A senior lawyer at Baze University, Abuja, Barrister Saifuddeen Coomassie on Monday praised President Bola Tinubu as a selfless reformer, arguing that the President is more interested in enacting long-term changes to secure Nigeria’s future than in clinging to power.
Coomassie, who has stood as a staunch defender of President Tinubu’s sweeping economic reforms, insisted the measures lay bare a leader driven by a relentless, long-range vision for the nation—willing to risk short-term unpopularity and partisan convenience to secure the country’s future rather than his own political fortune.
The UK-trained lawyer and academic told reporters in Abuja that President Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidies, unify foreign-exchange rates and pursue tax reforms amounted to “the hard path” and reflected a willingness to absorb short-term political pain to reset Nigeria’s economy.
“If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in Aso Rock to chase money or simply to cling to power, he would have taken the easy road,” Coomassie said.
“He would have continued the subsidy. He would have kept multiple exchange rates. He would have allowed leakages to continue. But he didn’t. He chose the hard path because he chose Nigeria.”
Coomassie described the administration’s reforms as measures that prior administrations avoided to protect short-term political interests. He accused previous administrations of choosing election-year expediency over structural fixes.
“For 20 years, leaders knew subsidy was bleeding Nigeria dry,” he said. “They knew the exchange rate was distorted. But they kept quiet because elections were coming. Tinubu came and said enough.’”
As the 2027 general elections draw closer, Coomassie has urged voters to judge the President by the long arc of reform rather than immediate popularity, saying Tinubu “deserves a second term” to complete policy shifts that, he argued, would benefit future generations.
“You don’t remove subsidy if you want cheap popularity,” he said. “You don’t unify forex if you want easy money. You don’t fight corruption if you want to stay in the good books of everyone.”
President Tinubu’s administration has highlighted infrastructure projects and fiscal consolidation as evidence of progress since he took office on 29th May 2023.
“History will judge these policies over years, not months,” Coomassie said. “In 10 years and in 100 years, Tinubu will be celebrated as the president who dared to change.”
