By Musa Bakare
Every generation produces a leader whose courage bends history. For Singapore, it was Lee Kuan Yew. For Nigeria it is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Like Lee, President Tinubu stepped into office at a time when his country stood on shaky ground, and like Lee, he chose the path of reform over rhetoric, action over excuses.
From Day One, President Tinubu made choices others before him avoided. The fuel subsidy scam, for long a drain on national wealth was abolished with the stroke of his pen. The multiple exchange rate system that bred fraud and discouraged investors was scrapped. These were not cosmetic changes. They were bold, painful, but necessary steps, just as Lee Kuan Yew dismantled entrenched interests in Singapore to build something enduring.
Lee asked Singaporeans to sacrifice for a brighter tomorrow, and he delivered. Tinubu is doing the same. He is asking Nigerians to endure short term hardship for long term prosperity. It is tough, yes. But greatness does not come from comfort. It comes from discipline, sacrifice, and hard decisions that clear the rot.
Lee’s true genius was not just in economic growth but in building enduring systems: a credible judiciary, a disciplined civil service, an incorruptible ethic of governance. President Tinubu is charting a similar path. By enforcing fiscal discipline, driving digital reforms, investing in infrastructure, and prioritizing human capital, he is building structures that will outlive him and stabilize Nigeria’s future.
Opposition coalitionists think of the next vote; statesmen think of the next generation. Lee Kuan Yew thought in decades, not months. President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has the same scope: a trillion-dollar economy, revived industries, steel development and energy at the core, and a Nigeria that produces, not merely consumes. This is not politics, it is vision.
Nigeria is at a turning point. Lee Kuan Yew faced doubt, resistance, and criticism yet history vindicated him. Tinubu faces the same. His reforms bite, but they will heal. His decisions sting, but they will strengthen. One day, Nigerians will look back at these years as the moment the nation turned the corner led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man who refused to be swayed by fear or applause.
President Tinubu is proving that real leadership is not about the praise of today, but the prosperity of tomorrow.
– Musa Asiru Bakare, member of APC, Tinubu Support Group (TSG), and political analyst, writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.
