Babalola urges Tinubu to lobby for debt relief

Group seeks peace over May 29 inauguration
Founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) has asked the incoming administration of the President-elect, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to borrow a cue from former President Olusegun Obasanjo and prioritise Nigeria’s debt forgiveness from creditor-countries, as well as bilateral financial institutions.

Babalola said Nigeria is one of the worst debtor-nations, saying that only a foolish investor would come and put his money in such a country. He said that forgiveness or cancellation would help relieve Nigeria of humongous foreign debts.

The legal luminary spoke, at the weekend, in Ado-Ekiti during a lecture entitled, “Smart Infrastructure: Catalyst for Sustainable Development and delivered by Professor of Intelligent Infrastructure System, Bamidele Adebisi.

Babalola, who lamented the current state of the country’s debt profile, said that the debts incurred were not channelled appropriately but spent on questionable priorities.

He attributed the ballooning debt profile to lack of discipline and inefficiency of government spending.

In his lecture, Adebisi stressed the importance of technology across all sectors, noting that technology has moved up the rung of ladder to act as a catalyst for societal development.

He said that technology had become a game-changer to address challenges inherent in agriculture, transport and food production.

MEANWHILE, one of the leading support groups of Tinubu during the last presidential election, 100% Focus Group Movement, has called for peace, urging all parties (political and non-political) to sheath their sword.

Chairman of the group, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed, said what the President-elect needs now is prayers of good health and long life from all Nigerians.

Mohammed, who berated those who claim they love Nigeria and care about its development, yet have disdain for the President-elect, described Tinubu as the epitome of the kind of leader Nigerians yearn for at this stage of the nation’s development.

He said that Nigerians were lucky to have the former Lagos State governor as their incoming president.

IN another development, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) has vowed to collaborate with Tinubu, to revive the cocoa industry and restore it to its rightful place in the global cocoa market.

National President of CFAN, Adeola Adegoke, gave the promise in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, immediately after he and 11 other candidates were elected to lead the association for another four-year term.