A former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chancellor of Achievers University, Owo, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has expressed his support for the reforms initiated by President Bola Tinubu, stating that they are “the right thing to do.”
Hon. Dogara praised President Tinubu for his courage, describing him as a leader willing to act with unwavering resolve, even at personal cost. Speaking at the 14th convocation ceremony of Achievers University, Owo, Dogara emphasized that any further delay in implementing tax reforms and other initiatives would be a sign of cowardice.
He argued that the country’s stagnation in economic progress has been caused by a lack of courageous leadership. According to Dogara, Nigeria has been stuck with reactionary leadership, rather than forward-thinking and innovative leadership.
“We have followed a model of leadership rooted in weakness, and it has taken us nowhere,” he said. He also commended President Tinubu’s reforms at the local government level, calling them a “masterstroke” that strengthened leadership at the third tier of government.
According to him, “We have practised this model of leadership that is based on weakness. It has taken us nowhere. The president reforms in local government has reinforced more leadership to the third tier of government. What the president did with the local government was a master stroke.
“To give in to cheap argument because things are tough and he should back off is cowardice. We are having a leader who is courageous.
“With what President Bola Tinubu has done, whether it’s the freeing of local government areas from the choke-hold of economic stagnation the states had hitherto subjected them to or the groundbreaking bold tax reforms proposals he had placed before the National Assembly, I see a glimmer of hope that we may be dealing with a leader who is prepared to lead with unbridled courage even at personal cost.
“It gladdens my heart that we are now dealing with a leader who is not avoiding stubborn tasks and very much unwilling to put off difficult conversations.
“With him, courage has become a habit and that habit has the power to transform our leadership as the miracles we are desperately yearning for may well lie in the tasks and difficult conversations we are avoiding.
“I support president’s tax reforms not because they are perfect but because it is the right thing to do.
“However, I must concede the fact that those opposed to it have the right to do so but I do not share their jaundiced nay tenuous and puerile position that because they disagree with some aspects of the reforms, then the reforms must be withdrawn or killed.
“Leaders who are dedicated to reforms and progress don’t make such poor judgement calls, at all. A call to do nothing about the reforms was either bad politics or sheer buffoonery or a combination of both.”
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the institution’s Council, Hon. Bode Ayorinde, stated that the country has the potential to become a major industrialized nation.
Hon. Ayorinde urged the development of industries focused on processing raw materials, creating value-added products, reducing dependence on imports, and boosting exports.
