During a New Year homage by Vice President Kashim Shettima and members of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, at his Ikoyi residence, the president expressed his gratitude for their support and collaboration while highlighting key areas requiring joint effort for the nation’s progress.

“You are the most important link to Nigeria’s prosperity and development. The Federal Government accounts for about 30 to 35 per cent of the allocated revenue; the rest comes to you. The agricultural value chain depends on you. You own the land, and the job is in your hands,” he said.

President Tinubu called for stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments to address pressing challenges, including local government autonomy, agricultural productivity, and currency stability.

Expressing his commitment to local government development and autonomy, the president stressed its importance for grassroots development and dispelled rumours of disagreement with the governors.

“We will not fight within us. I will drive the change. You control your local governments. You can restore hope by effectively fulfilling what the people expect at the grassroots level.

“There were gossips that we had disagreements on local government autonomy. No. Just drive development at the local government. Nobody wants to take them away from you, but we need collaboration. Let’s do it together and ensure Nigeria is better off for it.”

President Tinubu urged governors to prioritise agricultural growth as a pathway to economic stability.

“We have to work harder, grow more, and ensure the situation of our currency improves. Nigeria will see prosperity, but it requires consistent effort from all of us,” he said.

He also urged the governors to take pride in their efforts and acknowledged their progress across the states.

“There is no state we cannot visit and be proud of its development. We have better allocations now. Let me take the abuse; you take the privileges. Together, we will build a nation we are all proud of,” he said.

Reflecting on his leadership journey in the last 19 months, the president expressed confidence in Nigeria’s capacity to thrive given the resilience and leadership demonstrated by the administration.

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“I am glad I asked for this job, and Nigerians gave me the mandate. We’ll be on this voyage together. I thank all of you for where we are today and where we are heading,” he said.

The president announced that he will be visiting Enugu State on January 4 as part of his planned visits to some states of the federation.

President Tinubu welcomed his declaration by ThisDAY newspaper as Man Of The Year.

He commended the newspaper for recognising “what they considered a failure initially, but is now a success.”

Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum and Governor of Kwara State, described ThisDay’s decision to name President Tinubu Man of the Year as a significant endorsement of the administration’s policies.

He noted that the acknowledgement from a media outlet known for critical media coverage during the campaign reflected the tangible progress made under President Tinubu’s leadership.

“The policies are working. In agriculture, I was in Jigawa. The complaint in Jigawa was that there was a bumper harvest, but because of the strength of our currency, traders exported the harvest.

“So, most of us are encouraging ourselves to buy bumper stocks into our silos, store them for the rainy day. So, in terms of agriculture, the policy is working. We’ll continue to deepen that and ensure we are 100% sustained in food security and feed the whole of West Africa,” he said.

The governor urged the president to visit various states to see the ongoing transformations and progress firsthand.

He assured the president of the steadfast support of the governors, particularly in contributing to local security architecture to further enhance the nation’s security.

“I must confess that I have not done two years in this administration, but I’ve done more projects in two years than in the four years of my first term”, Governor Abdulrazaq said.

“We are getting more funding due to the restructuring of the economy. Yes, there is inflation, but we are overriding it,” the governor said.

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The youths decried what they called the systemic violation of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the former governor’s children, “who have nothing whatsoever to do with whatever the commission is investigating their parents for.”

President, Kogi Independent Youths Association, Comrade Mohammed Abdulrazak, said, “Let it be on record that we do not support corruption in any manner. What we are against is not following due processes to carry out law enforcement duties, especially when you begin to drag in innocent children into the fray. This can damage them psychologically for life.

“Children don’t play politics. Children can’t be punished for the sins of their parents even when such has been proven. Nobody deserves to be punished for a crime they know nothing about, not to talk of innocent children.

“Today’s rally is the first in the series of actions we have laid out until justice is done in this matter. All these concerns will be presented to the National Human Rights Commission any moment from now for appropriate intervention especially to protect the rights of the innocent children who have been dragged into this political war by the EFCC.”

He added, “As educated youths who are versed in the practice and procedures concerning the arrest, arraignment, and prosecution of an accused person, the due process of the law is sacrosanct and must be duly adhered to and complied with.

“Former Governor Yahaya Bello has not been shown any fairness, which is a cardinal principle of law. He has not been served with the notice of charges against him, or arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction by the EFCC, but he has already been arraigned, tried, and convicted by the EFCC going by their utterances in the media and unnecessary display of executive drama.”

Abdulrazak pointed out that the 1999 Constitution as Amended guarantees the innocence of an accused person until otherwise proven, but added that the EFCC, in the pursuit of its persecution of ex-Gov Bello, had thrown all caution to the wind and turned his botched arrest into a television and social media soap opera.

“This is being done to demonise him,” he said.

The President of the Kogi Youths Association said, “We know that before an accused person is arraigned service of charges against him is usually the condition precedent, except where the accused person is on the run. Former Governor Yahaya Bello was not and has never been on the run. In fact, he has an active and running injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction that forbids EFCC from arresting him to which EFCC had appealed against in the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja until they recently withdrew it.

