The pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, says President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has clearly mapped out how to navigate Nigeria into the economic realities of the 21st century.
Akande, a former governor of Osun State, said the policy blueprint, if faithfully implemented, would ensure Nigeria remains a global economic force, while also creating opportunities for Nigerians “to become captains of the players”.
He spoke in Ado Ekiti on Friday while delivering a lecture titled ‘Governance, Structural Reforms and the Economic Landscape of Nigeria in the 21st Century’ at the maiden edition of the Joel Babatola Annual Lectures organised by the Ekiti Council of Elders.
The late Babatola was Parliamentary Secretary to the former Premier of Western Nigeria, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
He was also a Minister of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and the pioneer President of the Ekiti Council of Elders.
Akande said the welfarist economy developed by Awolowo and associates like Babatola, which inspired patriotism among Yoruba youth and strengthened the Western Region’s loyalty to the Nigerian state, could be replicated nationwide through Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said, “Tinubu’s RHA is designed to lead Nigeria to self-sufficiency in food security, food production, food preservation and food packaging within Nigeria by Nigerians, and that may also facilitate food surpluses and export promotions.”
According to him, the agenda targets rapid infrastructure expansion — particularly in transportation and electricity — through collaboration between the private sector and different tiers of government, to support agricultural and industrial processing and improve movement of goods between urban and rural areas.
Akande added that Tinubu prioritises the development of human capital, especially in science and technology, to equip young people with the skills needed to take advantage of employment opportunities expected from the full implementation of the RHA.
He said the agenda also focuses on “strengthening the Nigerian unity against the indigenous retrogressive saboteurs and the neo-colonialist grumblers; and extricating Nigerian resources from massive illegal foreign exploitations, perhaps and perhaps, at least pending the fury of the threatened invasion from the global powers and international municipalities.”
President of the Elders Council, Prof. Joseph Oluwasanmi, said the lecture series was established in honour of Babatola “who gave so much to the Ekiti community and our Yoruba nation”.
“It is part of the council’s celebration of our heroes who had been favoured by Olodumare to offer sterling and exemplary service to the nation or their various communities,” he said.
Oluwasanmi, a nonagenarian, thanked the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, for his interest; other royal figures; leaders of elders’ councils across the South-West; the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, and his wife, Eyesorun Abosede Adejugbe; and Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, among others, for making the maiden lecture a success.
Earlier, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the annual lectures, Olufemi Adewumi, welcomed dignitaries and urged constant affirmation of the Omoluabi ethos through celebrating worthy heroes.
Adewumi said, “The Yoruba nation was blessed by a team of Oòduà democratic patriots under the leadership of Chief Awolowo. The team showcased the extraordinary prospects of visionary and exemplary leadership which brought our nation into higher gear of literacy and other metrics of progress and development that signify modernity. Notably, Chief Babatola was a principal member of the team.
