Hope Uzodimma, governor of Imo state, has described President Bola Tinubu as another Lee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore who transformed the country into a global economic powerhouse.
Tunde Rahman, director of media and publicity of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, in a statement on Saturday, said the governor praised Tinubu’s bold economic reforms and said his performance would earn him a second term in 2027.
Uzodimma spoke on Friday during a state dinner at the Imo government house to mark the end of a three-day media inspection tour organised by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors and the presidential communications team.
“In President Bola Tinubu, we have another Lee Kuan Yew,” the governor said.
Uzodimma said Tinubu assumed office prepared to address Nigeria’s economic challenges through far-reaching reforms, adding that the country had entered a new phase of development.
“The old order is gone and there is now a new order. President Tinubu knew exactly what he came to do,” he said.
“He started implementing the reforms immediately because he understood the task before him.”
Lee Kuan Yew is regarded as one of the world’s most transformative leaders and the founding father of modern Singapore.
He was the first prime minister from 1959 to 1990, globally celebrated for transforming a very poor country into one of the most prosperous in the world.
Yew industrialised Singapore with policies that encouraged foreign investment and turned the small country into a manufacturing hub in record time.
He is also credited with enforcing meritocracy in its public service and tackling corruption across board.
Although he was criticised for highhandedness, Singapore today has the highest per capita income in the world with $173,708 — compared to Nigeria’s $1,600.
