The Nation Newspaper

Category: Bolaji Ogundele

  • National Health Fellows Programme: Tinubu’s CPR for healthcare sector

    National Health Fellows Programme: Tinubu’s CPR for healthcare sector

    Last week was rather a short one, being loaded with not less than three days of holiday in commemoration of the Eid-el-Fitr, the Muslim festival that follows the holy month of Ramadan. With three of the seven days of the week gone to Eid-el-Fitr, two more as traditional work-free days, being weekend days, Nigerians were only left with two days of official activities: Monday and Friday.

    Mr President spent those days of the week in Lagos, his home state and where he would naturally always prefer to celebrate any of the religious festivities. Of course, as it would be expected, there was not much of official engagements during the week on his desk, although he hosted a very busy season, granting audiences to all shades of guests, including leaders of the corporate world, senior politicians, technocrats and other visitors, who paid him sallah homage.

    However, as scarce as official activities were during the week, President Bola Tinubu still found time to do and say things that are focused on achieving his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda substantially. From Sunday evening when he left Abuja for Lagos, only the State House workforce that was not on the trip will be able to describe what holidaying these last few days felt like, for those who were in Lagos with the President, especially the media, they can only talk of the ‘excitement of work during a holiday with Jagaban’.

    Five days of the week being work-free, notwithstanding, Asiwaju managed to pull some strings that made the news. For example, on Monday, the Presidency announced that President Tinubu had granted the establishment of the National Health Fellows Programme, a financial and administrative monitoring mechanism for the health sector, starting with the primary healthcare facilities across the country.

    A statement issued same Monday by Special Adviser to the President on Media And Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, said the President’s idea for the fellowship, which will engage young Nigerian fellows in all the 774 local government areas in the country, is to use it to focus on upgrading service delivery at all the primary healthcare centres across all council areas of the country.

    “The well-trained fellows will serve as fiduciary agents to monitor and track Primary Healthcare Centre development and performance, which is to be assiduously measured against all financial inflows to the centres nationwide. The fellowship programme will be domiciled in the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) coordination office under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. The fellows will be recruited, renumerated, and equipped with appropriate tools to track the performance of Basic Health Care Provision Fund-supported health facilities across the nation”, was all the clue provided on the fellowship programme.

    First thought that came to my mind when the announcement was made was what could the President be playing at? But then I remember that in December last year, while unveiling Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the signing of the Health Renewal Compact by the federal and state governments, and then development partners, the President had announced that his administration would be prioritising and improving the healthcare sector through massive investment.

    Speaking at the event, which was organized to coincide with the commemoration of last year’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, President Tinubu had then noted the importance of primary healthcare in building a resilient, integrated healthcare system and announced plans for a comprehensive revamp of physical infrastructure, equipment, and the re-training of frontline health workers starting from 2024. So it dawned on me that this was another promise kept by Jagaban, who had on December 12, 2023 said “delivering improved quality health is an underpinning factor in my promise of Renewed Hope to Nigerians. That hope is ignited here today with the support of all multilateral partners and agencies; health is back on the front burner”.

    In summary, the President used the establishment of the National Health Fellows Programme to prove two points: first, it further confirmed that his avowed interest in the younger generation is not just mere mouthing, it is indeed a deep rooted and genuine interest to see that Nigeria is not raising a wasted generation, a generation with education, but without fields to practice its trainings. Just like he has demonstrated with encouraging the youth through many appointments into key positions and empowerment programmes, President Tinubu’s love for the Generation Next is proven to be real. 

    The second point, to me is the fact that our President is very alert, nothing ever escapes him, especially things he has said with his mouth. It seems like he keeps a bucket list of his plans for Nigeria, which he ticks each time a mile is achieved. Like he recalled in December, he said he had plans to achieve improved quality health for Nigeria, as part of his campaign promises, now this week, he showed us that he has not forgotten that promise and that he is intent on its achievement. Here we have the National Health Fellows Programme.

    Though it was a week of few activities, made so, particularly by the Eid-el-Fitr, which had to be extended by one more day because the moon tarried a little longer than anticipated, President Tinubu still had much to do. It was another opportunity to engage with Nigerians, talking to them directly on the role they need to play in the current journey to El Dorado. You will recall how he made adequate use of the Ramadan, through the Ifter dinners he held with various groups, throwing well thought out and calculated messages about re-packaging our nationality and nationhood, especially because of the kind of future staring the global community in the face. Something like readying the country and its people for emerging realities.

    On Tuesday, which was the first day of the holiday, he sent his sallah message to Nigerians, asking them to rededicate themselves to the task, along with all that consider themselves stakeholders of this country, of building the kind of Nigeria that is desirable to all. In a statement by his spokesman, Ngelale, Jagaban reminded all citizens that “we are the sculptor, and Nigeria is the clay; we build it the way we desire”. So besides greeting them for the festival, it was an avenue to ginger everyone to joining him in the ‘Build An Enviable Nigeria Project’.

    Then on sallah day, being Wednesday, after the Eid prayers, which was held at the Dodan Barracks, he made a bold nationalist call to Nigerians, asking them to put their faith in his administration to do right by them, to achieve the hope and good life his campaigns were all about. Besides the call for trust, he repeated the call he has been making all along; that all Nigerians must learn to love and protect Nigeria. There is no hope for us if we cannot love our country. There is no way you will love Nigeria as a citizen and want to sabotage the economy, sabotage government and reduce the nation to a mini war front. 

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    “We must love our country more than any other country, because that is the only one we have. We must continue to protect the integrity of our government and leadership. The Renewed Hope Agenda is alive, well and fine, and Nigerians should continue to be very hopeful. Without hope, there is no salvation. Without hope, there is no development. Without hope, there is no life. Eid Mubarak”, he told journalists as he was leaving the Eid ground.

    Only two days were available to work in the week, but knowing the Jagaban for who he is, holiday can never be a reason not to dispense of whatever needs to be dispensed with. Besides the announcement of the establishment of the National Health Fellows Programme and his Eid-el-Fitr outing, his schedule, though unofficial, was still very busy. It was a time to receive all those who would pay him the sallah homage. Among those he received were Alhaji Aliko Dangote on Wednesday. On Thursday he received, among others, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, and the NNPC GCEO, Mele Kyari.

    He also made efforts to connect with some Nigerians on a more intimate level, mourning some who passed away and celebrating some who hit new milestones. For instance, on Thursday, he joined other Nigerians to mourn the first civilian governor of Old Abia State and immediate past Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, while on Wednesday, he had expressed sadness over the deaths of ace Kannywood actress, Saratu Gidado and the traditional ruler of Isolo, Oba Kabiru Adelaja Agbabiaka.

    In the same vein, he celebrated the Minister of State for Youth, Ayodele Olawande, who turned 35 years on Monday; celebrated Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, who turned 67 years old; Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who marked his birthday; and the traditional ruler of Ikate Kingdone, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, who also marked their birthday, all on Wednesday. 

    Now that the holidays are over, more activities are expected back at the Villa, then we can hope to expect more positively awesome actions from the IDAN himself. Hang on.

  • JAGABAN 145: No magic wand to fix Nigeria, it’s got to be worked

    JAGABAN 145: No magic wand to fix Nigeria, it’s got to be worked

    It was another very eventful week, during which President Bola Tinubu did new things and said new things to re-communicate the core of his message to Nigerians and the world: we are in the age of ‘Nigeria-has-come-of-age’. During the week, a major activity of the President, which seemed to resonate universally in the country, especially with the younger generation and those who have attained parenthood, was the signing of the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Amendment Act 2024.

    It seemed to gain its popularity from the fact that it will be providing a rare opportunity for the most populated group in the country; for instance, the youth category of the Nigerian population. As at 2022, youth constituted about 70% of the entire population, meaning the most productive category is more in number, which was put at 151 million. For a visionary, such data is always a thing of interest. Should that population be left to its own device, just as the youth class has had to roll for long, I assume we know how ugly that can look.

    So in order to further make living and attaining decent livelihood easier for the majority, widen the size of the educated and equipped population he has always spoken about whenever he tries wooing foreign investors, he has initiated a law that makes acquisition of quality education and standard skills affordable and easily accessed. Speaking during the brief signing ceremony of the new Act on Wednesday at the State House, the President explained one of his thoughts on the new law; to make sure that no Nigerian, especially a child, misses out on the opportunity to choose a life through education or any other vocational training, at least not because he or she had been forced to quit because there is no opportunity. The new law erases that excuse.

    “We are determined to ensure that education is given the proper attention necessary for the country, including skills development programmes. This is to ensure that no one, no matter how poor their background is, is excluded from quality education and opportunity to build their future. We are here because we are all educated and were helped. In the past, we have seen a lot of our children dropped out of colleges and given up the opportunity. That is no more, the standard and the control is there for you to apply, no matter who you are, as long as you are a Nigerian citizen”, he said.

