Uche Amunike
Former Lagos State Governor and Presidential aspirant, Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu has said, Thursday that all Nigerian needs is a leader like him, who is competent enough to unite the people, revamp the economy and solve the prevailing problem of insecurity in the country.
Speaking, in Ekiti State, during his ongoing consultation for the 2023 Presidential election, he stated that his reason for ensuring that he consulted the traditional rulers first was because of the great regard he had for culture and tradition.
He further stated: ‘I’m contesting this race to renew the hope and make the future great for our children’.
‘For Nigeria to stand united and develop, we require patience and wisdom. We have to be united, that is the only way we can be great.’
The palace of the traditional ruler of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe was agog with fanfare as people gathered together dancing, singing and praising the All Progressives Congress (APC) National leader, Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu as they waited for his arrival at the palace to meet with the Monarch.
Earlier, Tinubu, in a delegation led by Senator Dayo Adeyeye, alongside the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Bisi Egbeyemi who represented Governor Kayode Fayemi, as well as the chieftains of Southwest Agenda for Tinubu 2023, had a meeting with the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers at their chambers in the capital city.
His words: ‘We have struggled for democracy and today, we have democracy, but we are not stable yet. There is insecurity, hopelessness, lack of education and suffering in the land. By now, we should have a good farming system and opportunities to produce for other nations to buy’.
‘We are here to answer the call of our children by educating them the right way so that we can leave a Nigeria that is united, prosperous and abundant for them. We chose democracy and we must not fail in this task’.
‘That was why we formed APC based on principles. I want to tell you that Nigeria needs serious change. I knew how Lagos was when I took over and we had never failed any election. There must be continuity in governance for progress to be attained’.
‘I was the first governor in Nigeria to start paying the WAEC fee of secondary school students. I shall do it again as a President’, he concluded.
The Traditional Council Chairman, who doubles as the Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba Ayodele Adejuwon, in response, supported Tinubu’s presidential aspiration, and assured that every qualified Nigerian was permitted by the constitution to run for any position and prayed that God would help the former State Governor of Lagos to realize his ambition.
Also in support of Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu’s aspiration, is a group known as Yoruba Ronu who has called on traditional rulers in the Southwest to support him.
The group’s Director of Communication, Mr Steve Bayode and the Chairman, Diran Iyantan, in a statement issued by them, declared their support for Tinubu as significant because of the part he played in seeing that the traditional institution assumed their pride of place in Nigeria.
He averred that the former State Governor put in great efforts towards sustaining the present democratic system and thereby raising many Yoruba sons and daughters to high positions in society.
He reiterated that the Presidential aspirants in the south had not made as much sacrifice as Tinubu towards the growth of Nigeria’s democracy.
‘He has built a strong political coalition across the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. This is a hefty task difficult for other competitors to have attempted’, he concluded.
