Yemi Obafemi
The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has restated the Tinubu-led administration commitment in defeating kidnappers and terrorists in Nigeria.
He made the statement during Saturday’s bye-election in Lagos, urging Nigerians to support the administration in fighting insurgencies across Nigeria.
Gbajabiamila said Nigerians should emulate the United States of America by supporting the Tinubu-led administration, adding that economic hardship faced by Nigerians was due to fundamentals missed by the past administration.
He said, “This administration is at the forefront, and I believe it will be a thing of the past. So it’s something of concern to me, and all of us should be our brother’s keeper by supporting ourselves and this administration. Look at the US. There’s insecurity in America, but they didn’t criticize the government. When 9/11 happened, everybody rallied around the government, and there was national cohesion to support that administration. We will defeat kidnappers and terrorists when we, like the Americans, support this administration.”
Asked what the President Tinubu-led administration is doing to mitigate economic hardship, he (Gbajabiamila) added, “Nigeria is not isolated; even in the world’s most advanced democracies, such things are happening. It is universal, but we are concerned about Nigeria. This government is about seven months old, but the gestation period is about now, so moving forward, things will begin to take a turn.
“Like it’s always been said, for it to get better, things have to get bad. Things are difficult because of the fundamentals we were missing in the first place. It is these economic fundamentals that this government is putting into place. Like the subsidy removal, everybody agreed that the subsidy had to go.
The president that we have has done it over and over again; he knows what he’s doing, and at the end of the day, everything will work out fine.”
On Bye-election
He said, “There’s a feeling of melancholy leaving the seat of a speaker. I feel elated, and I feel it’s the end of an era. I have always come to vote in the last five to six terms for myself; this is the seventh time I have come to vote for Fuad Laguda, and I hope he will do a better job than me. Surulere has always been lucky to have good representatives both at the state and on the federal level. I believe that Fuad will continue his good job. The election is so far peaceful and well organized.”
