Today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is our leader. No one can dispute the fact that there is physical infrastructural development in Nigeria after the brave reform the Nation is going through. Of course there are those who will disagree with that probably because of the current situation. After every pain comes gains, they say. The Nigerian economic situation might be having effects on the citizens but the reforms promise a prosperous future. Beautiful economic policies that have been formulated over the years and were not effective are now being implemented to drive economic growth.
A true believer of the Tinubu administration will agree with me that the President deserves another term to restructure many of our national policies to pave the way for the needed growth and development. Had the tough economic decision not been taken, what could the Nigerian situation look like?
Going to the 2023 elections, almost all the then major contenders agreed to remove the cancerous subsidy on fuel. This, as was done by this administration, has rescued the nation from bankruptcy and cut off the oxygen of corruption in the sector. The proceeds and savings from the subsidies are now being channelled into real growth and development: in education, physical infrastructure, health, security, agriculture, industries and other key sectors.
A quick flashback, subsidy regime has left many states in penury: unable to perform their salaries obligations, talk more of capital projects. Most of the states still had to be bailed out having been engulfed in a deep fiscal crisis. The era when states could not fund their budgets and borrowed to pay salaries is gone forever.
In September,this year, I watched an interview on Trust T.V with the former presidential adviser to Tinubu and now National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba Ahmed acknowledging that the president inherited a government without budgetary provision for continuous payment of fuel subsidy in 2023, which means Buhari himself intended to go on the same page with his successors.
One of the advantages of the subsidy removal is the elimination of long queues at filling stations unlike in the past when at every ember months, transport fares skyrocketed, leaving travellers with the decision to travel for annual festivities like Christmas and new year celebrations or manage the little resources at the comfort of their places of living.
With the introduction of the non-payment of subsidy, now cheap fuel is no longer smuggled to neighbouring countries while witnessing a massive pressure reduction on dollar as less forex is spent by the NNPCL on fuel importation. The removal made local refining profitable and very easy for private refineries like Dangote to function well because no investor could refine fuel when the Government is selling below the cost price in addition to social security-payment to the poor and senior citizens in the society.
‘Decisive efforts on insecurity’
Bola Tinubu's decisive and braveness in tackling insecurity has given Nigeria a relief from the menace that holds the Country by the jugular. Part of these efforts was the collaboration with the government of the United State of America (USA) where bandits’ hideout was bombed in Sokoto State, establishment of the Nigerian National Forest Guard and recruitment of armed forest personnel of about 1,129 across the country.
Part of these is the ongoing legislation on the state police which has advanced due approval of over 30 state houses of assembly. This move is to reduce insecurity, give states the power to control security architecture and curb rising unemployment.
Recently, I read the human rights activist and social critic, Senator Shehu Sani’s post where he stated that: “North kept quiet under Buhari, but now blames Tinubu for banditry”. The question is; under whose tenure was banditry first recorded and why are we hiding the negative sides of the first APC President?
At the moment, there is no State Governor that is not satisfied with the Government of the day because of the increased Federal allocation to them but without reciprocating the gesture by doing the needful to their people at the grassroots.
Not long ago, in a political discourse with somebody whose daughter is in the university, he testified to me that out of the N20,000 monthly upkeep given to her as part of the present administration’s new policy, she supports him with N5,000 to seek his fatherly blessings.
If for a reason, having achieved most of the campaign promises and the above achievements, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be your choice in 2027. Insha-Allah Jagaba yayi gaba.
Gabi, a journalist, writes from Bauchi and can be reached via: adamumgabi@gmail.com or +2348033990884
