President Buhari has achieved what Jonathan could not – Tinubu

A national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari saying he had achieved what his predecessor was incapable of in the fight against insurgency. Delivering a lecture at the National Defence College, Abuja, on Wednesday, Mr. Tinubu said long years of gross mis-governance was responsible for the rise of extremism in the country.

“With the courage and dedication of the military, Boko Haram has been subdued.
“Also, notable and significant progress is being made against corruption. Press freedoms and civil liberties are protected, putting to lie those who cried that President Buhari would not respect democracy and rule of law.”

In the lecture titled ‘Strategic Leadership: My Personal Theory and Practice,’ Mr. Tinubu also commended the Nigerian militrary for its achievements against Boko Haram.

“You have battled and bested this evil enterprise,” said the former governor of Lagos State.

“This vile force has been reduced to where it no longer poses a strategic threat. You have done as well as a military can in putting down this amorphous danger. The nation thanks you. I must say here, however, that we cannot lower our guard.

“We have learned cardinal lessons from the Boko Haram crisis. First, we must govern justly and for the benefit of the people to prevent the recurrence of violent extremism in the future.

“Widespread poverty caused by an unjust allocation of income, wealth and resources provides fertile ground for extremist ideologies, that run contrary to the inclusive democracy we seek to perfect.”

On the country’s slide into recession, Mr. Tinubu said the crash in crude oil prices exposed the structural weakness of the national economy.

“Strategic objectives during this period of economic uncertainty must be to re-engineer the economy bottom up, diversify the economic base, strengthen our industrial base, modernise infrastructure, enhance agriculture, and provide employment,” he said.

“And of course, ease of doing business must not be overlooked in order to attract foreign investment.

“The challenge before us is a difficult but not impossible one. If we stick to the progressive beliefs of the APC, we shall overcome these difficulties to place the economy on surer permanent footing.”

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