The Nation Newspaper

Category: Bolaji Ogundele

  • Breaking the yoke to debt cycle with his tax reforms

    Breaking the yoke to debt cycle with his tax reforms

    How to begin describing the past week, regarding the President’s schedule, can be a bit difficult because mostly, the ‘ghost mode’ persisted, almost like when he was putting his list of ministers together. The difference this time around was that his scarcity was mostly occasioned by the weight and urgency of attending to the political crisis in neighbouring Niger Republic. You will remember he is the incumbent Chairman of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the beleaguered neighbouring country is next door to seven Nigerian states in the northern part.

    However, the most significant event of the week for Nigerians was the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms on Tuesday. Besides the fact that it is targeted at rewriting the revenue generation strategy of the country, it is aiming a stronger economy and both goals are meant to give every Nigerian another shot at decent human living, hence making the step one of the most significant for the administration.

    At the inauguration of the Taiwo Oyedele-headed committee, the President lamented the way the tax regime had run over the years; lacking proper coordination and suffocating to the people, especially those in the lowest wrong of the social ladder, and businesses too. His target is raising the tax-to-GDP ratio to above 18% in three years as well as end the era of borrowing to fund public spending, which has kept the country under the debt serving yoke for years.

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    “The consequences of the ongoing failure of our tax regime are real and significant. The inability of government to efficiently raise revenue has led directly to an overreliance on borrowing to finance public spending. A government that cannot properly fund itself will also lack the flexibility or fiscal scope to sensibly manage the economy or respond to external shocks. Instead, debt service begins to consume an ever greater portion of government’s already meagre revenues. This traps the economy in a vicious cycle of borrowing simply to service previous debt and leaves almost no scope for socio-economic development.

    “As President, I am determined to end this cycle. On the day of my inauguration, I promised that my administration would address all of the issues impeding investment and economic growth in Nigeria. This promise is why I saw an end to the fuel subsidy. It is the reason the Central Bank has called an end to its multiple exchange rate system under my watch. It is for the same reason we gather here today to inaugurate the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms”, he said.

    The Chairman of the Committee, a world-class tax administration, Oyedele, elaborating the mandate of his team to journalists at the Villa, after their inauguration, lamented that the country is losing around N20 trillion in uncollected tax to a number of irregular practices, which the team had been tasked to take out in order to make the most for the country and bringing relief to the people.

    According to him, the mandate of the committee “is to get rid of so many taxes that come in the way of prosperity for our people. So Nigerians should look forward to a more harmonized, fewer number of taxes. But then it seems like it’s a contradiction. How do you then raise the revenue? Now, we know where we’re going to get the revenue from – there’s a huge tax-gap. What that means is as of today, without introducing any new taxes, if you get everyone that needs to pay their taxes to pay, we will not be where we are. So we think that the gap is somewhere in the region of N20 trillion.

    “In addition to that, you would also imagine that we have inefficiencies in the way we collect the little that we collect. And that inefficiency is coming from, sometimes, I think in the 2023 budget, we have like 63 MDAs that were given revenue targets. Those MDAs want to be able to focus on their primary duties of why they were established, the revenue mandate is a distraction for them. So imagine that we asked the FIRS to collect those revenues on their behalf so those agencies, by focusing on their primary mandates, they’ll facilitate the economic development we’re looking for. FIRS will collect the revenues efficiently, which means not only is the top line growing because of collecting it is reducing. And that gives you a much bigger margin to take care of the people”, he said.

    Public opinions have, again, ticked this as one of the best steps and reforms of the Bola Tinubu administration yet. Reviews across sections of society, as well as on the international plane, have lauded the President’s decisiveness and focus on reforming the economy and setting the right bricks in place for the ultimate turnaround of the largest economy in Africa.

    Mr Adeoye Adeyeye, a Chartered Accountant, with many years’ experience in Taxation, Policy and Strategy Formulation in the private sector backed the President’s positions on the need for tax reforms in the country. Besides the fact that the current regime has a lot of inefficient practices, it is also responsible for the inability of government to raise needed revenues, which has resulted in borrowing to fund public spending and throwing the system into the asphyxiating cycle of debt servicing.

    “The inauguration of the Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee could end up being one of the best decisions of the Tinubu Presidency. The following reasons are germane; some of our tax laws are outdated, the multiplicity of taxes has been a major hindrance to business growth, the cost of collection is high, our tax revenue to GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world, revenue loss due to inefficiency in collection among others.

    “If the number of taxes (currently over 60) payable by businesses and the agency of collection is centralized, more people would be brought into the tax net without necessarilyincreasing the tax rate. Also, the use of data to drive tax collection will also be key in achieving the objectives of the Committee.

    “I am of the opinion that government can achieve the target of 18% tax to GDP ratio in three years through the work of the committee. Also of note is the composition of the Committee- the members (especially the Chairman), are largely people who have distinguished themselves over the years. If more people are brought into the tax net, it gives people more impetus to demand accountability from the government.

