One Year After: Buhari’s Mess, Tinubu’s Cross, By Tunde Abatan
No politician likes failure in any form.
However, the way you handle your projects or governance determines the stuff you are made of.
It is doubtful if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would have dared to step into Buhari’s shoes after his eight Years tenure, if he knows the enormity of the Mess left behind by the man he helped put to power eight Years earlier.
Yes, we can excuse that he won’t shy away from his life- long ambition to rule inspire of the rot.
Since ambition to rule is the driving force, it requires gut and courage to navigate land mines left behind by his predecessor without stepping on toes.
Hence, from May 29,2023 when he made his inaugural address as the country’s 16 President, Tinubu stepped on toes including his own by the sudden removal of fuel subsidy.
Removal of fuel subsidy, we must all agree has come to define Tinubu’s macro and micro economic politicise in the last one year.
Again, the floating of the Naira has added insult to injury as both factors has put his Ministers on their toes trying to reposition a badly damaged economy.
Tinubu’s audacity in removing subsidy from first day in office portrayed a man determined to make all the gamble; commit all the wrongs; exercise the unusual fate that his daunting steps could muster, which he hopes will in the long run restore the country and put smiles in the thrice beaten citizenry before his term runs out.
While managing Nigeria’s fledgling economy requires the gut of a tested manager.
Events of the past twelve months have shown that indeed, only the deep can call to the deep and this require rare courage of a reformer who bared his chest to all attacks.
Yes, the twin policies have left Nigeria’s poor down, hard and dry but it is debatable whether there is any other sustainable alternative to change the pretentious narration of a beggarly economy.
A wobbling economy caused by previous administration lack of courage and focus to redirect the economy to sustainable level.
The introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, in 1986 by the military administration of self-styled Ibrahim Babangida, portend a step on repositioning our weak economy but at the end of the Maradona’s eight Years, he succeeded in creating emergency millionaires who fed fat on the weak hold on our Forex regime and further weakened the Naira. Many of our local manufacturing sector collapsed under weight of foreign competition they never had the capacity to compete with.
Hence, a Policy that should have refocused the Domestic economy for real growth ended up creating emergency millionaires, at the expense of reduced quality of life, make the poor poorer and the weak weaker.
Tinubu’s audacious moves from day one, with today’s reality has reshaped his Renewed Hope mantra as hunger turned the poor to angry citizens questioning the geniuses of somebody Who came to save them with his Emilokan mantra.
In spite of the downward reduction of value of the Naira and disappearance of food from the Table, audacious programme of redirecting governance style, appointing competent and tested administrators, putting square pegs in square holes and bringing sanity into both the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Oil Industry are strategic Steps which though hurt the weak and powerful, could change the narrative of governance is sustained for a long time for beneficial ends.
Ironically, explaining the vision in Tinubu’s bold steps in Industry, agriculture, infrastructure has become for the informed the biggest salesmanship task.
Selling Tinubu’s audacious approach has become as difficult as selling and rating Buhari’s lack lustre style which inevitably proves disastrous.
It is apparent at the close of his eight years rule that Buhari’s compromised diligence for which he was voted for as he left governance in the hand of his kinsmen and palace boys who enriched themselves at the expense of the people.
If between now and December this year, Tinubu is able to bring the Naira to N750 to the dollar as promised by Yemi Cardoso, the CBN governor and also able to rein- in speculators both in the bank and Oil sector; get Port Harcourt Refinery to work alongside Dangote Refinery and others to stop importation of oil and reduce pump price of petroleum products, then he would have improved quality of living of the people.
A drop in food prices which was triggered by transport costs would have made a difference in the country’s citizenry which has over the years hoped against Hope.
Beside above, fast tracking the award of loans to indigent students in higher institutions; building failed infrastructures in all areas like moribund Ajaokuta Steel Complex; attract foreign investment in crucial sectors like Power sector-which is by far greatest albatross of his successors.
If he is able to do this, he would have changed the narrative and justify his Emilokan mantra even among worst of cynics.
But then, much also depends on sustaining his audacious courage to reduce the MDAs as recommended by the Orosanye report.
A report which has been put in the cooler by his predecessors for lack of political will to do the needful and cut the over bloated bureaucracy in the land.
Tinubu has to carry through his reforms in Police, Military, Civil Service in addition to diligent pursuant of Restructuring the country’s socio -political economy for sustainable development of the country.
Implementing above is the only way to turn- around the economy and give hope to the hopeless.
