The first child of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Iyabo Obasanjo, on Saturday said that the economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu have helped a lot to stabilize the economy and strengthen the purchasing power of Nigerians.
Obasanjo equally saluted the foresight of President Tinubu in embarking on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road, saying that the massive road construction would not only help in deepening economic activities along that corridor but would also help to decongest the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The epidemiology specialist equally said that her governorship aspiration is not a fluke, neither is she out to clear the path for any other candidate, saying she is putting in every effort and commitment to succeed Governor Dapo Abiodun come 2027.
Prof. Obasanjo disclosed this during a media parley with journalists held on Saturday at the penthouse inside her father’s sprawling Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
Answering questions from journalists on her view on the state of the economy under President Tinubu, the senator who represented Ogun Central between 2007 and 2011 affirmed that there have been a lot of positive developments with the economy in the last two and a half years.
She explained: “I think there’s a lot going on, positively. One is the stabilization of the Naira. What that does is that people can predict how much money they will spend on imports and how much income they will get. So stabilization of the Naira is a big one.
“I think that the economic stability cannot be overstated, because when people can predict income and exports, things get better — because then you are not buying something at one price due to dollar instability and having to sell it at a higher price when it changes.
“So for economic stability, there has been progress and there has been some improvement in security, mainly because now we have a lot of collaboration going on. There is international collaboration, the President’s visits to different countries for trade, economic development is rising and that is the key to everything we do.”
Obasanjo said that there might have been a lot of negativity around the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road, but the truth is that it is a valuable move towards expanding the economy and addressing regular congestion on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
She disclosed that “although there was a lot of negativity around the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road, it is a developmental move that will help to generate income as it helps to connect the ports within the axis.
“It will also help to ease transportation on the Lagos-Ibadan corridor. Right now, to go north in Nigeria, to go east, you have to come through Ogun State on that road.
“Yes, it’s good that they go through, but if they’re going through and congesting that road, it’s also a problem, right? So that road will help us decongest Ogun State roads in ways that will actually help us with development, too.”
Speaking about her seriousness regarding the gubernatorial ambition, the former Commissioner said that she is not joking and is not out to hold forth for anyone, but to slug it out and pick up the APC gubernatorial ticket for the state.
She explained that her government will build on the recent gains of industrialisation that is fast catching up with the state, as well as the value chain in agriculture and tourism, among others, to strengthen the economy of the state.
She disclosed that “the current administration has made impressive moves with industrialisation — the number of factories we have, because with those factories come jobs, opportunity and taxation.
“But also, those resources can then be turned into products. So we are becoming the industrialisation hub of Nigeria.
“That was how China started. Factories were taken from America to China. So now China is bringing factories here. This is an opportunity for the state to become the Guangdong of Nigeria.
“Also important is agriculture. We need to do even more in that regard because we do have a lot of land and we are close to Lagos, which is a city where people need a lot of food. Since we all have to eat every day, let us do that.
“And also, we are close to the port. So if we produce food for export or industry for export, we are in a good position to send products across the world. So focusing on agriculture as we add value to agricultural products will be something for us to do.”
Iyabo Obasanjo hails Tinubu’s economic reforms, unveils governorship ambition
