President Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria is regaining global respect following the implementation of his administration’s sweeping economic reforms, which he described as stabilising the economy and restoring investor confidence.
Speaking at the State House on Tuesday when he received the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Oladunni Olaoye, Orumogege III, and other royal fathers, the President said years of “neglect, fake records, smuggling and corruption” had undermined the nation’s economic integrity before his government’s intervention.
“We had to take those actions. With your prayers, patience, perseverance and great understanding, I’m glad to tell you today that the economy is stabilised. The bleeding has stopped. Haemorrhage is gone; the patient is alive,” Tinubu said.
The President also highlighted the establishment of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying it was designed to ensure that no Nigerian student drops out of school due to poverty. He stressed that education remains the most powerful tool to fight poverty.
Tinubu further assured that his administration would sustain investments in infrastructure, noting that significant progress had been achieved in just two years.
He commended Oba Olaoye for modernising Ogbomosoland and pledged to direct relevant ministers to look into the monarch’s requests on agriculture, power, water, and health infrastructure.
The Soun of Ogbomoso, in his remarks, lauded the President for removing fuel subsidy, implementing foreign exchange reforms, and creating NELFUND. He said these policies were already yielding positive results for Nigerians, particularly students.
Oba Olaoye also praised the award of the long-awaited dualisation of the Oyo–Ogbomoso Road, describing it as a critical economic gateway to the North. He, however, appealed to the President to upgrade Ogbomoso General Hospital into a Federal Medical Centre, improve water and electricity supply in the town, and establish a research institute to support the commercialisation of Ogbomoso mangoes and cashew nuts.
The monarch thanked Tinubu for appointing indigenes of Ogbomoso into key federal positions, including Zacch Adedeji as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Debo Adedokun as Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement.
Oba Olaoye was accompanied by other traditional rulers from Ogbomosoland, community leaders, and the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, who is also the Agbaakin of Ogbomosoland.