The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his unwavering commitment to democratic governance, stating that the president risked his life to ensure democracy was entrenched in Nigeria.
Wike made this assertion during the 2025 Distinguished Personality Lecture titled *The Nigeria of Our Dreams*, delivered at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State.
“Let me make bold at this juncture to state that today, in our country, we have such a leader in the person of Tinubu,” the minister said.
“He has shown in several ways and at different times, a stout commitment to the enthronement of democracy in our country, to the extent of even putting his own life on the line in the process.”
Wike lauded the president’s leadership credentials and described his administration in Lagos State as a model of rapid and exponential development.
“He has shown great capacity for engendering development as captured in the unprecedented rapid and exponential development of Lagos State under his watch and even beyond,” he added.
Highlighting President Tinubu’s bold decision to remove the fuel subsidy on his first day in office, Wike described the move as an act of courage that previous administrations could not summon.
“Leaders before him all spoke about the evil of fuel subsidy, but none had the courage to dare the blackmail of removing it. Tinubu did and is fittingly grappling with the inevitable, unintended and sometimes orchestrated consequences of this removal,” the minister stated.
According to Wike, the subsidy removal has started to yield economic benefits across the country.
“Today, our states have far more resources to develop, the debts are no longer piling and the price of petrol is gradually but steadily adjusting downwards in tandem with the forces of demand and supply and the strict implementation of regulatory conditionalities.”
He also commended the Tinubu administration’s efforts at deepening federalism through institutional reforms.
“The overwhelming cry of over centralisation of power and resources at the national level and the attendant abuse of the doctrine of federalism is being systematically addressed.
“This is being addressed through the creation of zonal or regional commissions empowered to devolve developmental impetus to the respective zones and regions, so that power can truly return to the people,” Wike concluded.