    That resonated really well with a large section of society, almost like cold water to a thirsty throat. It received a flurry of media attention, with a lot of analysis and all sorts of dissections. It received big acceptance because it is welfarist in nature; whatever brings succor to the people, lessen the price they will have to pay, always automatically receives universal attention.

    However, during the week, Jagaban did more and said more than just what we will benefit from Nigeria as its citizens. He went on to relive the evergreen aphorism of one of America’s most celebrated presidents, John F. Kennedy, who told Americans of his days, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. In the last few weeks, all through the Ramadan month, President Tinubu has been hosting various groups to Iftar, which is the Muslim’s fast-breaking meal. At each of the meetings, he has found the time, the voice and the right words to tell Nigerians, through his various guests, about his efforts to bring the desired Nigeria to Nigerians, telling us all the truth about what we need to do to achieve it.

    You will recall that I paid particular attention to one of his messages about two weeks ago, highlighting his admonition that we, as a people, need to wean ourselves off the easy, whiney approach to our nationhood. According to him then, we have found ourselves in this current unpleasant circumstance probably because we have failed to quit suckling many years into our nationhood, always expecting the price to be paid by others on our behalf. He pointed out how those other countries we look up to as models of growth and development have had to forge their current lives through sweat, blood and pains, how their snow was at some point blood-stained.

    Well, Asiwaju continued with this reformist efforts last week as he hosted the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and the Independent Campaign Council (ICC) on Wednesday, and members of the Nigerian business community on Thursday evenings for Iftar. It was almost the same message, but like the previous ones, each message was carefully selected to take aim at specific issues. The similarity of these messages is pointing out the attitudinal and moral reforms we need to embark on as individual citizens, with spelt out target to be achieved. Admits to the unpleasantness that constitute us yet, but again the progress we are making.

    He took his time in both instances to remind Nigerians that though the initial phase of the economic reformation seems to be yielding some positive prospects, it is not Uhuru yet, this actually is the time to hit the iron the harder because it is still very hot. When facing the APC’s PCC and the ICC on Wednesday, he reminded them that fixing the country and giving the people hope was his campaign peg and that he means to deliver on his campaign promises, but then, making this happen needs the cooperation, focus, intention and commitment of everyone who answers the epithet ‘Nigerian’.

    “It is the hard job that you promised the people of Nigeria when you were campaigning for me, you promised them a good result. Didn’t you? That’s it, I have to work for it, no magic wand. I campaigned on hope, I have to rest on that hope and push for that hope for the joy of everyone of us. The economy is looking much better. Yes, we have challenges of inflation, but we will bring it down. When the exchange rate was going haywire, it looked like we were asleep, but we worked on it diligently, and it is going down; it is getting better. Borrowing was higher a year ago, but today, we are reengineering the financial landscape, and our revenue is expanding. And we are taking up our sovereignty and earning our respect back in the comity of nations,”

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    “Europe and America did not get to where they are today in one day, but through persistence and hard work, which takes time and consistent focus. Pray for Nigeria, think Nigeria. This is not play time. Let us believe in ourselves. We must ask questions. What is happening to our solid minerals? No rival wants you to be bigger than them. We must be dogged. We have to sort out our problem ourselves”, he said.

    When it was the turn of the business community, those he described as a very valuable part of his constituency, it was a similar message, though his message was to a very critical segment: the one percent of the one percent in charge of almost all of the nation’s wealth. Starting with an appreciation for their perseverance through the turbulence and acknowledging their very meaning to the nation’s economy, he urged for more cooperation for the nation’s sake.

    “I have no reason to underperform as the elected President of the country because I campaigned for the job. I cannot complain about the job. I appreciate the gesture, and what you have told me this evening is very inspiring. Cut the costs. Fix the bends. Summon courage. Save the money, but push the economy. We will be there. There are some countries that have failed. There are some countries that have succeeded. In our time, in my time, all of us must work together to succeed. Thank you very much.

    “There is no driver of the economy that is bigger than the private sector. If the private sector is not flourishing, there is no growth, no prosperity, no employment or development. No matter how flowery the speeches are, not even a mushroom will grow. Thank you for persevering. We are at a turning point in our economy. I do not have to do a quadratic equation to illustrate all of that to you. I just want to appreciate you for your endurance and perseverance”, he said.

    Besides playing the Prophet’s role, reminding us all of the parts we have to play, the President performed other roles; on Sunday, he received final comprehensive report of the Special Investigator of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other related entities, Mr Jim Obazee.

    He reached to those who needed to be recognized on their special days. He congratulated the Awujale of Ijubaland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, who turned 64 years on the throne; celebrated the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, who turned 40 years of age, describing him as the Renaissance Monarch; and attended the inauguration of the new President of Senegal, Bassirou Faye in Dakar, all on Tuesday. On Wednesday he joined other Nigerians to mourn a Labour leader and one-time President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ali Chiroma.

    On Thursday, he received a delegation from GAVI, the vaccine alliance, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sania Nishtar, at the Villa, making a vow that his administration will ensure no Nigeria child is left behind when it comes to vaccination against preventable childhood diseases. Then he celebrated one of his allies, the former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, who clocked 72 years.

    On Friday, he received Letters of Credence from the High Commissioner of Jamaica, Lincoln Downer; High Commissioner of Australia, Leilani Bin-Juda; and Ambassador of Romania, Florin Talapan. He also appointed Engr. Uzoma Nwagba as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), just as he constituted the Management Board for the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) with Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr as its pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

    Some have recently concluded that Nigeria, as a nation, especially among today’s generation, survives on cruise daily. This is fast becoming true of the Tinubu administration; there is always something exciting to talk or write about. The difference is this Jagaban Cruise is positive and focused. Hang on for next week’s dose of the Jagaban’s Cruise.

  • RHIDF/EET: PBAT ramping-up infrastructure, economic governance

    RHIDF/EET: PBAT ramping-up infrastructure, economic governance

    President Bola Tinubu‘s 44th week as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was an exceptionally loaded one. A lot happened in this last one week than most of the preceding weeks could boast of.

    In just this last week, the President introduced some of the most critical policies and programmes that will in the coming months and years determine the outcomes of governance, as well as the economic survival of not just Nigeria, as a nation, but for most Nigerians who will see the opportunities being created by the State and will take advantage of them in various sectors. For instance, during the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the President presented an infrastructure development marshal plan called the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF), targeting to bridge the nation’s $878 billion infrastructure gap.

    As explained by the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, who is also Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, at the post-FEC briefing, and later elaborated in a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the RHIDF, which will absorb an earlier vehicle, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), will invest in critical national projects that will, among other things, promote growth, enhance local value-addition, create employment opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation and exports.

    The RHIDF, according to Adedeji, will be launched after the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning has presented a Supplementary Appropriation Bill that will take care of the projects to the National Assembly. He said it will include establishing an innovative infrastructure investment vehicle to attract and consolidate capital, serving as a dynamic driver for economic advancement; executing strategic and meticulously chosen national infrastructure projects across several key sectors, including road, rail, agriculture (irrigation, storage, logistics & cold chain), ports, and aviation, among others; and utilize and aggregate accessible low-interest loans such as concessionary loans and Eurobonds, supplemented by the procurement of other favourable financing options, in addition to budgetary allocations, efficiently.

    Also, during the last week, President Tinubu, in his bid to make the nation’s economic governance framework more robust and properly aligned, as well as to urgently attend to the real sector growth, especially as the monetary and fiscal policies have been adequately dealt with, created two economic platforms; the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) and the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET). The PECC, which is now the highest body for economic coordination, under his chairmanship, will oversee the outcomes of all economy-related organs of government. The EET, which has a six month mandate to execute its set targets, also has a mandate to formulate and implement a consolidated emergency economic plan.

    Other members of the PECC include the Vice President, who is also the vice chairman of Council; President of the Senate; Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security; Aviation and Aerospace Development; Budget and Economic Planning, Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; Industry, Trade and Investment; Labour and Employment; Marine and Blue Economy; Power; Petroleum Resources (State); Gas (State); Transportation; and Works.

    It also has thirteen key members of the organized private sector joining for a period not exceeding one year, subject to the President’s directive. The private sector leaders include Alhaji Aliko Dangote,Mr. Tony Elumelu, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Ms. Amina Maina, Begun Ajayi-Kadir, Mrs. Funke Okpeke, Dr. Doyin Salami, Mr. Patrick Okigbo, Mr. Kola Adesina, Mr. Segun Agbaje, Mr. Chidi Ajaere, Mr. Abdulkadir Aliu andMr. Rasheed Sarumi.

    For the EET, which is more like an ad-hoc arrangement because it was designed to address immediate economic challenges and expected to achieve targets within six months, the President tasked the team to submit a comprehensive plan of economic interventions for 2024 to the PECC within two weeks of its inauguration. The team, which is made up of selected members of the Economic Management Team (EMT), the private sector, as well as the sub-nationals, has the mandate to formulate and implement a consolidated emergency economic plan. Since the EMT, which traditionally meets once a month or as required, has the core of its membership drafted into the EET, the EMT will suspend its meetings for the six months when the EET will be operational.

