Barely one year into his tenure, has a northern group, Arewa Think Tank (ATT), has said the northern region can’t stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term bid come 2027.
They said, what the north needed more is not political power but infrastructural power and educational development to advance the cause of its people.
Convener of the ATT, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, said this Monday while fielding questions from journalists after a prayer session at Arewa House, Kaduna, to mark President Tinubu’s 72nd birthday.
While regretting that the eight years a northerner was in power did not impact the region positively, Yakubu said as northerners, must tell themselves the bitter truth, put regional sentiments aside and support Tinubu’s second term in office to fast track the development of the region.
He said: “Why will the North stop President Tinubu, how can the North stop him in 2027 after somebody from the North has done eight years.
“For us to have peace in this country the North has no option, no alternative than to vote Tinubu for another second term so that he can do eight years as well. What the North should be thinking now is infrastructural and educational development.
“Considering the enormity of challenges facing the North now, it does not need political power now. We must put our house in order and tell each other the bitter truth; security challenges which we hoped that former President Muhammadu Buhari would have dealt with, but got worsened. That means political power has no value for the North.
“However, it is all about democracy and politics when people begin to angle to run for the presidency, probably to beat Tinubu to it. Everybody has the right to contest for any political position in the country. They have the rights as enshrined in our constitution to freedom, to associate.
“They can go ahead and contest. For us at Arewa Think Tank, nobody can stop us from supporting the President. All we know he will be in power for eight years.
“We had a Northern President who stayed in power for eight years. So, there is no reason why we will not support President Tinubu for eight years. So far, he has done a lot of infrastructures across the country.
“I was watching the Minister of Works, David Umahi saying that Abuja, Kaduna, Kano highways will be completed this year. This is very encouraging because the last administration in the last eight years could not fix it.
“And look at President Tinubu in less than one year in office, he is promising us that he will complete it. That is encouraging. So all we need to do is to continue to support and pray for him. Like I earlier said at the initial take off of Tinubu government, we in the Arewa Think Tank will give him one to one and half years before we start criticising him.
“We want to give him some benefits of the doubt, we want to give him a breathing space because of the enormity of the challenges he inherited. It won’t be fair in less than one year to start criticising him.
“If there is need, there is a channel to reach him. But for us to come out openly to criticise him we need up to one to one and half years. Until he fails to work on those areas we advised him, that is when we will start to criticise him. But for the time being we will support him and continue to pray for him,” he said.
…PWDs rally support
Similarly, at a birthday bash for President Tinubu in Abuja, the community of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria applauded the president for his humanity, caring passion and commitment to their welfare.
Speaking to journalists at the event, a member of the group, Mrs Glory Moses, said: “We are extremely overwhelmed with joy with what our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done for us particularly in the area of inclusivity but we urge them to do more.
“He has provided jobs for Persons With Disabilities. He gave us palliatives to help us reduce the effect of the economic hardship on our people. We appreciate him. We prayed that God will continue to bless and keep him.”
Also speaking, president of the Nigerian Association for the Blind (NAB), Stanley Onyebuchi, commended the president for appointing one of them “as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities.”
Onyebuchi further called on the president to also issue a presidential directive that will ease the implementation of the National Disability Act particularly in the area of employment for persons with disabilities.
Similarly, the convener of the event and founder of Queen Adenike Tejuosho Foundation, Dr Halimat Adenike Tejuosho, commended for creating enabling environment for the PWDs in Nigeria to thrive.
