Wasiu Ademola Bakare, a member and one of the elders of the Epe Club, an influential group of Epe indigenes, has written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to deliberately manage the successes of his administration’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and the changes to foreign exchange policy.
Bakare, who is also a retired banker, emphasises that the resulting revenue windfall for states and local governments must translate into visible development projects.
He calls for training and reorientation programmes for local government chairmen and councillors to turn them into effective infrastructural project builders, arguing that this could trigger simultaneous agricultural and economic growth across all 774 local governments in Nigeria.
Open Letter to President Tinubu By Wasiu Bakare
Now that the bold twin decisions to manage our foreign exchange and fuel subsidies differently are beginning to yield tangible results, we need to be very deliberate about managing the success.
The fiscal space created by these reforms has significantly increased revenue allocations to states and local governments.
EDITOR’S PICKS
But with this windfall comes a surge in expectations from ordinary Nigerians who want to see better infrastructure, improved services, and tangible dividends of democracy in their communities.
Lagos State offers a powerful model. It has become Nigeria’s economic pacesetter not merely because of its size or population, but because successive administrations have built systems that turned governors into “Mr Projects,” leaders whose legacies are visible in roads, bridges, schools, and health facilities.
This moment calls for a similar transformation at the grassroots. Imagine if the chairmen of all 774 local governments, along with their councillors, became “Mr Projects” in their own right, driving agricultural programmes, economic initiatives, and local infrastructure simultaneously. The impact on livelihoods, food security, and national development would be revolutionary.
But this will not happen by chance. It requires deliberate effort to empower and equip local government leaders with the skills, knowledge, and accountability frameworks they need to deliver.
Nigeria already has the infrastructure to make this happen. State training institutes such as the Lagos State Staff Development Centre and federal institutions like ASCON in Badagry can be mobilised to reorient these managers of national income. Leadership training, project management, and financial transparency modules should be mandatory for local government chairmen and their teams.
FURTHER READING
Mr President, we cannot afford to let this moment slip by. The reforms have created enormous opportunity, but also enormous responsibility. Let us help our local leaders rise to the challenge so that the success of your administration’s economic reforms becomes the success of every Nigerian community.
Opinions expressed in this article are strictly the writer’s and do not reflect the viewers of EKO HOT BLOG.
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