Otunba Ade Adesina is the Director General of the Bola Tinubu Support Organisation in the United Kingdom (BTSO UK) and Diaspora Grassroots Support for better governance. The one-time APC UK Strategic Planning chairman reveals that the group comprising Nigerian professionals is keen to support the president-elect towards making Nigeria very great. ROTIMI IGE brings excerpts.
You were very active in the last general elections. What is BTSO trying to achieve?
We have been active in elections as far back as the beginning of the last democratic system. This means that none of our members is a novice in this game, and we all have something in common; our ideas.
We have seen the way the country is run, and if you want to talk about those that helped make this country great, we are one of them. We have the experience and ideals, we have worked, we are professionals in all our diverse fields and we all have many years of experience. All of these things can be used for the benefit of the country.
We are already talking to one or two people at the helms of the affairs from the federal to state levels, but what we wish to do is to sit down and articulate ideas, the kind that made Great Britain and many European countries great.
Many Nigerians in the Diaspora are doing great things. The head of the treasury in the United States is a Nigerian and many Nigerians are running those departments in the United States. In 2009, I went to Europe to get funding for England to do community economic regeneration in England. That’s because England did not have that money. They were neck-deep in debt and needed economic regeneration.
So, I had to go with a couple of people to Europe and we got the money from London and spent it across several London bureaus. If I could be bringing such benefits and the UK government is acknowledging that fact, why not do it for the country of my birth? If I have friends and like-minded people around me who are ready and want to work with us for the betterment of our nation, then it stands to reason, that is the drive. What we are looking for is the opportunity to be able to implement what we do in the UK, America, and other places. We have branches here in the UK, America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ghana and then Nigeria as a hub.
So if all of those experts around the diaspora can come together and say we want the BTSO to thrive as a platform to create the better Nigeria of our dreams, then we are ready and prepared to engage. Nigeria is seen as the giant of Africa, so we need to start that journey and make it the great country that it should be.
What is BTSO’s agenda for the president-elect and other elected candidates at state and representative levels in APC?
Our agenda and what we expect the president-elect to do is to give us an action plan knowing he is a thinker, a dreamer, and a doer. We believe he will be able to achieve even the barest minimum of what he sets out to do in his first four years. Then if there is an opportunity, we are ready to help with certain implementations. We have the expertise and the skill to assist. To the vice president, we know he is from Borno State, and there is a lot of community economic regeneration required. If there is better economic regeneration in the 774 local governments of Nigeria, there will not be riots and all the negativity we see around. It will address poverty, and unemployment, businesses will thrive. People will look up to Nigeria as the giant of Africa.
To all the governors, if you manage your state very well, you will eradicate insecurity and many of those associated issues.
All the House of Representatives and Assembly members, they have local government and state allocations. There are all sorts of allocations. Let the people feel the dividends of democracy. Let the people know that you are all working for their betterment. If you are there to represent the people, do what it is that will make our country great.
All of these people travel to the UK and see what is happening here. All they have to do is replicate it and make Nigeria a beautiful place. You would attract inward investment to make a better life for everyone.
Last but not least; the introduction of a cashless society is something I believe is a meaningful idea with the wrong implementation. There is nowhere in the world, as I am speaking to you, where they have a wholly cashless society. No single country in the world has a fully cashless society.
Even Britain and America which pride themselves on using electronic transfer mediums still enjoy and transact in cash. Britain has the infrastructure to back it like it up too with an uninterrupted power supply. Also, internet connectivity is solid, yet, Britain is still using cash. Nigeria does not have an uninterrupted power supply, and then you expect them to do transactions all the time.
It is a meaningful idea but wrongly implemented. I think the president-elect and all the people around him should think wisely about the implementation procedure. Britain still allows cash almost everywhere you go.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Treason: Obi, Datti’s comments don’t violate Section 37 of criminal code — Falana
Leading rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana on Thursday dismissed the claim by the Buhari administration that the Labour Party presidential team of Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed is engaging in subversive acts…
Obi threatens lawsuit against Peoples Gazette, says leaked audio fake
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 elections, Peter Obi, has dismissed leaked audio of an alleged conversation between him and Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, as fake.…
Whitney Adeniran: Lagos govt places Chrisland school on probation
Chrisland High School in Ikeja, Lagos, has been placed on probation by the Lagos State Government for one academic session to monitor adherence to safety policies and guidelines…
Ilorin youths clash, destroy 25 cars over girlfriend in JSS class
At least, 25 cars were destroyed as youths from Itamerin and Ode Popo communities lay claim to the boyfriend of one Aisha, a JSS student.…
Super Falcons kick off training in Turkey ahead of international friendlies
Nigeria’s Super Falcons on Wednesday in Antalya had their first training session since arrival in Turkey on Tuesday ahead of the international friendlies against Haiti and New Zealand…
EDITORIAL: DSS alarm on interim government
SINCE last week’s declaration by the Department of State Services (DSS) that some members of the political class were plotting an interim government to truncate the smooth handing over of power by President Muhammadu Buhari,…
and then