Former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Maritime Services, Olugbenga Leke Oyewole, has tasked the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, on the need to ensure that his administration prioritises structural growth and development across the six geopolitical zones of the country for even development.

Oyewole said that with a clearly mapped out plan and readiness to better the life of the common man, the incoming administration would be able to warm itself up to the hearts of the long-suffering Nigerian masses.

In a statement he personally signed, titled, “Honest agenda for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” and made available to journalists, yesterday, the former SSA said that Tinubu must prioritise economic development, security and a robust anti-corruption drive.

He, however, advised that the president-elect should immediately shop for six visionary Nigerians with impeccable character from the six geo-political zones of the country to act as presidential liaison officers for the zones with clear-cut roles and responsibilities.

Oyewole, who advocated that all local councils should be compelled to acquire a minimum of 50,000 hectares of land for diverse farm produce, said that the entire Sambisa Forest could be a big national farm and not terrorists’ hideout.

He said: “Let the South-West ensure that raw cocoa is never exported again but chocolate pastes, cassava must be exported as starch for the pharmaceutical industries, and there should be a valuable addition to all exports from Nigeria to create jobs and increase foreign earnings as a matter of national policy. Hides and skin industry, bitumen, palm oil, iron ore, coal and so on are available endowments to Nigeria among other resources.

“The states and the regions should be allowed to use a large percentage of their earnings for local development. Federal Ministries of Agriculture, Solid Minerals, Transportation, Water Resources and so on can all be devolved to the states and the regions to lighten the Centre. This is a sure way to stimulate healthy regional economic competition, increase foreign earnings, crash the Dollar-Naira disparity, lower the cost of commodities, and guarantee food security.”

He said there was need to improve the country’s data acquisition system and its availability for use by relevant agencies, saying that political concessions and compromises should never extend to national security.