The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has described President Bola Tinubu as a leader who is prepared to lead with unbridled courage, even at a personal cost.
Dogara made this statement during his speech at the 14th convocation and 17th foundation anniversary of Achievers University, Owo, in Ondo State.
He emphasised that any transformative leader must be brave, stating that a good leader must not just allow history to happen but actively make it.
The former speaker noted that a lack of leadership had plunged the country into its current state of disorder and failed to prevent issues from worsening progressively.
“With what President Bola Tinubu has done, whether it’s the freeing of local government areas from the chokehold of economic stagnation the states had subjected them to or the groundbreaking bold tax reform proposals he 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 is 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tenuous, and puerile position that because they disagree with some aspects of the reforms, the reforms must be withdrawn or killed.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.
According to him, those who oppose the reforms should clearly spell out what they disagree with and make better propositions than those of the president for Nigerians to compare and contrast in order to make informed choices.
Dogara, who is the Chancellor of Achievers University, said that a call to do nothing about the reforms was either bad politics, 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 the desired transformation would demand sacrifices, accountability, and collective resolve from all Nigerians.
The Chancellor called on the youths to be at the centre of the transformation, stating that 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 up with practical solutions to the country’s economic problems.
He said that universities must partner with industries and the government to ensure that the knowledge generated has real-world applications.
The institution’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, Dr Bode Ayorinde, said that the institution has, over the past 17 years, “consistently produced graduates who are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and values necessary to make a positive difference in the world.”
Ayorinde lamented that a high number of educated minds produced in the country annually are graduating with a bleak hope of what to do soon after.
According to him, the 275 universities in the country and over 500 other higher institutions jointly produce over a million graduates annually, yet there are no jobs to provide the necessary tutelage for them to contribute their quota to national development.
He urged the graduates to be agents of change and should not wait for opportunities but create them.
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