…Says shared prosperity follows

Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, says Nigeria would have suffered total economic collapse but for President Bola Tinubu’s courageous reforms, arguing that the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira only waited until the President’s assumption of office in 2023 because the nation delayed the ‘evil day’ and lived on borrowed time.

He gave the insights at the weekend during the launch of “As Tinubu Mbah Moves” (ATM), a support group convened by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Kingsley Udeh (SAN), and dedicated to the re-election of President Tinubu and Governor Mbah in Enugu.

Speaking to the mammoth crowd, he said, “It would have been a lot easier for any leader to just continue with the status quo and carry on on the basis of business as usual. But for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it was business unusual that led to the bold initiatives.

“As a person who had played very actively in the oil and gas sector, I had written quite a lot of features and articles arguing against the fuel subsidy regime long before now, for it was clear to me, even from the point of a major player in that sector, that the subsidy regime was not sustainable because of the economic devastation it was causing to us as Nigerians. We were just basically postponing the evil day.

“We were just digging our poverty pits continually. We were actually digging deeper into that pit of poverty. And it would have taken a very courageous leader in his first term to say, ‘Look, if we have to build for the future, if we have to think about our children, then we must take out the subsidy and we must also unify the exchange rate regime.’”

Mbah took a swipe at the foreign exchange regime before the floating of the naira by Tinubu, describing it as a cesspool of corruption.

“We got to a point in this country where even salary earners, once they get paid, would run to the bureau de change to change it rather than hold their salary in naira. Confidence was completely eroded in the naira. Nobody wanted to touch it with the tip of their finger. And that was the recipe for a failed nation.

“If you wanted to do a study or research of any failed nation, it is when the country, the citizens themselves, begin to lose confidence in their currency. And that was the environment that this President inherited.

“It was a major cesspool of corruption. The arbitrage was obvious and people were being taken advantage of. What was happening between the official and the parallel market was terrible. And some people were benefiting from that arbitrage at the expense of the economy. But it took this President’s understanding of the economy to be able to make those bold decisions,” he explained.

Continuing, he said that the stabilisation of the nation’s macroeconomic indicators by the Tinubu administration had encouraged Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) necessary for improving Nigeria’s microeconomic indices, such as household incomes and employment.

“This essentially is something that is largely driven by private capital. But government enables it by policies because I can tell you that private capital does not go to where you do not have stability.

“If your macro indicators are under pressure; if you have not addressed your foreign reserve, your foreign exchange regime, your inflationary rates, and all that, you do not have any chance of attracting private capital because private capital is blind. It is not emotional. It goes to where it makes return on investment, where it can be guaranteed some high level of security.

“Because we did not have all those before now, private capital was not coming. So, what the bold policies and initiatives this President took have done is that those macro pressures have largely been eased. And what you are now witnessing in our economy is a growth trajectory.

“So, private capital is now looking towards our country. You can see quite a number of FDI deals being closed – not MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) or MoU (Memorandum of Understanding). These are final investment decisions being made across different sectors, particularly in the oil and gas sector. You can see billions of dollars coming towards this direction today.

“People who have dollars are now going back to exchange their dollars because that confidence has been restored.

“So, now that we have stabilised our macro indicators, we have now started witnessing growth, albeit not to the level we aspire.

“The next thing is going to be shared prosperity because you are going to see that growth cascade. You are going to see it get to the households. You are going to see it create employment. So, our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. That is the way it works,” he explained.

Citing Enugu State as an example, Mbah also credited the President with freeing funds that could have been sunk into subsidy, thus arming states with resources to embark on massive development projects that impact the lives of the people.

The Governor, therefore, urged Nigerians to vote en masse for the President to complete the job he started, saying it was the only realistic option.

“Nations are not built by abandoning challenges halfway through. If we have gone through this whole process of difficult periods when it appeared as if all was doomed to a point where we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we cannot abandon what has been started. No great sailor abandons his ship because of a rough sea, mid-sea. You have to sail to get to your destination,” he said.