    The EET comprises of Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance (Chairman of the EET); Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Minister of Power; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; National Security Adviser; Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum; Governor of Anambra State; Governor of Ogun State; Governor of Niger State; Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service; Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation; GCEO, NNPC Limited; Director-General, Nigeria Economic Summit Group;               Special Adviser to the President on Energy; Dr. Bismarck Rewane, Economist; and Dr. Suleyman Ndanusa, Economist.

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    Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, while speaking about the establishment of both bodies during post-FEC briefing at the State House on Monday said “I did share with the Federal Executive Council, Mr. President’s approval of a request to set up an Economic Management Team Taskforce to over the next six months implement major measures in that growing the economy, increasing production, thereby creating jobs and reducing poverty and of course, achieving rapid sustained inclusive growth that is the mandate and commitment of Mr. President. So currently, we do have the Economic Management Team and, of course their work feeds into the Federal Executive Council, National Economic Council and even the Presidential Economic Coordination Council, which is the highest body for economic coordination, chaired by Mr. President himself, with the Vice President as his vice chairman of that Council.

    “So below that there is now, instead of just the Economic Management Team, an Economic Management Team Taskforce and for the next six months, that task force, made up of selected members of the Economic Management Team, the private sector, as well as the sub-nationals, representative of the Nigerian Governors Forum, will work assiduously to ensure that having dealt with major issues of monetary and fiscal policy, that the real sector growth is assured; companies are helped through these difficult times with fiscal incentives and other measures to ensure the survival of companies, both the large scale as well as the medium and small scales. That is the real meat of this Economic Management Team (EMT) Taskforce, and they will be starting immediately, reporting regularly to Mr. President on over the next six months, rolling out initiatives aimed at growing economy”, he said.

    Like I indicated at the start of this piece, I wrote about how the week was so loaded with achievements and actions that not many of the previous weeks could rival, the President found time and opportunity to speak his mind on a couple of issues. By now those with open minds know that our President does not just do things, he does them with reasons. He does not go out just for fun, he does so to achieve goals, either immediate or long term. For instance, each time he has to travel, it has to be with the intent to achieve something for Nigeria. So since the Ramadan month commenced, he has had to host a couple of Iftar, which is the fast-breaking dinner for Muslims, and during those Iftars, he has achieved one goal or the other.

    He did it again last week. First it was with the Nigerian Judiciary on Tuesday; justices and judges, both serving and retired, all led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola. They had their dinner, but he had a message to the Bench, they are the ones charged by the rule of law to be the forthright and fearless arbiters. Their duty is to pass judgments without fear or favour , they are the ones who must be above induced prejudiced. So the matter of criminals who kidnap, especially children, came up and his opinion to people who might have to judge them when they are captured and brought before the law was how they ought to be dealt with.

    “We must treat kidnappers as terrorists. They are cowardly. They have been degraded. They look for soft targets. They go to schools and kidnap children and cause disaffection. We must treat them equally as terrorists in order to get rid of them, and I promise you we will get rid of them”, the President said, even as he hinted them of his view of their welfare matter. Indicating that there will be a change of story about the judicial workers’ welfare, he said “I recognize that the judiciary has one of the most unrewarded responsibilities. They are yet to modernize equipment and recordkeeping, and their progress towards improvement is slow. When you look at the career path of a judicial officer, they cannot practice the vocation for which they were trained after retirement. While the framers of the law may have their reasons, I perceive this differently and see this from a fair compensation angle that should benefit all”.

    Then on Thursday, he had another Iftar, this time it was with traditional rulers and religious leaders from across the country. He said so much, at least he spoke for more than fourteen minutes, but the message that resonated most was the appeal to clerics to pass the right message and be the right examples. To the clerics he said “pray for our country, educate our children, the sermons we preach to the members of our churches and mosques are important. Do not condemn your own nation. This is your country, do not condemn it in sermons, do not abuse the nation. Leadership is meant for changes. Yes, this leader is bad, fine. Wait until the next election to change him, but do not condemn your country. Do not curse Nigeria. This is a beautiful land”.

    Happy Birthday Mr. President

    Then it was the week of his 72nd birthday and the first birthday anniversary he would be celebrating in the Aso Rock Villa. His last birthday was just after he won the mandate to lead the nation, then he was just President-elect. Usually, his birthday anniversary has always been marked by his annual colloquium, countless newspaper and electronic advertorials across the media and the dinners. However, this year, because of the solemn mood of the nation, he called all these off, just to let the nation know he is not oblivious of the state of things. If anyone feels so religious about celebrating him, he directed them to use the resources to cater to the need of the less privileged.

  • Jagaban 110: Managing nasty businesses away from combustion

    Jagaban 110: Managing nasty businesses away from combustion

    It was another very exciting week around President Bola Tinubu; it was a week of moderately measured number of activities, but it was also a week of events and activities of high impacts. It opened into the forays trailing the very provocative and rather bizarre ‘business’ in Okuama, Ughelli South council area of Delta State. The details of the ugly business I don’t think need any further belabouring, those are what have formed the backgrounds of most lead news items in the entire Nigerian media, the whole week long.

    But then, I think the larger part of public opinion of the incident, except for those taking their views from some emotional angles, especially those driven by ethnic feelings, have condemned the bestial performance of the killers of the soldiers. To describe some of the horrific pictures of the recovered corpses of the soldiers is still very difficult for me; slaughtered and then butchered. Human beings and Nigerian citizens, they were among the very few bold and patriotic compatriots who left everything else behind to obey the nation’s call to duty. While doing that duty, were felled by some of our compatriots who find patriotism rather stressful. Talk of the ‘audacity’.

    However, since that fateful Thursday, March 14, 2024, when Okuama, through some of its recalcitrant young elements, fetched the ants infested woods back home, the entire community, according to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, has become a ghost town. The governor, while briefing State House Correspondents on Tuesday, after meeting with President Tinubu at the Villa, said “the place has been deserted”, to explain why he might not have been able to speak to stakeholders of the community. This goes to show the dread and panic that accompany such kind of business, wherever it happens.

    In her piece titled “Okuama: Beyond the talks of reprisals”, published in the Punch edition of Thursday last week, an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, Abimbola Adelakun, already described the sort of fate that befell communities in the country where similar sacrileges have occurred, while she successfully called our attention to the soldiers’ humanity.

    That incident could have taken us through an endless episode of bloodbath, if the community will not be remorseful, as they now have ethnic kin who have risen to come to defend kinsmen in dire strait, weaving and spinning narratives to help those with blood on their hands reinforce their defiance. Then the Nigerian Army, regaled with a reputation for summarily ending the Liberian Civil War, after a Nigerian Army officer was killed in a moment of rascality by someone in one of the rag-tag gangs taking advantage of the crisis in that country then, if it would again re-enact that reputation, will not stop until everything with breath from that community has been nuetralised.

    This was the circumstance created for our President, due to the killing of those soldiers, just some ten days ago. Managing this sort of potentially explosive development requires tact, some level of statecraft and the ability to damn consequences. The everyday concern over the state of the economy and the three-for-one-pence scale of kidnappings and other forms of criminal activities going on in parts of the country, especially in the north, are headaches enough, the needless bestial affair in Okuama would feel like flogging an already dead horse for most people. It could be overwhelming having to shoulder the Nigerian State at the moment.

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    However, for Jagaban, the Okuama debacle turned out to be another occasion to exhibit those qualities that make him tick. Instead of getting overwhelmed and worn out, Asiwaju thought deeply and devised a strategy to forestall a further escalation of the situation. As the Commander-in-Chief, he does not want to demoralize the armed forces by not giving the proper order.  At the same time, as the President, the father of the nation, he does not want to be perceived by the citizenry as a heartless leader. At this juncture, the scale must not be wrongly tipped or all hell might just break loose.

    So, to sustain the morale and at the same time prevent a situation where the army will go berserk, on Sunday, he made the first step by condemning the hate-filled conduct of the killers of the soldiers, eulogized the armed forces for their unequalled role of keeping the nation safe, then capped it by giving the army a go-ahead to fish out the perpetrators, only the perpetrators. 

    “As the Commander-in-Chief, I join all well-meaning Nigerians and the men and women of our armed forces to mourn and express my profound grief over the needless death of our gallant soldiers. The military high command is already responding to this incident. The cowardly offenders responsible for this heinous crime will not go unpunished. This incident, once again, demonstrates the dangers faced by our servicemen and women in the line of duty. I salute their heroism, courage and uncommon grit and patriotism.

    “Members of our armed forces are at the heart and the core of our nationhood. Any attack on them is a direct attack on our nation. We will not accept this wicked act. The Defense Headquarters and Chief of Defense Staff have been granted full authority to bring to justice anybody found to have been responsible for this unconscionable crime against the Nigerian people”, were his words to achieve the initial calm with the Army.

