By Sunday Ani
The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewale Adebayo has described President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Brazil as a waste of Nigeria’s scarce resources.
He blamed the President for travelling to Brazil in search of what is contained in the manifesto of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He, however, expressed hope the the visit would help the President to understand how wrongheaded his economic policies are.
He noted that the President’s visit was the equivalent of Saul becoming Paul, because what Brazil has, which has made the country succeed is good leadership; a trait he lamented that Nigeria clearly lacks.
“What they have is a poverty reduction manifesto and set of programmes and policies. If you look at the Bolsa Familia, which reduced poverty by 27 percent in Brazil in four years under President Lula da Silva’s government, it is the opposite of ‘subsidy is gone’ that increased poverty exponentially in Nigeria.
“If you look at the way Petrobras is run compared to the way President Tinubu has been running the NNPC, they are polar opposites.
“So, the economic policy of President Tinubu is opposite the one that has succeeded in Brazil.
“So, I’m happy that he’s there because by going there; he will see how wrongheaded his own policies are.
“On the other hand, I am not happy that he went there to spend all that money when the ruler is here. He could have spoken to me. He could have looked at the SDP’s manifesto. He used to be a member of the SDP in the good old days.
“So, why is he leaving the Brazilian type of manifesto which is available in Nigeria and then going to Brazil as a tourist to be in awe of the majesty of Brazil and the Brazilian economy as if it is by magic? It is by policy,” he stated.
