Aare Afe Babalola, a legal heavyweight and the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, and the Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, have given advice to President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. They have urged him to take crucial decisions as soon as he takes office to bring about the changes Nigerians crave. Babalola has recommended that the new administration prioritise debt forgiveness for Nigeria from creditor countries and multilateral financial institutions to help Nigeria free itself from its monstrous foreign debts. Babalola advised Tinubu to learn from the actions of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who devoted his first two years in office to begging for the forgiveness of Nigeria’s debts.
During a lecture titled “Smart Infrastructure: Catalyst for sustainable development” and delivered by Professor Bamidele Adebisi of the University of Manchester, Babalola spoke in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday. He stated that forgiveness or cancellation of these debts would relieve Nigeria of its colossal foreign debts that have been continuously increasing with the current administration. Despite only having a few days left in office, the current government continues to borrow heavily to fund the needs of the country. Babalola believes that Nigeria won’t see any investors’ interests in the country until its debts are significantly paid off.
On Sunday, in Ado-Ekiti during World Communications Day Thanksgiving Service, Bishop Ajakaye said that Tinubu would need to ensure that the right appointments were made if he intends to reduce the cost of governance and to provide for development, stating that there should be no deserted projects. The Bishop stressed that it is essential to curb the waste of public funds through expenditures on meaningless projects and political appointments while wasting taxpayers’ again discussed the significance of technology in all sectors, highlighting that it has become a game changer to tackle societal challenges in areas that include agriculture, transport and food production.
