Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr. Yakubu Dogara, has described President Bola Tinubu as a leader that is prepared to lead with courage even at a personal cost, considering his tax reforms stand.
Dogara stated this at the 14th convocation and 17th Founders Anniversary of the Achievers University, Owo in Ondo State.
The former speaker said any transformation leader must be brave, stating that a good leader must not just allow history to happen but make it.
According to him, the lack of good leadership plunged the country into its current state of mess.
“With what President Bola Tinubu has done, whether it’s the freeing of local government areas from the choke-hold of economic stagnation the states had hitherto subjected them to or the groundbreaking bold tax reforms proposals he had placed before the National Assembly, I see a glimmer of hope that we may be dealing with a leader who is prepared to lead with unbridled courage even at personal cost.
“It gladdens my heart that we are now dealing with a leader who is not avoiding stubborn tasks and very much unwilling to put off difficult conversations.
“With him, courage has become a habit and that habit has the power to transform our leadership as the miracles we are desperately yearning for may well lie in the tasks and difficult conversations we are avoiding.
“I support the president’s tax reforms not because they are perfect, but because it is the right thing to do.
“However, I must concede the fact that those opposed to it have the right to do so.
“But I do not share their jaundiced, tenuous and puerile position that because they disagree with some aspects of the reforms, then the reforms must be withdrawn or killed.
“Leaders who are dedicated to reforms and progress don’t make such poor judgement calls, at all,” he said.
Dogara said those that are opposed to the reforms should clearly spell out what they are disagreeing with and make a better proposition than that of the president for Nigerians to compare and contrast in order to make informed choices.
The former speaker said a call to do nothing about the reforms was either bad politics or sheer buffoonery or a combination of both.
According to him, addressing Nigeria’s economic challenges requires bold, decisive and coordinated actions across multiple fronts.
He said that achieving the vision of desired transformation would demand sacrifices, accountability and collective resolve from all Nigerians.
The chancellor called the youths to be at the centre of transformation, stressing, “through education, innovations and a shared commitment to excellence, we can build a Nigeria that fulfils the aspirations of its people.”
Dogara, therefore, tasked Nigerian universities to be centres of learning and innovation that would come out with practical solutions to the country’s economic problems.
He said that universities must partner with industries and government to ensure that the knowledge generated have real-world applications.