all his policies are good, provided it will be fully implemented for the benefit of the masses, adding that the conciliatory policies have raised the hope of Nigerians, particularly the youth and women, just as he described Tinubu as a master of the game.

He encouraged the new President to fulfill his promises by building infrastructure, provide adequate security, build the economy, create jobs, and create State Police to strengthen security architecture.

He used the occasion to applaud Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for his commitment to securing his people by establishing Amotekun Corps, saying that Akeredolu stood his ground even when his colleagues in the South West were afraid and dodging it.

“I can say this anywhere, in the entire South West, only person that took the issue of security serious as it affects the people is the Governor of Ondo State. I have no apology to give to anybody about that one. The way Akeredolu handled Amotekun, if they had handled it in Ekiti, in Osun and other South West States, these criminals would not have their way into the South West.

“So, the President must mobilize the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to follow this and create state police, and give powers to states

A Political Science scholar, Prof. Akinsola Agagu noted that it will take committed political will for Tinubu to effectively implement his policies.

While acknowledging that past leaders in the country had enumerated several policies without proper implementation, that Agagu said it will be too early to assess Tinubu, calling for more time to gauge his implementation.

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“We cannot say he has policies for now. There are issues that will provide direction to his policies. He will still have to well articulate his policies,” he stated.

Speaking on fuel subsidy removal, he stated that President Tinubu should have been tactical with the implementation.

“He had made it known during his campaign that subsidy will be removed but I think the way he approached it was not tactical enough.

“NNPC is the issue. I expected him to first be silent on it, hold meeting with NNPC and even reorganize it to ensure whatever policy he wants to put in place is not sabotaged.

“I think he still has to do a thorough examination of the whole thing and act accordingly. If you want to remove subsidy, you must have your plans and strategies in place to ensure it benefits the people.

“The argument is they want to divert the money into formidable ventures but it must be well managed to serve its suppose,”

He added that subsidy removal shouldn’t be something to rush at to avoid operating a policy in a vacuum.

Speaking on agriculture and other areas he mentioned, the political scientist said Nigerians spent huge amount of money importing food items and it would be good for the nation if food production is optimised as farmers will benefit and jobs will be created.

“But we also have to put in place the modality and proper implementation. I believe he is a statesman and very vast in governance. I believe he will put necessary mercenaries in place to have viable policies.

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Tinubu’s policies best for economic devt —Igbasan, Agagu, Kunlere

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