Bola Babarinde, a former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South Africa, says President Bola Tinubu must be ready to step on toes to achieve his administration’s Renewed Hope agenda.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr Babarinde said hard decisions must be made to get Nigerians out of the current economic hardship.

“For the present government to succeed, President Bola Tinubu should be ready to step on the toes of enemies of the people to make Nigeria better and a proud country for all of us,” he said.

The APC chieftain also said the president should be ready to fight corruption toward getting the country on the right path and be respected in the comity of nations.

“A nation that treats corruption with kid gloves is on the way to obliteration,” said Mr Babarinde, an APC National Advisory Council, South Africa chapter member.

The diaspora leader noted that Nigeria’s present government system is too expensive in relation to the poverty index.

According to him, it will be a miracle to actualise good governance with how the country’s system is currently structured, negating growth and development.

Mr Babarinde said this might not be the total fault of the elected officials but rather the process that produced them and the rigid parasitic system that made the rich richer and the poor poorer.

“The militarised American-styled democracy that was forcefully adopted by Nigeria had not been fair to us and will not be the best for Nigeria unless some drastic amendments are made to our constitution.

“The previous cosmetic constitution amendments are just mere polishing the surface; there is a need for complete constitutional and institutional reforms to be adapted to our realities.

“Our system of government should be homemade with ideas from successful systems all over the world, be it Western democracies (America and UK), Asian systems (mixed communism), Singapore, Russia and others.

“Combining and integrating these systems in line with our local culture and diversity should be able to give our people the best they deserve,” he said.

Mr Babarinde also said the bicameral legislative houses the country is operating were too expensive to maintain and should be reviewed.

“Something drastic must be done to reduce our cost of governance to show the ordinary Nigerians that they are also important; people are not blind to what is happening to their resources.

“Basic things of life such as affordable quality food, accommodation, health-care services, water/sanitation and energies should be prioritised.

“This can only be achieved when the leaders consider the people’s well-being as a priority and practice a meritocratic system, where the people are selected on merit,” the diaspora leader said.

(NAN)