A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ayodele Arise, has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying they are more far-reaching and impactful than those of previous administrations, despite persistent criticism from opposition parties.

Arise, who represented Ekiti North Senatorial District in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011, stated this at the weekend while speaking with journalists.

He said President Tinubu had taken bold decisions that are gradually repositioning the economy and laying a solid foundation for sustainable growth.

Recalling the public outrage that greeted the removal of fuel subsidy, the former lawmaker said many Nigerians now acknowledge that the policy was necessary to free public resources previously cornered by a privileged few and redirect them to sectors that benefit the wider population.

According to him, one of the immediate gains of the subsidy removal is the availability of funds to support social interventions such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which he said has expanded access to education for indigent but promising youths.

“As far as I am concerned, from my own position as a business person, I say that the decision of Mr. President has benefitted a lot of Nigerians. It has been able to move our economic growth positively. We have been able to realize that through so many statistics that we have seen,” Arise said.

“First of all, we know that inflation has come down drastically and we know that we now have money to fund institutions like NELFUND and of course, the President doesn’t want anybody to say I have been unable to go to school because of school fees. The NELFUND has come to the rescue of many people who otherwise won’t have been able to complete or even start their education up to tertiary education,” he added.

Arise also linked Tinubu’s education policies to improved academic stability in Nigerian universities, noting that prolonged strikes had previously disrupted academic calendars and fuelled brain drain.

“Prior to President Tinubu becoming president, we noticed that students in a full year programme in the university spent six, seven years for a four-year course. Since the President came, I think attention has been given to demands and grievances of bodies like ASUU, NASU, and we have seen people going to school and graduating after four years,” he said.

“This was the basis for what we call brain drain from Nigeria but that has been significantly arrested because people know that when they start school now they can finish in four years like their colleagues that have gone abroad to study,” Arise added.

On governance at the grassroots, the APC chieftain said Tinubu’s insistence on financial autonomy for local governments was designed to accelerate rural development and make governance more meaningful at the community level.

“Mr. President has insisted that the local government fund should stay with the local government for developmental purposes, for grassroots development so that the local government will be more meaningful in terms of their impact on people that live in the rural areas and that’s where you have a majority of the population,” he said.

He explained that the policy would help reduce rural-urban migration by creating jobs and improving infrastructure such as roads, healthcare facilities and primary schools at the local government level.

“Unlike before when you ask questions from local government chairmen they will just tell you, ‘oh, we don’t get the money; we only get a few millions every month and they couldn’t do much.’ Now the President has broken that jinx and ensured, in practical terms, that local governments have access to their funds,” Arise said.

He noted that the President had been unequivocal on the issue, stressing that local councils must directly receive and manage their allocations.

“The last remarks of Mr. President on this issue were very clear: let the local government have their money. And the money now has become meaningful because of some of the benefits we have been able to see from the subsidy removal,” he said.

Arise also described the fuel subsidy regime as one riddled with fraud and abuse, benefiting only a handful of individuals who exploited loopholes in the system.

“Before now, it was only benefitting some few people. There were people who would import or pretend that they were importing, bring documents to Nigeria, collect subsidy and take off. Some of them even had ships on the high seas and the ships would disappear to other countries,” he said.

According to him, ending the practice required courage, which he said Tinubu demonstrated by standing firmly by his policies.

“Stopping that took a lot of courage and he has always been a courageous man. Only a man of courage could have effected that and stood by his policies,” Arise said.

He further highlighted developments in the solid minerals sector, which he described as a potential new revenue source for the country.

“I happened to know that even in the solid minerals sector, which could be the next point of revenue generation for the country, there are solid minerals refineries being created to assist miners to process their products for export,” he said.

Arise concluded that the cumulative impact of Tinubu’s reforms was greater than many critics were willing to admit.

“There are so many things that the President has been able to do to add more money and bring more impact into society than people care to admit. As a business man and a politician, if we do get some benefits, maybe people should speak out and say things are getting better,” he said.