    Then on Tuesday, he met with the Delta State Governor, Oborevwori, in something of a strategy meeting on the situation. After the meeting, the governor, who would usually not stop to speak with the State House Press Corps, made a stop at the Press Gallery to give a media briefing. He was there to brief the C-in-C on the situation of things. Though he would not divulge too much, since this is all about security, just a few things to calm nerves and give assurances to the community and the entire nation, including the kin of the people of the community, who had started introducing perspectives aimed at exonerating Okuama and its people. Ironically, Governor Oborevwori is also a kinsman (being an Urhobo man, of the Okpe stock).

    Giving a summary of his mission and providing the little clarifications he could on the events of March 14, the governor concluded with the resolution with the President. While he re-echoed Tinubu’s vow of getting the culprits to face the law, he said there is now an assurance of the safety of the people of the community. According to him, “what is happening now is something that we did not bargain for, but we want to assure everybody that there’ll be no more attacks on the villages, if there’s been anyone that had happened in the past… but we know that those who are culpable will be brought the book, but the innocent citizens will not be will not be attacked”, he said.

    Again, on Wednesday and Thursday at the special Ramadan Iftar, the Muslim breaking of fast, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Tanudeen Abbas, and other members of the leadership of the House, on Wednesday, and the President of the Senate and other Senators, on Thursday, at the State House, the President still continued with the work of healing the wounds in the minds of Nigerians, especially the families of the soldiers, their friends and colleagues and the armed forces in general. While paying tribute to them, he said the federal government will honour their memories by giving them a befitting burial, as well as national honours. He vowed that Nigeria will not bend to the force of terrorism and other violation of the rule of law.

    Making three public statements on the nasty business in Okuama, within one week, resonated, very loudly; the rejection of the abhorrent act. Nigeria, its government and people, will not condone it and we all must take notice of this. It also pushes out the narrative that our personnel, in whichever service, are considered as valued assets, who must be appreciated and respected. A lesson in patriotism I’ll call it and if this effort is not enough to steer us closer to nationalism and a better society, maybe no other effort would be enough.

    Like I said from the onset, it was a week of moderately measured number of high impact activities. The President devoted most of the evenings to hosting Ramadan Iftar with various groups of key stakeholders, while he used the day to treat official matters and receiving important guests. During the two Ramadan Iftar sessions he held with the National Assembly, besides the pronouncements and comments on the Okuama killings, he spoke about the relationship between the lawmakers and his ministers and other appointees. He tactically told the Senators and Honourable Members to mind the times the nation and its people are in, times requiring more devotion to executive works, rather than sitting round to answer questions that many times could have been discussed in off-work periods.

    He also spoke to Nigerians through them, like: “please take these words to your constituents for me, you are closest to them. Tell them ‘we will not allow enemies of the state undermine the integrity and the value of our armed forces and its leadership. We will continue to encourage and fight for our sovereignty, our individual right to exist, banish poverty from our society. The national challenges that we face will be over, the economic challenge, we’re about turning the corner. Our revenue is improving and you can see it reflected in the sub-nationals. The reason for arranging the Iftar might not have made meaning to many, it definitely did to the people at the tables, it was another strategic communication move by Jagaban.

    Till the end of the week, he continued holding meetings and receiving guests who are valuable to what he is trying to do with Nigeria and the nation’s future. For instance, on Monday, he presented the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) flag over to the party’s governorship candidate in the upcoming Edo State election, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and his running mate, Hon Dennis Idahosa. He also met with the Sir Nick Clegg-led Meta Platforms Incorporated, and with the Chairman of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), Mr. Emmanuel Faber, in separate meetings on Thursday. He made a couple of appointments, including the reassignment of Brigadier-General Lawal Ja’afar Isa (Rtd) as the new Chairman of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education on Monday, and the appointment of Olugbile Holloway as Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments on Thursday.

    Let’s wait to see what this week holds for us all.

  • When Jagaban sets hands on Nigeria’s ploughs, no looking back

    When Jagaban sets hands on Nigeria’s ploughs, no looking back

    Those who know President Tinubu will tell you that his level of commitment to courses he decides to commit to is always absolute. Those who want to be derisive will call him stubborn because once he has identified his path, nothing else can dissuade him. This attribute is what is already playing out in the way he has purposed to run Nigeria. For him, Nigeria he inherited is not a lost case, it is one requiring honest efforts at correcting wrongs of many years and countering those who have lived off our blights and are devoted to keeping us the way we are.

    Some of his decisions since he assumed office, are actually confronting, almost war-like, and he seems determined to continue running with this mindset because that is who he is. During the week, he manifested this same trait when reacting to recent security developments. On Wednesday, Jagaban was said to have directed the nation’s security and intelligence chiefs to go out into the various parts of the country, especially those parts where criminal elements seem to have been having free runs, without checks, and there assert the presence of government.

    In the last few weeks, cases of abduction have become prevalent in some states, especially Kaduna, Sokoto and Borno states, where large numbers of soft-targets have lost embarrassing number of Nigerian citizens to kidnappers. If an aggregate of about 450 Nigerians were herded away by gun-toting bandits, without any challenge and it is not as though they left the Nigerian borders, what better description would have suited better than embarrassing? Then in all these cases, the motive for kidnapping has been ransom, in ridiculous amounts.

    In one instance, in the Gonin-Gora area of Kaduna Metropolis, a band of bandits, which had kidnapped sixteen persons from the community, demanded N40 trillion, eleven Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles, as ransom. N40 trillion, almost N12 trillion above Nigeria’s 2024 Budget, and that was called ransom. Any leader of a country who hears such a joke and does not shake with rage is in need of a critical, all-round check. Funnily, that joke was just one of the various cases of ransom trades, especially in the north.

    So when on Wednesday, he was reported to have issued a fresh directive to security agencies to go out and do their job by ending the uncanny reign of terror and defiance in the north. A particular caveat was issued on how the business has to go: As you are freeing all those being illegally held against their wish, also ensure not a dime is paid in ransom.

    “We are seeing that the more the security agencies are hitting these targets or criminals, the more they are pushed to also getting some soft targets. But government is not taking any excuses. The President has directed that security agencies must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that these children and all those who have been kidnapped are brought back in safety and also in the process to ensure that not a dime is paid for ransom. So it’s important to underscore that no dime, government is not paying anybody any dime and the government is optimistic that these children and other people that have been abducted will be brought back to their families in safety”, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who gave the piece of information to journalists at the State House, after the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said.

    Idris said Tinubu particularly gave the instruction to security forces during the FEC. He did not say the security handlers presented a memo, just an instruction to them to end the madness immediately. Those who know the man well said he would have given the instruction with a straight face, probably very pissed because he does not usually leave room for lapses and when those working with him are not keeping up with his pace, he is never comfortable.

    Although the man with the message did not add if there was a threat of sack, but if he had his way, things like this could have naturally resulted in a change guards. His thought would have naturally been, how have a few criminals managed to beat a nation like Nigeria, with the capacities and resources available us, constantly and getting away with it? He would have instructed a new strategy to end the embarrassment, but the spirit talking through him is the one he has severally described as ‘can-do’, a determination that looks like stubbornness.

    He manifested similar spirit again on Friday when he met with the Forum of State Chairmen of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), telling them about a bunch of saboteurs of the Nigerian dream. Their conversation was around achieving their party’s campaign promises to Nigerians, as the chairmen represent the foot soldiers of the ruling party in the smaller units of the federation. The talk took off from what Nigerians are looking out for from the government, which he, as President, has constantly assured will be realized, but then things seem sort of slow, not because the right steps are not being taken, but because there are elements in the country, whose focus and agenda are asymmetrical to those of the government and the people of Nigeria.

    In a matter-of-fact conversation, Jagaban drew the battle line with the saboteurs, calling them out: “as we are fighting corruption, smugglers, and old subsidy beneficiaries, they most certainly will fight back. All those who falsified records and became losers with the subsidy (on petroleum products) removal, they will fight back. But we will defend our people. The treasury belongs to the people, and that sacred trust must not be abused. We need to give hope, and we are giving it to the country and our citizens. We are working hard, day and night, even though some agents of destabilization are present in the polity. Nigerians, with our focused support, shall defeat them”.

    There is a focus of the Bola Tinubu administration and that is to rewrite the Nigerian narrative. Achieving that has seemed to drag, but the man will not give in, if not for any other reason, just to prove a point that the few should not defeat the many, that will be against the order of life. But much more, this is a man who has a name and reputation to protect: a strong-willed leader, who ensures to achieve his development goal at all cost, but primarily by sheer tenacity, never pulling back once he has set his mind on achieving something.

    Read Also: Speaker Abbas, Deputy mourn Olubadan

    Then there was that very significant directive during the week, which once again showed the human, listening side of President Tinubu. Last Wednesday, Mr President ordered the reopening of our borders, land and air, with Niger Republic, and the lifting of other imposed sanctions, as resolved by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at its extraordinary summit on February 24, 2024, in Abuja. 

