The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, has said that President Bola Tinubu was laying a solid foundation for the country’s prosperity.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, on Tuesday, the Deputy President of the Senate urged all Nigerians to support the President in his quest to address the challenges facing the country.
“By May 29, it will be exactly two years since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration came on board in the country. Yes, we are not there, and we cannot be in the promised land in less than 23 months when the numerous challenges facing our beloved country have weighed us down for decades. But a journey has started—the road is rough, but it’s for the restoration of our country’s glorious days. It is not easy to rebuild a shattered building.
“In the past decades, all spheres of our country—power, road infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, water, housing, and others—have been begging for genuine attention. This is coupled with the fact that this government came on board at the time that the entire world economy was and is still quite turbulent due to the high cost of basic goods and services all over the world arising from Russia -Ukraine, and
Israel–Palestine wars. Nigeria is certainly not an exception.
“The good news is that the president is genuinely committed to addressing these challenges. Fresh air is already permeating all the country’s spheres, nooks and crannies to the admiration of lovers and good people, irrespective of differences and persuasions,” he said.
Senator Barau, who is the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, said that since the present administration was inaugurated on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has left no stone unturned in addressing the country’s myriad of challenges.
“The direction is clear, and the foundation is correctly and solidly laid for our country’s transformation and prosperity.
“For instance, admirable success has been recorded in the area of security. Hundreds of terrorists have been neutralised in the North West geopolitical zone. Yes, there are pockets of cases of kidnapping and attacks, but they are minimal compared to before the coming of this administration. The instances of incessant kidnapping on the Abuja/Kaduna road have become history.
“In the Southeast, the activities of unknown gunmen terrorising the region have been on the downward side. In the North East, Boko Haram was almost completely eradicated until the recent attacks in some parts of Borno State. I am confident that our gallant members of the Armed Forces will act decisively to smoke them out permanently. The people of the remaining five states in the North East live peacefully and conduct their lawful businesses—commendation to our gallant officers and men of the Armed Forces and other sister security agencies.
“With the enhanced peace across the country, the Federal government has recently launched phase one of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) to revolutionise and industrialise the agricultural sector. SAPZ aims to transform Nigeria’s agriculture landscape through innovation, private-sector investments and strategic public partnerships.
“The zones are designed to create agro-industrial hubs that integrate farmers with processors, reduce post-harvest losses and expand rural economic opportunities. Seven states, namely Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, Imo, Cross River, and Federal Capital Territory, have been selected for phase one, while Bauchi, Borno, and Gombe are listed for phase 2,” he stated.
He expressed optimism that the establishment of the North-West, North Central, South-East, South-West, and South-South development commissions will significantly contribute to developing the country’s regions.
“With President Tinubu’s establishment of the development commissions, we will witness unprecedented development at the grassroots level.
“Also, the Abuja—Kaduna—Kano highway reconstruction, which dragged on for eight years under the last administration, has been flagged off and is receiving the needed attention,” he said.
On education, the Deputy President of the Senate described the introduction of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by the present administration as unprecedented. He said that thousands of students across the country have benefitted so far, and their parents or guardians have been relieved of the stress of school fees payment.
He recalled that when President Tinubu took over, the economy was in terrible shape in all spheres.
“President Tinubu has been working genuinely to correct the fiscal misalignments. He has attracted foreign direct investments worth billions of dollars, paid the forex backlog and cleared the ways and means of the trillion Naira he inherited from the last administration.
“To this end, I urge all to give maximum support to the government to continue with these people-oriented and pro-masses initiatives conceived to take our country to the El Dorado.
“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has laid the foundation for Nigeria’s prosperity. Let’s support him. We have no other country than the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are by the grace of God on the path to prosperity,” Senator Barau added.
