Be Patient with Us, India’s Development Took 50 Years – Tinubu’s Aide Tells Nigerians

Aliyu Audu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Public Affairs, has called on Nigerians to remain patient and take shared responsibility as the country pursues long-term economic transformation.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Beam on Monday, June 2, Audu stressed that meaningful national development requires time, vision, and unity. Citing examples from across the world, he said, “It took an average of 35 years for Singapore, 50 years for India, and a couple of others. But we are Nigerians, we are different. It doesn’t have to take that long.”

Audu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), acknowledged the shortcomings of previous administrations and Nigeria’s complicated political legacy. “We’ve been in power for 10 years, and the PDP did a very bad job in their 16 years, but it’s our collective past. We have to own it,” he said. “Every single party and leader that has led this country—however well you want to rate their performance—we’re still together. We’re building nationhood.”

On the rising cost of living and inflation, Audu argued that economic hardship is closely tied to citizens’ purchasing power. “If purchasing power increases, life gets better. If jobs are created, life gets better,” he said.

Speaking on the fight against corruption, he emphasised that stamping out graft is central to unlocking economic potential. “If we are able to remove corruption from our identity, we’ll have more money available for job creation,” he said. “We need to make it a deliberate thing to shame corruption.”

He also warned against the practice of hoarding wealth, arguing that it stalls economic activity and hurts national development. “Money is just a medium of exchange. A million naira sitting in one place is not the same as a million naira that has exchanged 10 hands,” he noted.