    The decision, though resolved at the ECOWAS level, was actually another manifestation of his feelings for the ordinary Nigerian and of course humanity at large. There have been concerns about how sanctions affect the ordinary people in the countries. In his opening speech at the extraordinary meeting, his primary concern was how all the actions and activities affect the ordinary people. “It is pertinent that we engage in constructive deliberations to examine the actions taken by these countries and ensure that the citizens are not denied the benefits derived from our regional integration initiatives. In our ensuing discussions, we must put the plight of people, the ordinary citizens, at the centre of our decisions”. He has championed this same course all through the period he has served as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.

    Meanwhile, it was a really busy week as there were many activities and events coming from his office. Like on Tuesday, besides receiving the Special Envoy of the President of Equatorial Guinea, he met with the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, his deputy and some other ranking leaders of the Senate. That meeting was coming at a very opportune time, considering the crisis brewing at the Senate. Then there was appointment of Dr Dayo Mobereola as Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and in the evening attended the Ramadan Tafsir.

    On Wednesday, just before the FEC started, he swore in 17 Commissioners for the National Population Commission (NPC), presided over the FEC that a couple of important memoranda. On Thursday, he made quite a number of appointments, including Director-General for the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Chief Medical Directors for the Federal Medical Centres (FMCs) in Yenagoa and Abuja, approved the conversion of the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu, into a full-fledge University of Allied Health Sciences, appointed a new Presidential Amnesty Programme Administrator, and many more appointment into Friday.

    However, before Thursday closed, the President had the Iftar, which is the Ramadam fast breaking dinner with governor as members of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF). The meeting was another strategy session to plot a better Nigeria with the leaders of the bits and parts, aimed at getting them to join him to solve the Nigerian riddle. He appealed to them to cast politics apart to join him to pursue, for the sake of Nigerians.

    The week was so loaded, it could not be entirely unpacked. I look forward to a smarter week.

  • Now we know there are those watching Tinubu with admiration

    Now we know there are those watching Tinubu with admiration

    I sometimes wonder how Asiwaju Bola Tinubu manages as President of Nigeria. I mean, this a nation of millions of people with one very interesting sense of entitlement, also self-hating, but as a leader, you just have to learn to keep your cool, wear the hurls of insults from all sorts of people like a comfortable garb and stay un-distracted. You will get a proper sense of what I mean, about who we are as a people, on some of the social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, where people who will never lift a finger to contribute to efforts concerning everybody, including themselves, but will be the first to see errors and then lead the charge for the attack on those responsible enough to sacrifice on everybody’s behalf.

    Imagine the intense pressure the President has been under since assuming office last year, especially as a result of the reforms being applied; the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange market regularisation. Most responses from the public, so far, have been rather negative, cutting him no slack, even if most reviews of his administration’s performance, especially with regards to projections and quality of policies, have been positive. Ironically, the efforts for which he is being constantly heckled with insults are designed and targeted at making life more humane for the same people.

    It was almost looking like nobody in the country was appreciating the President’s efforts at rescuing the country from the depth it had been buried over the years, seeming like the voices of blames and reprimand were drowning everything else, until Thursday last week, when some Nigerians came through to show they have been following events and observing Tinubu’s noteworthy efforts at giving Nigerians their country back.

    On Thursday, in two different locations; one, directly to him inside the State House and another one, by proxy, to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, in his office, also in Abuja, two respected organisations, inadvertently and simultaneously, handed Grand Patron investitures to the President, to show their appreciation of his efforts at redirecting Nigeria back to the path of growth and proper nationhood.

    First, it was the National Academy of Science, led by its President, Professor Ekanem Braide, that called on President Tinubu, with the intent to show appreciation for his administration’s focus on building a science, technology and innovation-driven economy. Braide applauded Tinubu for his administration’s recognition for the need for Nigeria to move towards knowledge-based economy, disclosing that the academy is currently working with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning on the review of documents that would aid urgent interventions for national development.

    “We commend the administration of President Tinubu for truly recognizing the need for Nigeria to move towards knowledge-based economy, we are reviewing national planning document through the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and we are advising necessary interventions required urgently for national development. We have been informed that the President had directed that steps be taken to set up National research fund”, she added.

    While the Academy of Science’s show of appreciation was happening, there was, in yet another part of the Three-armed Zone, a similar event holding, this time around in the office of the SGF. Senator George Akume, the SGF, also hosted a group of highly revered Nigerians, who were in his office to present another award of Grand Patron, conferred on President Tinubu. The Council of Former Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS), led by its Chairman and former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, deliberately packaged the conferment of the award as part of its week for 2024. The coincidence in the presentation of the awards of same nature, by two unrelated revered professional bodies, was the icing on the week’s cake for me.

    The week was more than just the affirmation by conferment of awards on the President, he did a lot and, just in the same pattern of his daily work routine, he lived the workaholic life all through it. Maybe I should add here that how Jagaban lives everyday is now public knowledge, especially after his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed in an interview with Chude Jideonwo on Thursday that the President is a workaholic, whose sleep hours are reduced so he could meet up with work.

    “I’m working with a man who I can personally vouch for because he is going to bed at 2 am-3 am every single night, including Sundays. He wakes up at 7 am-8 am every morning, including Sundays, opening his files, working into the late nights when no one is there to say anything good or bad about him. He is doing the work. He is a workaholic, and he is doing it all to build a country that is reflective of a progressive and advanced country and prosperous society that he has envisioned, the same way he did in Lagos. I’m asking Nigerians to support the president, he means well”, Ngelale had told his host in the dialogue.

    So it was a very busy week for our President, starting it with an all-important State Visit to the State of Qatar, on the invitation of the Emir of the country, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. While in Doha, on Sunday, he held a bilateral meeting with the Government of Qatar, during which multi-sectoral agreements were signed between both countries on education, enterprise development, investment promotion, youth empowerment, mining, tourism, and sports.

    He also participated in the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum, which was organized jointly by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Qatar’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The forum opened a platform for businessmen and investors in both countries to explore opportunities in key sectors, including oil and gas, manufacturing, agro-business, construction, real estate, ICT, renewable energy, solid minerals, as well as the service sector.

    He returned to Nigeria on Monday, got back into that regime Ngelale described in his interview with Jideonwo. After his return, he sent some of his lieutenants, like Vice President Kashim Shettima and SGF Akume, to represent him at some public events, and personally handled those he thought he must personally handle. For instance, on Monday, Akume represented him at the African Regional Dialogue on the Summit of the Future in Abuja, while Shettima represented him in Lagos on Monday at the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos on Wednesday.

    On Wednesday, the President initiated new policy directives aimed at improving the investment climate and position Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the oil and gas sector in Africa. Then on Thursday he made new appointments, suspended some, all in his effort to clean the system up and buoy up those in need of it. Most of the activities were in the Power sector. For instance, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), he suspended Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, the Managing Director and three others. In their stead, he appointed Abba Abubakar Aliyu as interim MD, along with four others.

    At the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Power Company, he reconstituted the boards and amended their structures, appointing the Minister of Power as Chairman. Then later in the evening, he threw in some words for the Nigerian woman, describing her as the pivot of the nation. On Friday, he issued an order for the immediate rescue of kidnap victims in Borno state, where more than 200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Kaduna where about 287 pupils and teachers were kidnapped in recent times.

    Read Also: Northern Senators to meet Tinubu over alleged N3trn ‘padding’ in 2024 budget 

    Showing off with one of his best

    I think I should highlight this occasion in Doha where our President, the City Boy, made a show off again. It was at the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum, he was making a point about Nigeria being ready for the world to come take advantage of the unusual business and investment friendly environment available nowadays. There has been a perception, wrong albeit, that Nigeria slows business down with bureaucratic bottlenecks and the effect of corruption. To disabuse minds on that, the best from his arsenal is his National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who once oversaw the nation’s anticorruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    According to him, his administration had significantly strengthened the war against corruption and insecurity with Ribadu’s appointment as NSA, saying “we have a man who has won many global awards for anti-corruption as an anti-corruption czar. My responsibility is to tell you that Nigeria is open for business, and to assure you that your investments are safe in our hands. We have men and women of great reputation here and we believe we can forge a good committee that will advance our discussions to fruitful conclusions. A nation is an artificial entity unless there are good people to drive it. People build great nations and we have great people. We are ready”. 

    Showing Ribadu off, in the forum he did, far away from home, says a lot about the value he places on him. If I were the NSA, this will push me to do more than I do currently, although I know most of us cannot match his speed. He is a certified high-flyer, reason his Boss reposes so much trust in him.

  • Saving the system (Phase II): Idan brings the henchmen to the table

    Nigeria is not an easy place to govern and that is a statement of fact that can be taken to the bank. If our country was so easy to run, maybe we would have arrived El Dorado all these while, with every citizen living the life of an Arabian prince/princess, wasteful as the description might imply. Reaching El Dorado has been most difficult because of how we are wired; here, everybody is ‘very wise’ and believes he can do it better than whoever is currently holding the reins at every point in time. The situation is worsened by the various primordial sentiments driving most citizens’ reasoning and actions; religious and ethnic mostly.