    “Modernizing and streamlining our tax regime will remove the absurdity of arbitrariness, which has discouraged businesses from coming into the economy and frustrated existing ones. We should all encourage and support the reforms coming into our tax and fiscal policy; the government needs all the revenue it could generate and reduce borrowings”, Adeyeye explained.

    Also taking an overview of the President’s Tax Reforms Committee, the National Chairman of the Arewa Economic Forum, Ibrahim Shehu Yahaya also popularly known as Dandakata, lauded the President for making the move, saying it is aimed at streamlining collection of taxes, reducing possibilities of corruption and ultimately giving the economy a new lease of life. Drawing a connecting line with two other major steps at saving the economy, taken by the President; subsidy removal and the abolition of multiple foreign exchange rates, he noted that all point to the direction that the Tinubu administration is serious about reforming and repositioning the economy.

    “The new tax policy reform committee comes at the right time to look for ways to close the gaps in tax collection in Nigeria, which is one of the lowest in the world with a GDP to tax ratio of 10.8%, according to the NBS. It’s pertinent to note that this initiative is in the right direction, given that the Mr. Nami leadership at FIRS had tried to close this collection gap with raft of incentives to defaulters and non-compliant people and businesses, which resulted in an increase of 56% in the amount collected in 2022, which came to about N10 trillion. The mandate of the present committee is to triple this figure in 3 years.

    “This initiative is a very important economic tool in creating fiscal transparency, entrenchment of rule of law and getting our economy in the right track by eliminating avenues of loss of revenue and corruption.

    “It’s important to say that the committee started on a good note by trying to streamline collection in one location to improve transparency and make agencies more focused on their core activities.

    This, like the Treasury Single Account, will give the government a bird’s eye view on its income and attendant need for further reforms. If one couples this initiative with the removal of subsidy and the removal of multiple exchange rates of the Naira, one can see genuine economic reforms that will open up Nigeria for investment being done”, he said.

    He, however, did not stop without sounding a note of caution, especially how the reforms, this latest one in particular, saying the full value of any good policy is striving its best not to hurt the people it was made for. 

    “However, these initiatives should be very mindful of introducing policies that will marginalize sections of the Nigerian population that are, at this moment, traumatized by these same reforms that we hail. As much as the government is doing good policies for the overall and long-term benefit of the country, it should also look at the short and medium term effects on the population it’s leading and also look at those policies peculiarly as they will affect certain regions/groups/demographics.

    “There’s a need to exercise caution so that we don’t throw away the bath water with the baby. In our quest for economic nirvana, we shouldn’t forget the people that economy is supposed to serve”, Dandakata said.

    It was a busy week indeed and a lot happened, only that nut much was seen of the President because he was engaged in serious national/international matters. However, it was within the week he met governors from the seven states bordering Niger Republic (Sunday); he met the Senate President and Majority Leader (Monday); met with the World Trade Organisation’s Director General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, (Tuesday); met with ministerial nominees Nasir el-Rufai and Nyesom Wike (Wednesday); and the various meetings of the Niger coup all through the week.

    A new week has opened today, we should wait to see what comes with it.

  • Fruits of his listening ears, magic of his dialogue skills

    The last week opened on a note of action for President Bola Tinubu, but this time around not actions directly focused on Nigeria. As Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Tinubu convened an emergency meeting of the Authority, in order to decide on how to go about the Niger Republic debacle.

    However, as packed-together as that event seemed during the week, it could not beat two other events, being the President’s national broadcast on Monday evening and the emergency engagement with leaders of the organised Labour in his office. The two actions have become the most discussed, analyzed and critiqued activities of the President for the week. In all, the summation was that both events brought the real Jagaban out of the President: he faces his fears, challenges his challenges, all in a bid to find solutions to what confronts him as a person and confronts his people as their leader.

    The idea of a national broadcast became the way to go for him because the despite the attempt at getting Nigerians to understand the need for the removal of the fuel subsidy, which they have gotten used to over the years, the harsh conditions that accompanied the action, especially hunger, has sort of made it difficult for the message to sink. It became obvious that he needed to engage with the people on a personal note and the best way to go about that, obviously was through the media. He used the occasion to douse fears and calm nerves.

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    Of course the people were attentive; most people ensured to go sit by a television screen about the time he was speaking from 7pm, while many others turned to the on-the-go media on their phone. From the reviews done on several channels, including the social media, he was able to connect with the people, he was able to give them the message of hope they all yearned for. He was able to reveal how he intends to relief them the current pains and how soon his plan might take and after the speech came the adulation, even from some of his most acerbic critics.

    In his analysis of the national broadcast, an Abuja-based journalist and social analyst, Emmanuel Addeh, if he would follow through with his promises in the speech, then the Golden Era is by the corner indeed.   

    “I hope this goes beyond the usual political talk because we have heard most of these things before, especially the issues relating to the deployment of gas-powered vehicles. That’s actually the part I am interested in. If the President follows through with his plan to deploy CNG-powered vehicles by the first quarter of next year, then the current pressure on commuters and the citizenry will be substantially reduced.