He urged ATM members to take the message of the successes of Tinubu’s reforms and the President’s various infrastructural and policy interventions in the South East to the electorate.

Meanwhile, Dr. Udeh (SAN) said the support group would focus its mobilisation efforts on non-members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the 4,145 polling units of Enugu State ahead of the 2027 general elections, deploying technology to register members, track their participation and monitor its mobilisation activities through an online registration portal.

The convoy of former Kano State Governor and former presidential candidate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, was reportedly attacked by suspected political thugs in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State on Sunday, leaving several vehicles damaged and some members of his entourage injured.

The incident reportedly occurred as Kwankwaso and his supporters were leaving the area after touring several local government areas as part of their political engagements across the state.

The spokesperson for the Kano State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu, confirmed the attack in an interview with Arewa Update.

A media aide to Kwankwaso, Saifullahi Hassan, also drew attention to the incident in a Facebook post.

Shuaibu disclosed that the delegation had visited Tofa, Rimin Gado, Kabo, Gwarzo and Shanono local government areas before arriving in Bichi, where they held a political meeting despite an earlier disturbance.

He alleged that the attackers struck as the delegation was preparing to leave, emerging from a location to assault vehicles conveying members of the entourage.

According to him, between six and seven vehicles had their windscreens smashed, while some members of the convoy sustained injuries.

“Senator Kwankwaso told us to enter the town without fear or retreat. When we arrived, there was a sign of disturbance and stone-throwing, but we held our meeting peacefully,” Shuaibu said.

He added: “It was on our way out that some people emerged from a location and started attacking our vehicles, smashing windscreens.”

Despite the incident, Shuaibu insisted that the group would not abandon its political activities, saying the attack would not weaken their resolve.

He described the incident as an indication of fear among their political opponents and reaffirmed the group’s commitment to its political objectives.

As of the time of filing this report, the Kano State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement on the alleged attack.

The state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had also not reacted to the incident.

Bandits have killed a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, in Kaura Namoda town, Zamfara State.

The governor’s aide, Hon. Nasiru Sani Kaura, was reportedly shot dead when the bandits attacked the Low cost area of Kaura Namoda in the early hours of Sunday.

Residents said the attackers stormed the neighbourhood while Muslims were observing the early morning Subh (Fajr) prayer, shooting sporadically and forcing people to flee for safety.

Nasiru, a grassroots politician and community leader, was reportedly killed during the attack.

His death has triggered grief in Kaura Namoda and other parts of the state, with sympathisers describing his killing as a great loss to the community.

His funeral prayer was subsequently observed in accordance with Islamic rites.

The killing has also renewed concerns over the security situation in Kaura Namoda and other parts of Zamfara North, where communities have continued to experience bandit attacks, killings and abductions.

Residents have called on the state government and security agencies to intensify efforts to protect lives and property, particularly in residential communities.

In a separate development, the Zamfara State Police Command said it had rescued 19 kidnapped victims, comprising women and children, after 22 days in bandits’ captivity.

The victims were abducted from Tungar Haki Village, through Wanke, in Gusau Local Government Area, and taken to a bandits’ hideout around Kungurmi Village.

The police said the victims were rescued on Saturday, November 14, at about 10am during a coordinated operation involving operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, police personnel attached to Government House, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and local hunters.

The operation followed credible intelligence on the whereabouts of the victims.

A statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yazid Abubakar, said all 19 victims were found unharmed and had since been reunited with their families.

The Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Muhammad Bello, commended the joint security team for their courage, professionalism and collaboration, which led to the successful rescue.

He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to combating kidnapping and other criminal activities, while urging residents to provide security agencies with timely and credible information.

The two incidents came amid persistent security challenges in Zamfara, particularly in communities in the northern part of the state, where banditry has continued to threaten residents and disrupt normal activities.