    So running Nigeria requires more than a vision and the physical energy to match visceral sentiments that have held us back as a people, you must be something close to an oracle, who knows what to apply for every ‘malady’ that threatens to throw spanners into the wheel each time you make the move forward, upwards, whichever one fits. At the moment, this is the circumstance President Bola Tinubu is having to deal with; a man with a well planned and thought out solution to our age-long development crises, equipped with some of the most sophisticated solutions, some of which other oracles will agree to be the ‘Panacea’.

    However, like Yoruba people will say, “o ba ni, ko’i tii ba’je”, meaning, in transliteration, “it has only gotten to ‘ba’, not at ‘bad’ yet”, President Tinubu, who, earlier in his Presidency, earned the epithet ‘Idan Gan-gan’ (the real Magic) from the Gen-Z, always has one more trick up his sleeve, has continued to reinvent his methods of addressing our challenges as a nation. Hence, on Sunday, while no one, even the media, was looking the way of Aso Rock Villa, assembled a meeting of the critical stakeholders of the nation’s economy, including federal ministers, representatives of the sub-nationals and the runners of the business community, those you will consider the biggest names in corporate Nigeria, to an emergency strategy meeting in his office.

    The First thing that came out of the meeting, which was later confirmed by one the business moguls he trusted enough to be part of the meeting, the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was that the select team was constituted into a Tripartite Economic Advisory Council. The committee is tripartite because it consists of the government at the federal and sub-national levels, as well as the business community.

    Among those at the meeting were Vice President Kashim Shettima; Governors of Ogun, Dapo Abiodun; Anambra, Professor Charles Soludo; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Ministets of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun;  Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari;Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso.

     Some of the private sector players at the meeting included the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu; Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu; Group Chief Executive Officer of Pandora Plc, Wale Tinubu; Managing Director of Matrix Group, Abdullabir Aliu; Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivative Company, Bismarck Rewane; Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, among others.

    Looking at the array of people assembled and his message to them, one will immediately be drawn to start an analysis of how our President reasons. This is a man who, right from the onset of his administration, started with policies that his predecessors had only mouthed, but never found the courage to execute and has all along confidently told the world that he came to reorder the narrative about the largest black nation. Then he found himself and his programmes and plans defiantly being challenged by contrary forces, those who have always survived by the wrongness of our situation.

    Then he initiated his alternative plan; bring in those holding the biggest stakes in the project Nigeria, pick their ideas and get them to commit to the success of the progressive policies he has initiated, all for the ordinary Nigerian. Just before the iron cooled off from his alternative ingenious idea, complemented with other underground moves, including intelligence/security engineering, results started showing. For instance, from Monday morning, efforts at ridding the foreign exchange market of the manipulated negatives for the Naira started yielding results as the dollar, which had been adversely rising like the yeasted dough, took a nasty tumble (it has continued to roll down the cliff since then).

    Taking an educated guess, just after the meeting of the Tripartite Economic Advisory Council, Wale Jana, a Nigerian businessman, on his verified Instagram page, said “he henchmen have been called in. Dollar is going down and the economy is about to take a boost Sometimes, all it takes is to acknowledge the powers that be! There is a power that the President does not have that Elumelu, Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu have. As long as we look at this country through the eyes of entrepreneurship and capitalism, we will see progress”.

    While speaking to the council during the meeting, the President did not waste time, he went straight to the core, the reason for assembling those whose actions will always impact the nation’s economy and ultimately the lives of Nigerians. They were called together to make them see reason why they all must work together to see to it that Nigerians are not hurt by doing everything, as individual entities and as a collective of those who hold the economy, to see that the pro-people policies and programmes of the administration work and deliver results.

    “Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. Like I said, many times, the people of this country are only the people who we have to please and we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders and realising that everyone of us will have to fetch water from the same well. We’re looking for additional efforts that might help the downtrodden Nigerians and we will provide that hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way. We are not saying that we have all the answers, but we will not be blamed for not trying. We assure Nigerians that we will do our best to get our marshall plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country”, he said.

    It would not have been a complete job if he had initiated his alternative approach, constituting the Council, and did not think to treat the mess of those who will not do and still will not allow those who want to do, do their thing. Of course, he has been deploying security and intelligence agencies in the fight against the subversive elements, whose activities have negatively impacted plans and activities of government, but then there are those who have been using legitimate platforms to undermine the administration’s efforts at achieving progress. He needed to let them know he knows how they have been using the legitimate platforms they were trusted with to subtly pursue selfish political agenda.

    So when the opportunity presented itself on Thursday in Lagos, where he inaugurated the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line project, Baba threw a jab at a section of the organized Labour, which has used its platform to further attack the economy, deploying unconscionable number of strikes and protests. “Some Labour unions should understand that no matter how we cling to our freedom and rights, to call four strikes within the first nine months of a new administration is unacceptable. If you want to directly participate in the electoral process, wait until 2027, if not, maintain the peace. Labour is not the only voice of Nigerians”, he said.

    Read Also: Emefiele moves out of CBN Gov’s quarters in Lagos

    Achieving these steps did not stop him from engaging in other activities that were equally targeted at solving our several challenges. For instance, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) met on Monday. If nothing else, the meeting achieved a decision that has brought praises to the administration; the implementation of parts of the Orosanye Report. Even Mr Peter Obi, whose position and opinion of the Tinubu administration is well known, gave a pass mark to government on this, saying it was “a welcome development”. Other decisions were taken, including the one having to do with Social Security Unemployment Programme, which will cater to the welfare of unemployed Nigerian youths.

    There was the launch of the Expatriate Employment Levy, which sees to it that foreigners do not come into Nigeria to take citizens jobs as well as ensuring the bridging of wage gap between Nigerians and expatriates, among others, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he was in Ondo State, paying condolence visit on the state government and the family of the former governor, the late Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu. He also used the time to meet with Pa Reuben Fasoranti and other Yoruba leaders. He seized the moment to reassure Nigerians of his resolve to achieve true and fiscal federalism for the nation. He left Ondo State for Lagos, where he would be performing the inauguration of the LRMT.

    On Thursday, after the LRMT inauguration, he departed for Qatar, on the invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. That’s a State Visit that is expected to yield so much for Nigeria, in terms of commerce, security and general economic growth. However, even while out there, he already lined out a number of new appointments, which were made public on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale; five for the FGN Power Company Limited and four for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    As the new week starts, more is expected to happen with regards to the alternative strategy he initiated last week, so expect yet another exciting week.

  • Tinubu’s attempt at exorcising ‘evil’ in the civil service

    There is this very interesting vibe that President Bola Tinubu seems to infuse into public administration since his assumption of office. Right from the Day-One, the day of his inauguration, when he, with just a proclamation, expelled a problem that seemed to have evolved a life of its own over the years, Jagaban has left no one in doubt that he is not here to fiddle, but to take steps leaders take, in other parts of the world, to make the homeland attractive to the rest of the world to be considered as serious.

    Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to say those who came before him fiddled away our time or resources, no, not by any translation of my thoughts. Even if they fiddled in any of the ways the word fiddle translates, this space is not created to voice that and I won’t pretend to know what other leaders before Asiwaju did well or not. Such will be an opinion I will rather keep personal for the time being. I am only trying to emphasise the essence of taking particularly determined and intentional actions, sticking by such actions, taking more steps to see them through to fruition. Our President has been showing capacity as a public administrator.

    An example of this intentionality in his ways and running of Nigeria will be the single-mindedness with which he has followed up on the all-important removal of the fuel subsidy. The policy hurts, as a matter of fact, both the people and the government have been impacted. He has consistently acknowledged the fact that he knows how it is hurting the people, especially those in the ‘desperately poor’ category. This has constantly put pressure on the state because from time to time, the pain has pushed the people to mount resistance. Some sections of the ruling class, especially in the traditional class, have even suggested a reversal of the policy to the President.

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    However, knowing his targeted end in the painful journey out of petrol subsidy, President Tinubu has maintained his focus and stoutly, and consistently too, refused the suggested summersault.

    When he met with a delegation from the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), led by its Chief Executive Officer, on Florizelle Liser, on Thursday at the Villa, Tinubu sent the message out again: “we are right in the middle of a challenging stage of our reforms. We have headwinds, no doubt, but we are not going back. We are challenged, and we believe we will overcome the challenges. I have a can-do attitude that must be translated into a must-do attitude. We have a good team, and we must remain focused to get the goal accomplished”. The message simply translates “I have a beautiful picture in sight and these passing inconveniences are not enough to rob this nation of that beautiful end. There’s no plan to abandon this struggle, not with all that Nigerians have suffered”.

