A former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu has inherited a myriad of challenges stemming from the shortcomings of previous administrations.
This observation was made in the context of President Tinubu’s participation in the G20 summit held in New Delhi, India, at the special invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the two-day summit, President Tinubu engaged with leaders from the US, Germany, and South Korea on various matters. Additionally, he witnessed the conferment of permanent member status on the African Union.
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Prof. Akinyemi emphasised that for Nigeria to attain a coveted permanent membership status within the esteemed G20, concerted efforts are required to enhance the nation’s standing in the global community. This, he emphasized, is crucial in ensuring Nigeria’s presence among the distinguished members of this influential international forum.
“We must stop de-marketing Nigeria, irrespective of what the government does. If we as people have no faith in our own country, in our own government, it will backfire. Let me, however, deal now with what I would call the international aspect of that summit, and the implications for Nigeria. We are not members of the G20. Why?
“The reasons are many. One is: the bad leadership that has driven our economy to the ground. Now that we know the cost of bad leadership, I hope we will give to our country a decent leadership that can promote Nigeria. We must stop Boko Haram and all the things that destabilize and give Nigeria a bad image,” he said.
The former ministers also said that Tinubu is paying the price of the bad leadership that characterized Nigeria’s past governments, and should work hard towards getting the country permanent membership of the G20 before the next summit.
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He said, “Tinubu and Nigeria are paying the price for the bad leadership of the past. We tend to say that it started with Jonathan and Buhari. But forgive me, it started before that. I won’t however, go into that now.
“But the good news is that President Tinubu is starting at a time when he can maximize the goodwill of the international communities.
“Number one: the new President of G20 is from Brazil. And Brazil is a friend of Nigeria. We have very good relationship with Brazil. That good relationship should be cultivated because the president of the G20 actually has a lot of influence on his fellow members in terms of what he would like to do or not to.
“Therefore, President Tinubu should set up a taskforce whose objective should be that by the next summit, Nigeria should actually be sponsored for permanent membership of the G20.”
