The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will reposition Nigeria and leave citizens proud before exiting office in 2031.
Speaking after a meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the monarch said he was confident in Tinubu’s capacity to deliver, citing his governance track record and ongoing economic reforms.
Ladoja explained that the visit also gave him the opportunity to personally thank the president for honouring his coronation and to commend what he described as positive developments across the country.
“My coronation was on the 26th of September. I have been trying to come and thank him for finding time to come. So this is an opportunity for me because I came for the Daily Trust dialogue. So it is an opportunity for me to come and thank him and to tell him that we are very happy with what is happening in the country.”
Assessing Tinubu’s leadership, the traditional ruler said the president’s experience as Lagos State governor showed he understood governance, even though Nigeria’s challenges were far more complex.
He added that states were now financially stronger than they were during his time as governor, stressing that economic reforms were already making a difference.
“If you know where he’s coming from, you will know that he knows what he’s doing, that is what is most important. He was able to get Lagos from where it was to where he left it. So I’m sure that the situation in Nigeria might not have been as bad as it was. The problem is that Nigeria is more complex than a state because of the fact that not all of us have the same notion about what we want in Nigeria.
“But nonetheless, the states have more money than we had when we were governors, and they are able to meet their commitments better than we could when we were governors. So I believe that, by and large, the economy has to be fixed and it’s being fixed. We hope that by the time he’s leaving in 2031, he will have put Nigeria where all of us will be proud of it.”
Despite his optimism, Ladoja identified food security, healthcare and insecurity as areas requiring urgent attention, describing insecurity as the most pressing challenge facing the nation.
“Well, we expect the president to work more on the situation of food. We expect them to look at the situation of health. We should have standard hospitals where we can treat our people.
“But the major problem we really have now is the problem of insecurity. Farmers are finding it difficult to go to their farms and it is already spreading to the south also. So everybody is apprehensive about going to the farm. Everybody is apprehensive about going about their daily business. I don’t think it is insurmountable, but by and large we believe that the president is tackling this correctly now.”