    With this sort of vision and focus on the vision, it was not really a surprise when it later emerged that his meeting with the leadership of the Federal Civil Service, including the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Body of Permanent Secretaries, and some Director-Generals of federal agencies, was really not a tea party, as initial information portrayed. Sources inside the meeting said the President was angry at the people who ought to facilitate the execution of policies and programmes of government. He was said to have queried the crème of the civil service over sloppy attitudes towards implementation of policies and programmes. According to a source, the President was said to have wondered why they had been “abysmally slow in carrying out his people-oriented programmes.”

    Why would he be angry with them and not even minded if they were the top echelon of the civil service? It is simple. Jagaban is a man on a mission, focused on his mission and taking every risk and step to achieve his target. Here is a link in the chain of the executive, the very core of the chain, now behaving as if it has gone brittle. The President has constantly said he will spare no resource when it comes to ensuring that Nigeria comes out of the woods, meaning he is ready to provide all that is regarded as constituting the enabling environment to achieve his goal.

    So after making sure that all that is required is available, then the work men, who ought to use all he has provided to bring about the result, start dragging their feet, as though they are deliberately intent on ensuring his plans and efforts fail, how else would you expect him to react when he sees those seeming to be antithetical in the journey?

    Since the harsh effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy and the floating of the Naira at the foreign exchange market started hitting both the economy and Nigerians hard, the President had come up with a number of cushioning programmes, aimed at providing temporary succor to citizens, while massive reorganization of the entire productive system goes on below the surface for the long term solution to the crises we see now. Programmes like provision of a single-digit loan of N1billion to 75 enterprises; N50,000 grant each for 1,300 Nano businesses; N75 billion for 100,000 businesses and startups; and the investment of N100 billion in gas-powered buses for mass transit had been put out to the public as far back as the end of July, but the population is still waiting for much of these to manifest so that the heat they feel can be eased. 

    “Let us make our children’s dreams come true. Why are we slowing that down? It is not just shameful. It is unacceptable. We made a pledge to bring our people out of poverty. You should not increase their vulnerability. Help Nigerians to get out of these problems, do not compound the tough situation with unacceptable delays”, the President said. Since there will be more of meetings like that of Thursday, Baba should be able to monitor the rate of effectiveness further and if there will be need for re-strategizing, he will know early enough.

    Meanwhile, the week was filled with many events and activities of impact. For Instance, on Sunday, while still in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he had attended the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), the President met with his Brazilian counterpart, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, discussing issues of mutual economic interest, especially in the areas of agriculture, trade and other areas.

    Returning to Nigeria from Addis Ababa on Monday afternoon, he swung back into action, starting with a directive on Tuesday to the management of the State House to immediately settle the electricity bill owed the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), a debt that had almost turned to some sort of embarrassment to the administration. Then on Same Tuesday, he made a couple of new appointments into federal agencies. For instance, he appointed Ms. Hafsat Abubakar Bakari as new Director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

    On Wednesday, the President met with former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), at the Villa. It was actually the first time the elder statesman was visiting the President since he was sworn-in at the end of May last year. It was a time for him to discuss the headaches facing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which he currently chairs, with one of its founding fathers.

    Then he made more appointments; he appointed DCG Kemi Nanna Nandap as Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), and Kahlil Gaga as Executive Director, Corporate services, at the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank.

    He also met with the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), Professor Benedict Oramah, accompanied by a delegation from Kings College Hospital, London (KCH), discussing issues, especially those surrounding the health sector.

    Then on Thursday, he continued with making new appointments, making for three agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy: the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited and Galaxy Backbone Limited. He also appointed Gbenga Alade as Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

    Those appointments happened late Thursday evening, after he had met with the top echelon of the federal civil service and had received the ECOWAS Judicial Council, which was led to him by its Chairman, who is also the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, at the Villa.

    Not much of the President was seen on Friday, but that was assumed to have been as a result of preparation for yesterday’s ECOWAS Summit, held at the Villa. We might not be able to make predictions about what should be expected this week, but one sure thing is it will be exciting because with Jagaban, there is no dull moment.

  • War on hunger/insecurity: Tinubu says to governors ‘Come, let’s reason together’

    War on hunger/insecurity: Tinubu says to governors ‘Come, let’s reason together’

    The last few weeks have been especially remarkable for both the Nigerian state and the man at the head of the state. This last one was especially so. We all remember how this very curious ‘food crisis’ saga almost tumbled overboard in some cases, sparking pockets of protests in a couple of states. That very suspicious reaction was particularly embarrassing for members of his administration, but even much more for President Bola Tinubu.

    The hardship, occasioned by the removal of a petrol subsidy, which has run for more than forty years, and an attempt at restructuring the foreign exchange system, which has favoured rent-seeking for ages, and which is supposedly responsible for the protests, is easily a stain on an enviable record, like the one Asiwaju advanced his premise for contesting the Presidency on. But then, like they say, no good thing comes easy: every child is born through blood and pains, just as the fine gold was burnished by some high degree furnace to become wearable.

    As I pointed out last week, from a claim made by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), these protests, justified as they might seem, have not really been spontaneous. As a matter of fact, the idea that devious elements in the position have hijacked the situation and decided to weaponize it to blackmail the administration, something that has become coined as the ‘Jonathan Treatment’, is already becoming public knowledge, tilting towards exposing the intents and schemes of those who never minded subjecting the people to horror in their bid to play morbid politics. From intelligence, this orchestra of doom do not just sponsor protests, they also sponsor hoarders of essentials as well as muscle men for dark and dirty businesses. 

    Despite the heat being bellowed on the system, President Tinubu and his team will not be daunted. As a matter of fact, Baba has taken steps targeted at easing the pains the people feel. He continued with that task in the just concluded week. Since the vicissitudes of fortunes for Nigerians have been primarily two-pronged (economic and security), the President has been deploying appropriate action plans, just as he has been engaging various stakeholders on parts that everyone has to take.

    On Thursday, he held an elaborate meeting with the governors of the thirty-six states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the Villa on the situation. That was the second time he was convening such a meeting since he became President, the first time being in July 2023, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC), under his administration. Thursday’s all-important meeting with, which had to come before he would depart for the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was devoted to the issues at hand.

    Primarily, it was an environment for him to get the buy-in of the governors, who were led to the meeting by the Chairman of their Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, into the various steps that will be required to achieve peace, security and comfort for the people. It was also an opportunity for him to urge them to key-in to the welfarist ideology he is well known for and before the end of the meeting it seemed he was able to achieve success. At the end of the meeting, there were agreements on steps on make food available across the country, including going after hoarders and those whose interests only border on collapsing production and reverting the system back to importation. Everything needed to banish the ‘ebi n pa’wa’ chorus.

    Kidnapping and some other forms of criminality recently rose to a very embarrassing crescendo that it almost seemed like the various reports and incidences were actually some rehearsed drama performances. Some of the most annoying of such occasions happened in Ekiti a couple of weeks back, when some criminals kidnapped school children, their teachers and the driver of their school bus. On the same day, in another part of the state, another set of criminals waylaid traditional rulers who were coming from a meeting, killing two of them in the process.

    The Thursday meeting proffered solutions to these kinds of horrendous security dramas. At least, the President and the governors managed to agree on the need to adopt a more organic security architecture, which takes the structure of each community into consideration, systems like community policing and giving better equipment to forest rangers. At the end of the day, committees were agreed upon to give finer looks at agreements. In fact, he rounded off urging that agreements be speedily considered and appropriate steps taken, in the interest of Nigerians, who are going through these harrowing experiences and who are almost turning into puns in the hands of devious politicians.

    “My position at this meeting is that we must move aggressively and establish a committee to look critically at the issues raised, including the possibility of establishing state police.

    “From Kano, we have read reports about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses. The National Security Adviser (NSA), the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services should coordinate very closely and ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow up action. We must ensure that speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers are not allowed to sabotage our efforts in ensuring the wide availability of food to all Nigerians.

    “What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food. We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in, because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with the schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.

    Read Also: Tinubu celebrates Aisha Buhari on birthday

    “We must also look at the rapid, but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others”, the President stated.

    Meanwhile, the President had earlier in the week given a hint on his plan for the growth of the agriculture sector. He told the leadership of Global Tijaniyya Movement, led by Khalifa Muhammad Mahe Niass, who visited the State House after their annual Maulud in Abuja Sunday evening. The President said his administration’s agricultural plan is focused on expanding food production, through aggressive mechanized farming and make Nigeria a net food exporting country, outlining plans to bolster agricultural productive through various initiatives, including the expansion of farmlands, the provision of low-interest loans to farmers, and significant investments in irrigation infrastructure.

    It was not all about dealing with the unpleasant parts, the week also saw Jagaban expressing Nigeria’s appreciation to our national football team, the Super Eagle. At a very elaborate ceremony on Tuesday, planned for ‘our boys’, who went through the 2023 CAF African Cup of Nation’s (AfCON) tournament in Cote d’Ivoire and were only short of winning the gold, President Tinubu delivered a massive message of appreciation to the heroic Eagles, letting them know that their compatriots appreciated their efforts and the fact that they could clinch the second best spot.

