The Supreme Leader of the Natives, Hon. Olalekan Smart Edwards, has commended President Bola Tinubu and the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for their investment in education, saying the Nigerian students will repay the family with massive votes in 2027.
The Natives, a conglomerate of all ethics, tribes and languages, specifically identified President Tinubu’s policy on the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the recent initiative of the First Lady to raise money through her birthday for the completion of the National Library.
Speaking during the unveiling of the Iconic Magazine in his honour and presentation of award by the national leadership of the National Association of the Nigerian Students (NANS), Tuesday in Abuja, Hon. Edwards said if the past administrations had invested in education like the current government, so many Nigerians who dropped out or could not afford education would have gotten proper education.
He said the President’s family has shown clearly that they were ready to invest in the lives of youths, children, families, and leave it as a legacy for all.
According to him, education, once given, can not be taken away, hence the Tinubu’s family deserved commendation.
He said: “It has now dawned on us. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not a joker. He is a man interested in our future. We fought so that education can be given to us. It’s now given to us freely.
“We see a country that is heading up to be one of the best countries in the world. I am a businessman. I travel around the world. I’m beginning to see light everywhere. People
are ready to do business with our country. People are ready to bring in their investments.
“The oil sector is receiving a boom. Everything is turning the corner. The export numbers are different. We used to import. Now we are catching on. So agriculture, the president
is involved. The environment, look at just what happened.
“The Ogoni University. This man is serious. Look at what he has just done. The Ogoni report. Recognizing souls that have been damaged for years. I mean the president is serious.
“So if we want to talk to the youth, what we’ll be saying to them is light is now coming at the end of the tunnel. It is time to cooperate with the government, understand the policies
of government. Those are the critical things. And see how it works for you and your organization.”
When asked for the implications of the gestures by the President’s family, Hon. Edwards said: “For that, you can already know there’s no controversy, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should get the students vote massively in 2027.
“The husband has opened up a policy and the policy is changing lives and giving students the opportunity to go to school. And the wife has decided to set up a library to give and add more to education.
“That’s why on behalf of our organization, we have decided that I donate six million Naira to the library project through the Nigerian students body.
“There are people who understand the dynamics, hard decisions, hard times,
and the economy is taking shape.
What I’m saying to you is that all over the world, they say you can deny people education so that you can impoverish them.
“If that is their only form of hope, then hope is being renewed. So I assure you, the time will come for us, when as Natives, we will give a vote of confidence on the Precedent
and the parliament led by Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.”
Speaking on behalf of the NANS leadership, its National Secretary, Comrade Anzaku Shedrack Ovye, said the award was giving in recognition of the immense contribution of Hon. Edwards in empowering Nigerian youths across the country.
He cited the recent empowerment of over 1,500 youths by the Natives to the tune of N250,000 as start-up capital in various trades and vocations.
