Elder statesman Alhaji Tanko Yakasai says Nigeria has outshined its colonial past, insisting the country has made “tremendous progress” since independence.
Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Wednesday, Yakasai said his confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s administration is rooted in its reform drive.
“In my opinion, so far so good, I believe that by and large, people will agree with me that he has achieved quite a lot with the period that he has been controlling the country,” Yakasai said.
On why some Nigerians look back with nostalgia, he fired back that only those who lived under British rule can truly measure how far the nation has come.
“The Nigeria of today is far better than the Nigeria of the pre-independence era. If anybody says we have not done well, maybe he has not known what was happening before or now,” he declared.
“Those of us who knew what was happening before know that we are making tremendous progress.”
The nonagenarian pointed to Nigeria’s self-rule as a milestone achievement.
“Before independence, the entire administration of Nigeria was in the hands of the British. Today, no single responsible position of government in Nigeria is in the hands of the British or any foreigner. Everything is in the hands of Nigerians, and the Nigerians are doing their best,” he said.
On elections, Yakasai argued that even with flaws, the system has strengthened accountability.
“We have been having election after election. Parties who performed during the election, after the election, they are now performing better. Those who are not prepared were replaced because they are not performing. So I think we are making progress tremendously,” he said.
