Tinubu to Nigerians: Your Sacrifices So Far and in Months Ahead Won’t Be in Vain Leaders across parties, faiths greet compatriots in new year messages Deji Elymoye, Chuks Okocha and Alex Enumah in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu, early this morning, assured Nigerians that all their sacrifices in the last over 19
months that he took over power and in the months ahead, would not be in vain.
In his New Year message, the president, who promised to continue to serve the people diligently and
wholeheartedly, also listed some of his achievements in the year that just ended, despite the challenges
his government faced. Continued on page 33
After Man of the Year Unveiled Today, THISDAY Awards Honours List Out Tomorrow
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Tough and Resilient... President Bola Tinubu is Man of the Year
Olawale Olaleye
On a balance of scales and given all considerations, it is hard to find anyone, who could fairly challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the THISDAY Man of the Year commemoration. Determined and unfazed in the face of mounting challenges and attendant hardships, the president marches on with his audacious reforms to change Nigeria. In his first and only media interview, he told the nation "you can't be doing the same thing and expect different outcomes." With that, he served the nation notice of his resolve to stick to his reforms. The president, who ran his election campaign on the mantra of emi lo kan (it’s my turn to be president), has waltzed through some of the most troubling phases of his less than two years old presidency. From merely providing leadership to introducing very unpopular but promising reforms, Tinubu has proven to be that daring and gritty leader, who is driven more by convictions of his choices than pandering to sheer sentiments or the crowd. Although the removal of subsidy from petroleum had been settled by the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari, and as a matter of legislation by the nineth National Assembly, owning and managing the consequences of that choice had been Tinubu’s hardest job since he took over as president. The floating of the naira to enable it find its level against other currencies, particularly against the dollar and by extension, engender the stability of the market, was an equally difficult decision that Tinubu had to make. No doubt, the economic situation the country found itself was desperate. Continued on page 8
COURAGEOUS, AUDACIOUS AND UNAFRAID TO TAKE THE HARD DECISIONS... President Bola Ahmed Tinubu... Man of the Year