APC, Buhari Elections Made Birthday Worth Celebrating, Says Tinubu

The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu on Thursday said the party’s victory at the 2019 general elections made his 67th birthday worth celebrating.

“I am excited we walloped them and won,” Tinubu said in Abuja where a colloquium was held to mark his birthday.

“I will not be happy standing here and celebrating my birthday if we lost so let me congratulate myself too.”

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, said he was delighted that Nigerians chose President Muhammadu Buhari and candidates of the party in their ‘Next Level’ agenda.

He describes the ‘Next Level’ agenda of the party as a plan with a more deeper intent to impart the lives of Nigerians.

This year’s celebration of the APC leader marks the 11th edition of his annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium.

According to organisers, the objective is to outline and showcase the government’s efforts to add millions of jobs over the next four years through policies and investment in agriculture, industrialization, and technology/creative sector.

In his remark, Nigeria’s vice president Yemi Osinbajo praised Tinubu’s political and economic influence on the country.

“He’s not an engineer but his vision is what many of us have seen in Lagos today,” Osinbajo said.

Addressing the audience, Nigeria trade and investment minister Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, shared the government’s new initiative called Made in Nigeria for Export (MINE).

He said the project has set ambitious targets over the next 10 years, which include the boosting of the manufacturing sector contribution to the GDP to 20 per cent and to create about 1.5 million jobs in the sector.

He said the project has already kicked off in three places- Enyimba City, Lekki Model Industrial Park which he called ‘world class manufacturing zone and Funtua Cotton Cluster, Katsina State.

The minister added that the cluster will aggregate cotton from 800,000 farmers.