From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande has hinted of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed ‘s long plan to become Nigeria’s President.
Akande, a chieftain of the pan Yoruba socio cultural organization, Afenifere who was Governor of Osun State between 1999 and 2003 said at a public lecture to mark the 97th birthday of Afenifere leader, Pa Ruben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital that Tinubu did not just plan for the presidential race but has been nursing the ambition for a long time.
He said “We thank God that this time around; Nigerians have elected a leader who has planned for a long time to be our President. Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a well-known person to Baba Fasoranti and he is also an inheritor of the Awoist legacy of planning and integrity.
“When Tinubu was Governor of Lagos State, he did not just plan for his eight years in office; he did a Master Plan for Lagos State which has since been running for more than the past 20 years and which has transformed the city-state into the powerhouse of the Nigerian economy.
“Therefore, it is right and necessary to expect a 20 or 50 Years Master Plan for Nigeria from President Tinubu which would transform this blessed country into a great one, he stated.
Describing Fasoranti as an icon and a patriotic Nigerian who has contributed his quota to the development of the country, Akande said the nation needs people like Fasoranti for its economic stability and political development.
His words “As we all know, Chief Fasoranti has led a life of service. His contributions to the growth and progress of Nigeria are many and far-reaching and future generations would consider his contributions as both invaluable and imperishable.
“I fully associate myself with your decision to honour our living hero while he is still with us. As the chairman, I would not bore you, but I will take some minutes to draw your attention to certain things about the followership in our present society.
“When Chief Fasoranti was admitted into the University of Ibadan in 1948, his dream, like the dreams of many of his compeers, was to be the best he could be and to serve the society to the best of his ability. His generation believes in discipline in both private and public life.
“Therefore, when we were growing up, especially when we were entering politics, members of my generation also look at Baba Fasonranti’s generation as our role models. I am talking, of course, about our leaders – the Immortals like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Senator Abraham Adesanya, Chief Alfred Rewane, Alhaj L. K. Jakande, Chief Bisi Onabanjo and Chief Bola Ige.
“I had the good fortune and rare privilege of collaborating at close quarters with Chief Bola Ige, the first elected Governor of old Oyo State, with whom I served, first, as the Secretary to the State Government and, later, as the Deputy Governor. Ige was a great apostle of Obafemi Awolowo and one of his staunchest collaborators in making sure we won the fight against military dictatorship was Baba Fasoranti and many of our leaders in the NADECO vanguard. For those our leaders, service was the main essence of leadership and no living one exemplifies this more than the hero we are honouring today.
“Therefore, when I had the privilege of serving in Osun State as the Governor from 1999 to 2003, we followed the old template of Bola Ige and Awolowo to prove to our people that good government is both necessary and possible. We balanced our budgets. We cleared the debts we inherited. We did not borrow money to finance our projects. We did not leave any uncompleted project. We did not owe any worker. We did not owe any contractor or suppliers.
“We planned. We executed the plans for the good of our people. Our government did not live beyond its means. We followed the examples of those before us in the Awolowo School of Politics and Public Service. We need to ask ourselves today whether we can say the same thing about the current emerging set of our leaders.
“Every member of this audience has a telephone set. Some people may even have two or three. If you look outside, you will see the latest cars manufactured in Europe, Asia and America. Most of us are wearing dresses made in other countries, especially in Europe and Asia. Some of our women are wearing discarded hair from Asian or South American women. We love foreign wine and foreign cuisine. Yet, we complain.
“We fail to plan and, yet, we are surprised that we fail in almost all sectors as we are all lapsing into generations of plan-less hypocrites I can assure you, that was not what we inherited. In this same country, we use to have Five Years Capital Development Plan and Seven Years Capital Development Plans. Now we only plan for the immediate next election,” Akande added.