The Deji of Akure, the Ondo State capital, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, has said the people of the town will support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because of the development brought to the town since he assumed office in 2023.
Aladelusi, the immediate past Chairman of the state Council of Obas, said the appointment of a substantive Minister from Akure extraction and the establishment of a Teaching Hospital are some of the reasons the people of the town would support him.
Speaking when members of the Southwest Agenda For Asiwaju (SWAGA), led by Prince Dayo Adeyeye, visited the monarch in the palace, Oba Aladelusi said the establishment of an Aviation school in Akure and the appointment of three cabinet members are the reasons for supporting the reelection of President Tinubu.
According to him, “What other state capitals have been taken for granted? We just had our teaching hospital a year ago. If you take out Lagos and Ibadan, Akure is next in population. And yet we don’t have a federal teaching hospital. We don’t even have a state.
“When President Tinubu came to Baba Fasoranti’s house, I said, ‘We don’t have a teaching hospital, and he promised we would get it.”
The monarch said that since the tenure of Oba Olu Falae during the military, Akure has not produced a substantive Minister until the appointment of Ayo Olawande by President Tinubu.
He said, “On the second term of Tinubu, I don’t know anybody competing with him. That is why I said he will turn around this country in his second term. With what President Tinubu has done for Akure, the second term is assured. The person coming after him in five years will continue from where he stopped.”
Earlier, the Chairman of SWAGA had said the country would have collapsed if not for the intervention of Tinubu and the bold reforms the president has initiated in the critical sectors of the economy.
Adeyeye said, “If not for some key aspects of the policies of Tinubu, I don’t know where Nigeria would be now. I want to assure you that by now, Nigeria would have been completely bankrupt.
“Maybe a litre of fuel would be selling for over 10,000, because you don’t even have the money to import it. Dangote refinery would not work in a rigidly regulated system.
“Most businesses would have collapsed. We would have hyperinflation. Before President Bola Ahmed took over, what they called Ways and Means, which is just printing paper, not backed up by any production, the money you did not earn, but you just print on paper because you are the government.
“The government of Nigeria had printed over 47 trillion. The effect was not yet felt because there was still a level of subsidies. But Nigeria was already bankrupt. You were printing money, not backed up by anything.
“Because of his bold decision, there are resources now for all three levels of government to function. In 2023, most state governments were bankrupt; they could not pay salaries, they could not pay pensions, and universities were bankrupt.
“Today, state governments have too much money. Some of them don’t even know what to do with it. All local governments have money, more money than they used to collect.”
In his speech, the convener of SWAGA, Hon Oyetunde Ojo, said the assignment of the group would be easy considering the performance of President Tinubu since he assumed office three years ago.
According to him, the issuance of passports, which was a challenge, has been resolved, while student loans have been reactivated to help indigent students. He said the removal of subsidies from petroleum products has made many state governments richer than they were in the years past.
Ojo said many people are joining SWAGA because of the development the President has brought to the country.
