… How Tinubu laying Nigeria’s long-term prosperity through reforms – SGF
A prominent political and advocacy pressure group in North Central Nigeria, North Central Agenda (NCA) has declared its unconditional support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election, describing his victory in the region as a “done deal.”
The development is coming as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, explained how the current administration is laying solid foundation for Nigeria’s long-term prosperity through critical reforms and infrastructure development.
Speaking at a one-day conference on North-Central region’s development, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the Convener of the North Central Agenda, (NCA), Dr. Ene Lilian Ogbole, said the President’s policy choices have brought visible transformation to a zone long plagued by socio-economic neglect.
The conference had in attendance delegates from all the six states of the North Central and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Addressing a large crowd of stakeholders from the region in Abuja, Dr. Ogbole said prior to the current administration, North Central Nigeria had been plunged into an “abyss of huge infrastructural deficit and major security crisis.”
“However, since assuming office on the 29th of May, 2023, President Tinubu has demonstrated courage in making difficult decisions aimed at securing the region’s long-term all-round prosperity,” Ogbole stated. “For the people of the North Central region, these efforts have brought renewed hope and visible progress.”
Ogbole highlighted extensive investments spanning agriculture, security, education, and road transport infrastructure across the zone.
Among the landmark road and superhighway projects cited by Ogbole include, the Calabar–Ebonyi–Benue–Kogi–Nasarawa–Abuja Super Highway; Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway (Niger and Kwara sections); Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri Highway; Suleja–Minna Dual Carriageway and the Lokoja–Okene Dualisation and Makurdi–Aliade–Otukpo Road
Ogbole praised the administration’s interventions in education, pointing to expanded investments through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and stipend support for students via the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). She noted that the Renewed Hope administration had successfully “halted the ‘strike regime’ which previously disrupted academic activities.”
On agriculture and security—critical issues for the nation’s primary food basket—the group noted that intensified military operations against banditry and kidnapping have enabled farmers to return to their fields and businesses to reopen.
Emphasizing the North Central zone’s historical position as an “electoral determinant factor in every presidential election since 1999,” Ogbole declared that the administration’s spread of capital projects had fundamentally altered the region’s political alignment.
“The fair and judicious spread of capital projects to all the geopolitical zones by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has changed the narratives from negative to positive, from neglect to recognition… and now to socio-economic structural and infrastructural transformation of the entire North Central zone,” she remarked.
Ogbole committed the organization to an aggressive voter mobilization campaign across every state in the region to guarantee the President’s reelection.
“Consequently, we are pledging to mobilise massively like never before across the entire North Central states to support the reelection of the President that has brought us from doom to the dawn of a new era,” Ogbole said.
“For us as the mouthpiece of the North Central people, this reelection is a done deal as we will stop at nothing within the confines of the law to ensure that his victory is secured.”
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who was represented at the occasion by his Senior Assistant, Technical, Prof. Babatunde Bolaji Benard said his confidence in Tinubu dated back many years, adding that President Tinubu has placed Nigeria firmly on the path of recovery through bold and sometimes difficult policy decisions.
He likened the country’s current economic reforms to cooking beans, noting that while the process takes time and patience, the end result is worthwhile.
“The President is a trailblazer. He is taking decisions that may not produce instant results, but they are the kind of reforms that will secure Nigeria’s future,” he said.
Prof Benard cited the Student Loan Scheme as one of the administration’s landmark achievements, arguing that while children of political leaders in previous administrations benefited from student loans abroad, Tinubu has made similar opportunities available to ordinary Nigerian students at home.
He also praised the administration’s massive investment in infrastructure, particularly the ongoing road projects across the country.
Referring to the Calabar to Abuja highway corridor, he said the route had been conceived as far back as 1958 but had remained largely unrealised until the current administration.
“How do you develop a country without critical infrastructure?” he asked. “What President Tinubu is doing today is laying the foundation for economic growth.”
Benard further highlighted the Sokoto to Badagry Super Highway project, noting that it incorporates 32 dams that would significantly boost agriculture, irrigation, water supply and economic activities along the corridor.
“Think about what we can do with those dams. They are not just roads; they are economic assets that will transform communities and create wealth,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to support leaders focused on building lasting infrastructure rather than seeking short-term handouts.
“We should leave those who give us peanuts and keep us in poverty. We should support the man who is digging up the ground and creating the conditions for Nigeria to blossom,” he said.
In his goodwill message, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from Benue State, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, confirmed that President Tinubu had deployed massive security to Benue, embarked on several projects which are beneficial to the people of the state and working hand in hand with the incumbent Governor Alia Hyacinth to deliver dividends of democracy in the state
According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in Benue state come 2027 is a walkover.