A Lagos State chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Oluwasegun Kayode Kazeem, has urged Nigerians to give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a chance in the onerous task of repositioning Nigeria.
Speaking exclusively to The Nation, Kazeem, in his Ikeja office on the sidelines of the harsh economy as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and the criticisms that has trailed some of the policies of the Tinubu administration which is in its third month, the Agege based chieftain who has been a Tinubu disciple since 1991, said despite what the Nigerian masses are going through, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is tested and trusted and is capable to put the country back to shape.
“In all my years of following the Jagaban, (and I’ve been following him since 1990, when he came to address us at Primrose, at Akilo Road, in Ikeja,) I can say that his word is his bond. When he promises, he does it. That is what kept people like us till date to stick with him.
“I can only appeal to the citizens to be patience with him. We all go to the same market, we feel the pains too, but we must come to terms with the reality that we need to make some sacrifice. We know it is not easy for many Nigeria s but there is no gain without pain,” Kazeem said.
He said he is very sure and optimistic that Nigeria will never be the same after the Tinubu administration adding that the man, Tinubu knows and acknowledged the pains the citizens are passing through.
That is why am asking Nigerians, let’s give him a chance. Let’s give him at least one year. We all heard and could feel his pains in his last nationwide address to Nigerians. For the first time in a very long time, we saw a leader who genuinely connected with the people, a leader who is pained and truly sorry that his policies and programmes are causing pains to his people. A leader who is committed to making a lasting impression, a leader who want something different for his people.
Kazeem said he is convinced that with the huge money the government wanted to push into the various sectors of the economy, things would soon begin to ease off and Nigerians would soon begin to smile again.
“The administration has told us it would push out N500 billion as palliative to various critical sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, housing, and enhancement in wages for Nigeria workers, among others. To reflate the economy, you need to pump money into the economy and this is what Asiwaju has done. Very soon, we would begin to see the impact of this great stride in our economy,” Kazeem added.
He described Asiwaju as Nigeria’s Messiah and urged Nigerians to continue to encourage him and not be despondent. We should all be praying that God should frustrate the cabals in order to allow him to implement his plans for Nigeria, he added.
Kazeem who has never been picked for any elective office despite his loyalty and commitment to the party by his people in Agege, however said he remained committed to the ideas of the All Progressives Congress and the principles of President Bola Tinubu.
A University of Ibadan graduate of Economics who had his Ph.D in Financial Management, from University of Abuja, Kazeem said he is a contented politician who remained committed to the dictates of the party and the wishes of the leaders of the party.
He said he has remained with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, from his days in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), to the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to Action Congress (AC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that his closeness to the astute politician who has now become the nation’s President is sufficient enough to make him edge a bet that Tinubu is the best deal for Nigeria.
He said: “I can tell you without any scintilla of doubt that President Tinubu is the best of the leading three or four candidate in the February 25, 2023 presidential election. Without mentioning names, we know the pedigree of some of his competitors and we congratulated Nigerians for the grace of God that saved us from falling into their entrapment. Tinubu is well know to some of us and is acceptable across the country as a detribalised and cosmopolitan politician. That was why it was the Northern governors who insisted that the ticket must go to the south of Nigeria, and worked assiduously to ensure that he emerged the winner.”
Comparing Tinubu with other politician he has had cause to interact with and who competed against him, Kazeem said, Asiwaju is accommodating, tolerant, readily forgives without a guile and is a father figure to everybody irrespective of colour, race or tribe.
Speaking on Agege, Kazeem commended the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, who is a three-term speaker and leader of the party in Agege for the landmark changes that has been attracted to Agege in the last 10 years. He said as a committed patriot and party man, he accepted the leadership of Obasa, and would continue to abide under his guidance in the overall interest of the peace, progress and good works going on everywhere in Agege and the Orile Agege LCDA.