“It is the natural course of justice that once an appeal is pending before an appellate court, status quo ought to have been maintained until the appeal is determined, but EFCC in their zeal to prove that they were working as they ought to refused and neglected to obey the order of the court which constitutionally binds them and to which they as a matter of must, obey. But they in disobedience to competent court order disobeyed and laid siege to his house, thereby violating his right to privacy and other constitutionally guaranteed rights.

“We are also aware that before a Nigerian citizen is deprived of his property, both corporeal and incorporeal, an order of a court of competent jurisdiction must first be had and obtained.In the instant case of Governor Yahaya Bello, EFCC, in their gestapo style, had forced the American International School to make a refund of nearly $800, 000 (eight hundred thousand dollars) being the school fees of his children studying therein, which he paid in advance to avoid the inflation and fluctuations that go with Nigerian economy.

“This action of the EFCC has brought to and exposed the children to so much trauma and opprobrium because of the taunts and mockery they are being bombarded from their fellow classmates.

“We are in no way advocating against the trial of the former governor, and if found guilty, face the appropriate sanctions and punishments that go with it, but the anti-corruption agency, which is the EFCC must as a matter of obedience to law, follow the procedures because any disobedience to our constitution and extant laws is a recipe for anarchy which is antithetical to our constitutional democracy.

“We condemn in its entirety the involvement of those innocent children in whatever EFCC and the powers that be have against their parents.  They should have never have been part of any witchunt by the commission. Their actions against these children are in total violation of the Child’s Rights Act of 2003.”

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The lecturer made the appeal while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Ilorin on Friday.

Abdulrazaq commended the government for its initiative, but noted that the process of obtaining the loan was cumbersome, considering the rate of unemployment in the country.

He pleaded that beneficiaries that could not secure a job after graduation should also be addressed in the student loan scheme, to ensure repayment.

The lecturer noted that the scheme, with its current arrangements, needed to be reviewed, especially in the area of sanctions for the breach of the loan repayment and time frame.

Abdulrazaq said that the two years given to pay the loan after completion of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, was too short.

This is “especially the area where it was stated that the student loan act stipulated that defaulters risk a fine of N500,000 and two years jail term should be looked into.”

Source: NAN        

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Speaking on behalf of the governor during the unity walk to commemorate the scheme’s golden anniversary schedule for May 22, the Kwara state deputy governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, earlier in the day praised the scheme for consistently upholding the unity of the nation over the past 50 years.

The governor praised corps members for several community development service projects across the state.

The governor further encouraged them not to relent in their unwavering service to the nation.

His words: “Be focused in your service to our fatherland, Nigeria. Youths, being the major constituency of the society, must inculcate the core values of integrity, hard work and continue to develop themselves to become better citizens of the country.”

He, however, enjoined corps members to use the NYSC platform to discover themselves and invest in personal development.

Meanwhile, addressing corps members and people at  the NYSC secretariat before the rally, Kwara State Commissioner for Youth and chairman of the state NYSC Governing Board, Olabode George Towoju, applauded the corps members for their tenacity in serving their country even in the midst of difficulty.

He further tasked the corps members to further uphold the tenets of patriotism and to continue to be law abiding citizens.

In the same vein, the state coordinator of the NYSC Kwara, Mr Jimba Olawale Chris, said that the scheme had come of age.

According to him, the scheme had impacted the society in various ways, such as education, primary health care and many more via the  instrumentality of various corps members community development services.

The coordinator further said that the scheme would continue to be a veritable platform for the remodelling of the Nigerian youth for national development.

By being a leveler, he said, the scheme had marched to create balance across the multi-ethnic Nigerian nation.

The state coordinator added that “the scheme has over the years grown to become one of the reverred federal government-established schemes that has done the country proud in all respects. Standing strong as a monolith amongst all platforms of unity and has actively grown into an active agent of unification and national transformation.”

It is worthy of note that NYSC was created by Decree No 24 of May 22, 1973, promulgated by the regime of the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, “to keep Nigeria one”.

The scheme was primarily conceptualised to strengthen the national cohesion and integration, so that the already wounded nation could be more bonded in all spheres.

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He described the death of the students as a painful one that could have been prevented.

In a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, AbdulRazaq commiserated with the parents and families of the students and prayed to God to avert such calamity in the future.

“We, however, believe that we can avoid this calamity in the future. We reiterate our calls on the drivers to always check their speed, respect other road users, and put their vehicles in the best condition. Most accidents occur because our drivers often fail these three basic tests of safe driving,” the statement said.

“Besides, we call on our tertiary institutions which still require students to travel long distance for their post-UTME examination to please consider holding such test online to avert the necessity of travel. This will not only reduce travel and attendant risks, but also encourage students to embrace and excel in computer literacy, a sine qua non for success in the 21st century.”

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