By VC Collins Vershima, mnim
Whilst the politics, the powers and the people are coming together in a build up for the next period of general elections in Nigeria, Hon. Engr. Jeffrey Terhemba Udende has come disclosing that the Tinubu Presidency deserves commendation for taking bold decisions that would get Nigeria out of the woods of a never do well state.
Speaking on Arena 36+, a political and current affairs program on Boss FM 95.5 Abuja, Engr. Jeff Udende , a special advisor to the former governor of Benue state, HE Samuel Ortom emphasized that President Bola Tinubu is steering the ship of state in the right direction with his economic policy on fuel subsidy removal and tax reforms.
Udende reiterated that President Tinubu needs more time to scale up his performance and bring Nigeria to clement economic shores.
” The removal of fuel subsidy regime by the Tinubu Presidency is a bold and best decision that will transform the econonomy of Nigeria with time.
Jeff Udende decried a situation where before the advent of the Tinubu Presidency, funds were corruptly released to non-existing oil marketers at the expense of some productive sector of the economy.
“Fuel subsidy funds were given to a few Nigerians, many who were not even in the oil and gas business and this was corruption until the Tinubu Presidency stopped this inimical trend that had attained a monstrous dimension of a conduit in syphoning public funds”.
Interestingly, whilst speaking on the coalition build up in view of the 2027 presidential elections, Jeff Udende challenged the political class to drive a mentorship program that will generate required capacity for sustainable development in Nigeria and jettison the sheer greed of power, the idea of power grabbing for self aggrandizement and vendetta peddling.
” It’s high time the political class in Nigeria stop recycling old people but young people who have been groomed for leadership to be given the opportunity to serve”.
” There should be a deliberate mentorship program by the elites to hand over the reigns of power to the younger,vibrant and energetic generation.
Udende lamented that the forces ganging up in the coalition against President Tinubu have also been in power before without bringing about the desired change in governance.
” The arrow heads of the ADC coalition have all tested power as former vice-president, senate president, governors, federal ministers and they did not turn around the fortunes of the state with these economic reforms until the emergence of the Tinubu Presidency.We know their antecedents. We don’t need a recycling of leaders who have failed Nigeria but young people with some impactful approach at leadership for good governance.
Earlier, Jeff Udende, the special advisor to the former governor of Benue urged the Federal Government to ensure prompt payment of contractors
by ministries, departments and agencies of government. He stressed that this in no small way will scale up the ease of doing business and guarantee an enabling environment for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME’S ) to thrive and create more jobs, thereby revamping Nigeria’s economy.