By Tom Garba
Before and during his campaign days, the President of Nigeria, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu told everyone that becoming the country’s president was a lifelong ambition. He boasted of his agenda of readiness and competence to take Nigerians out of the woods, the backstage of suffering. At a point, he told Nigerians that he would build on Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements. Don’t forget that Nigerians were already suffering and building on that is “a killer.”
He told the electorates he was prepared for the job. Nobody could doubt him, he had been a governor in Lagos State and had up to date installed all governors in that state in every election cycle. He literally supplied the intelligence, money and strategy that gave his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari the presidency. Tinubu is reputed to be an excellent headhunter.
But two months into his presidency, Tinubu seems to be losing bearing. He has men and women, technocrats around him, he has not failed on that. He is implementing the agenda drawn up for him. When from the podium on which he was inaugurated he consigned the fuel subsidy into the dunghill of history, he was doing what his technocrats asked him to do. He has ordered a merger of official and parallel forex rates, he has suspended the Central Bank Governor, got him arrested for investigation and appointed another person in an acting capacity, he has replaced the military leader his predecessor brought in from outside to the corruption-riddled Customs and Excise Department, and appointed an insider. In addition, he has declared a state of emergency in food security and brought food security within the purview of the National Security Adviser, he has retired and replaced the military chiefs, he has declared that he would not fund universities again, that the country can’t afford to bear the costs, he has therefore replaced direct funding with a students’ loan program which he says is targeted to the poor in the society.
For me It does not appear Nigeria will come out of her economic woes anytime soon. The signals are not very clear at all. The election that brought Bola Ahmed Tinubu into office was rancorous because the three frontline contestants were very ambitious about winning. Each of them thought he was the best to get Nigeria out of the dire straits that years of economic brigandage and bad governance has gotten the country. Atiku Abubakar, a serial contender was very determined, so also was newcomer Peter Obi who seemed angry with the bad ways Nigeria had been handled in the past that has brought the nation down on her knees. He found favor with the youth who are determined to make a change in their generation.
I test my case. In peace, I come
Garba is a public analyst and publisher of TGNews