    As part of the thank you message, Baba conferred the national honour of the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) on all team members, even the non-Nigerians among them, like their Coach, Jose Peseiro, who lamented not achieving his dream of delivering the AfCON Cup to Nigerians. There were other goodies like the promises of houses and lands from the federal government to the Eagles.

    The most significant part of the hosting for the Eagles was actually not the gifts and conferment of national honour, but the unvoiced messages to the various categories of citizens and to us all, collectively, as Nigerians. One, no effort put into making the nation great will go unnoticed under Tinubu’s watch. Two, every young Nigerian has the room to express himself and show what he can do, in whichever field, to be a star and be celebrated, both home and abroad.

    “You started the tournament as if Nigeria would not assert itself, but you progressed to the finals. Through all the challenges and dealing with great humidity in the host country, you left your clubs and honoured your country. You gave us great excitement. You were determined. We salute your resilience. You lifted our spirits, and you made us proud. You made us smile as Nigerians”, was how he encouraged us to make sacrifice to the fatherland.

    He had other engagements during the week also worth noting. For instance, on Wednesday, he received the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at the Villa. While NANS, led by its President, Lucky Emonefe, thanked him for his sharpened focus on making education easily accessible, he assured them that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) will start in about two weeks.

    Then on Thursday he appointed new management leaderships for agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. On Friday, he approved immediate upgrade for sixteen healthcare facilities across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

    Remember he left for AU Summit in Addis Ababa on Thursday. Well on Friday, his appointment as the AU’s Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, in recognition of his outstanding investments into the health sector in the country. At least, there is something to clink glasses on. Congratulations to the Jagaban Borgu.

  • Don’t worry, Jagaban’ll break barns and silos to banish hunger from your homes

    Don’t worry, Jagaban’ll break barns and silos to banish hunger from your homes

    It was another exciting week at the Villa last week, especially with President Bola Tinubu rallying his team to meet Nigerian’s needs, while he was still in Paris. You will remember that he had gone on some days of rest in France two weeks ago and while there, his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, had been in the saddle, steering the ship till the return of his principal. The President eventually returned on Tuesday evening and it was a return to more serious work.

    While in France, one festering crisis threatened to throw the nation into a life-size chaos, threatening all the hard work of the administration to refocus the nation’s socioeconomic direction. For a while now, the issue of food security had been on the administration’s front-burner and it has not folded its arms in the face of the threat. However, reports from various statistics monitoring outfits have been highlighting the effect of food inflation on the economy.

    During the last week, that crisis got to something close to a breaking point as people in some parts of the country hit the streets to protest hardship and hunger. We read of protests in some parts of Niger and Kano and from the look of the trend, there might be more from other parts if nothing changes.

    Although this is a very serious issue, the issue of escalating hardship, which streamed from the removal of the fuel subsidy and the depreciating value of our Naira, claims have also emerged that the opposition is taking advantage of the situation and using it to stoke the protests. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) managed to sniff out that piece of intelligence; just to make the Tinubu administration look insensitive, they incited the people against the government and the party that brought it to power. According to the APC, the opposition parties are magnifying the situation, stoking panic and inciting protest.

    However, in his proactive pattern, on Tuesday, Jagaban immediately convened the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to come up with solutions to the hunger dilemma and continue with other plans of banishing the prevailing hardship in the country. The committee brainstormed for three straight days and came up with some desperate measures to go on with.

    You will remember he was still in France when the committee started meeting on Tuesday, he later returned in the evening after the first meeting had been concluded. The point is even when he is not physically available, President Tinubu does not allow distance or space deter his determination to set things straight. Thankfully, he is surrounded by very capable and reliable hands. The meeting was convened, on the President’s behalf, by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

    At the end of the three days of brainstorming, the committee advised him and he gave the directive on steps to immediately fight back the hunger that seems to be pushing the people to the edge, which has also given the opposition a pretext to stoke panic and protest. On Thursday evening, he gave directives that target short-term a solution; inundate the markets with excess food items and get hoarders of food items to release them to the markets, one way or the other.

    At the end of the Thursday evening, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, addressed journalists at the State House, disclosing a number of steps to be taken to shut down the spell of hunger that has disturbed the peace of the nation, the peace we have managed since the subsidy removal-induced hardship perched on the country.

    “The first one is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, garri and other commodities in their strategic reserve so that these items will be made available to Nigerians; 42000 metric tons immediately. The second one is that we have held meetings with the rice Millers Association of Nigeria, those who are responsible for producing this rice and we have asked them to open up their stores. They’ve told us that they can guarantee about 60,000 metric tons of rice. This will be made available and we know that that is enough to take Nigerians the next one month to six weeks, perhaps up to two months.

    “Government of course is also looking at all those who are hoarding these commodities because actually these commodities are available in the stores of many traders. Government is appealing to them, that they should open up these stores, make these commodities available in the interest of our nation. There is no point when the whole country is looking for this food, you are looking up these products so that you make more money and then Nigerians suffer. ⁣

     “Like I said, these are all measures that are taken to immediately, and as an emergency measure bring down the cost of food items. In the long run Federal Ministry of Agriculture is going to invest massively so that Nigeria will recover its potential as a food basket and we don’t expect that going forward we are going to be faced with these challenges again. The President has directed that whatever it will take, food will be available to Nigerians at a cost that is also very reasonable. And that is what the summary of this meeting entails”, he said.

    Also on Thursday, Jagaban touched on something very critical to all Nigerians; old and young, rich and poor, the issue of housing. The housing deficit in Nigeria has worsened over the years and it is currently put at 28 million. The Tinubu administration, in its Renewed Hope Agenda, already created plans to bridge the housing gap in the country. In its plan, the agenda intends a 24 million housing units between 2023 and 2028.

    On Thursday, President Tinubu led Nigerians to Karsana in Abuja, to initiate the actualisation of his administration’s housing plan by performing the groundbreaking ceremony of the 3,112 housing units of the Renewed Hope City. The Karsana project is just part of the 20,000 housing units that will be delivered in Abuja alone, just as there are plans for those to be delivered in the states.

    The outing at Karsana was just an indication of his desire to see the least of Nigerians, no matter how pitiable their source of income or condition is, live in minimum comfort and feel their government’s impact.

    While speaking at the event, he said the new housing programme represents the first practical expression of his administration’s desire to implement a new city development plan under the Renewed Hope Agenda, adding that under this plan, integrated living communities that will redefine the essence of residential living for Nigerians, nationwide, will be built. He also revealed that his vision is to build dynamic, integrated, and self-sustaining communities, equipped with amenities to enhance the quality of living for residents.

    Read Also: Police kill notorious kidnappers destroy camps in Abuja

    Also at the event, Baba debuted another idea; he directed that handlers of official government events include the recitation of the National Pledge, along with the National Anthem, in all events. He said “before I left home this morning, I asked for a printout of the National Pledge, and we have to re-launch it again at this event. The re-launch is about being committed to the values, greatness, and hope of our country. It is our pledge to Nigeria, our country, to be faithful, loyal, and honest. To serve Nigeria with all your strength – we saw it on the field of play yesterday. We were all rejoicing. Everyone one of us loves victory. We love to win. When you are positive and you are hopeful, Nigeria is winning.

    “We did not say it will be Eldorado and smooth all the way. But we are confident that this country will excel in all ramifications. We will defend our unity and uphold Nigeria’s glory in every way possible because we are Nigerians, and we have no other country”, the President said.

    The week would not have been complete without the super win by the Super Eagles against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Wednesday evening. We have all become familiar with the very huge interest the President has in football, especially when it concerns Nigeria. Right from the group stages, Jagaban has been following the national team’s progress and as they moved gradually towards the finals, it grew and he has shown it by ensuring not to miss any of the matches.

    So towards the semi-final match, he took a step bigger than the one before the quarter-finals, when he called to speak to team while in the dressing room. Last week, he asked the Vice President, Shettima, to leave whatever other programme he might have and head to Stade de la Paix in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire, to cheer ‘our boys’ to victory. The idea, no doubt, contributed to the win for Nigeria.

    He sealed everything after the win with his words of encouragement on his verified X handle, @officialABAT, saying “from the Southernmost cape of Africa to the Plains of Mauritania and the coast of West Africa….You have made us all Proud to be Nigerians! Go… Soar in the AFCON Finals. Well done, boys”.

    On Friday, he signed the Electricity Act amendment Bill 2024 into law. This is a law that dedicated to the welfare and development of host communities. It sets aside five percent of the actual annual operating expenditures of power generating companies (GENCOs) from the preceding year for the development of their respective host communities.

    Like I said, it was an exciting week, a week in which our resolve as a nation was tested and the acumen of our leader, as an astute administrator and politician, were tested. But the week is over and we can only wait and hope that the new week gives us something better.