APC chieftain to Tinubu: You must step on toes to make Nigeria work

Bola Babarinde, a former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South Africa, says President Bola Tinubu should be ready to step on the toes of “enemies of the people” to make Nigeria better.

In a statement on Sunday, Babarinde said hard decisions must be made to get Nigerians out of the current economic hardship.

He added that the president must fight corruption for the country to be respected in the comity of nations.

“For the present government to succeed, President Bola Tinubu should be ready to step on the toes of enemies of the people to make Nigeria better and a proud country for all of us,” he said.

“Corruption should be the aberration and should not be a case where the corrupt are the favoured while honest ones are the outcasts.

“A nation that treats corruption with kid gloves is on the way to obliteration.”

Babarinde noted that the present system of government in Nigeria is too expensive in relation to the level of poverty in the country.

He said it will be a miracle to actualise good governance with the way the country’s system is currently structured.

“The militarised American-styled democracy that was forcefully adopted by Nigeria had not been fair to us, and will not be the best for Nigeria unless some drastic amendments are made to our constitution,” he said.

“The previous cosmetic constitution amendments are just mere polishing the surface; there is a need for complete constitutional and institutional reforms to be adapted to our realities.

“Our system of government should be homemade with ideas from successful systems all over the world, be it Western democracies (America and UK), Asian system (mixed communism), Singapore, Russia and others.

“Combining and integrating these systems in line with our local culture and diversity should be able to give our people the best they deserve.”

The APC chieftain also called for a review of the bicameral legislative system being practised in the country, noting that it is too expensive to maintain.

“Something drastic must be done to reduce our cost of governance to show the ordinary Nigerians that they are also important; people are not blind to what is happening to their resources.

“Basic things of life such as affordable quality food, accommodation, health-care services, water/sanitation and energies should be prioritised.

“This can only be achieved when the leaders consider the people’s well-being as a priority and practice a meritocratic system, where the people are selected on merit.”