    “I am also aware that the President has directed the NNPC to accelerate the process and I think the national oil company, last Thursday, announced its collaboration with NIPCO Gas and Miju to deploy 35 stations nationwide in the first instance. If the proposed stations, which will service and fuel 200,000 vehicles per day, become a reality, then that would mean the first step to weaning the country from its addiction to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    “So, for me, there’s a bit of cautious excitement as it concerns the N100 billion project. But beyond that, I have also noticed that there’s at least an attempt to communicate with Nigerians. Some governments in the past won’t even acknowledge that Nigerians were facing a lot of hardship. So, the effort to calm Nigerians, even in the face of the current harsh realities, is commendable”, he said.

    Similarly, the public has been talking about how the President abruptly, with just a single meeting, held within an hour, the President managed to convince leaders of the organised Labour that neither protest, not strike should be the way to solve the nation’s economic issues. These were people who had been meeting with government representatives, all of whom are experts in various field, all along, but still went on with calling a nationwide mass protest hours after their last meeting.

    However, just as it was starting, the Jagaban stepped in and before the Day One’s sun went down, the protest ended prematurely. Critiquing the President’s style of engagement, especially how he was able to get Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo to calm down to listen and actually get them to acquiesce to his ideas, the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Darlington Nwauju, noted this President is doing things differently.   

    “It is exhilarating to see that he chose to engage physically with the Labour leaders, to fashion a way forward on cushioning the effect of subsidy removal. It is welcoming that he drew from his wealth of experience as a social democrat to handle the protest issue and at the same time gave commitment of government to ensure the Port Harcourt refinery comes on stream by December. That ingredient of listening and paying attention to critical opinions is what any caring leadership cum government cannot afford to lack. The maturity in handling the strike called by the Labour not in the usual brick and mortar strategy, finally paid off”, Nwauju said.

    Also, the President, as head of ECOWAS, hosted the Authority’s members-states on the crisis in Niger. Far-reaching steps were taken and sanctions threatened, including a possibility of armed-intervention. Though many, including the most powerful nations of the world, have lauded Tinubu on his quick response as regional leader, many Nigerians have advised caution and tact in dealing with the situation. The putsch in Niger Republic, which has become something of a breaking point in the escalating democratic crisis in the West African sub-region in the last few years, presents a major test to the influence of the ECOWAS Authority.

    The new week is expected to unfold with activities on the Niger Republic debacle because a lot of causes have been set in motion, which will most likely start leading to some effects in the affairs of the sub-region. Remember a seven-day ultimatum was issued by ECOWAS last Sunday, which threatened a lot, including armed intervention. Already, the Chiefs of Defense Staff of ten members states met in Abuja on Thursday in response to the Authority’s instruction. In order not to restrict response to just military, the sub-regional body sent two missions out, also on Thursday: one to Niger to interface with General Omar Tchiani, the man who has declared himself the country’s new leader, the second team to Libya and Algeria, to enlist the intervention of those believed to wield some level of influence in Niger’s internal affairs.

    Already, there are a couple of feedbacks from the actions initiated in the course of last week. One, the envoy that was dispatched to Niger, led by former Nigerian military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, returned to the country without meeting Tchaini in person. Number two, the Chiefs of Defense Staff of the ECOWAS member-states, which convened and ended meeting in Abuja on Thursday, have expressed readiness to follow the regional body’s instructions. Already, the President has written the National Assembly to seek approval for action against Niger coupists. Three, Nigeria shut its borders against movements from Niger into Nigeria, just as it has cut the country off electricity supply.

    Meanwhile, same Sunday, the President appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) as Special Investigator, tasked with the duties of enforcing sanity in the nation’s financial and business environment. One particular target if the nation’s apex bank, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), which seems to be facing difficulties in containing the volatile monetary environment, which has contributed to the galloping inflation in no small measure.

    Monday was a day of many activities in the Villa. Besides the national broadcast, addressing the most critical of the concerns of Nigerians, it was the day he formalized the appointment of the nation’s military hierarchy by decorating the new Chief of Defense Staff and his service chiefs with their new ranks. Now they are designated as Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla. The President also tasked them on the need for teamwork.

    It was a week of series of events, from Sunday to Saturday. He President responded to the agitation against rising cost of acquiring tertiary education, warning federal institutions to desist from arbitrary hiking of fees. Meanwhile, from the standpoint of the administration, he ordered that all restrictions on students’ loans be removed. Besides that, he pledged some other forms of supports for students facing the current harsh economic realities.

    This week too will come with its excitements and we all will see how it goes.

  • Renewed Hope: Letting the poor breathe

    Sir: In a nation that prides itself on being the “Giant of Africa,” there exists a deep-seated disparity that continues to suffocate the most vulnerable in society – the poor. The aspirations for progress, equality, and social justice that have long eluded the marginalized sections of society are in dire need of attention and action.

    Since assuming office, President Bola Tinubu’s government has promised various economic reforms and policies to uplift the nation. However, the reality on the ground presents a stark contrast. The poor have continued to endure most of the country’s economic challenges, facing limited access to education, healthcare, and opportunities for advancement. Rising inflation rates, unemployment, and inadequate social welfare programs have further marginalized vulnerable communities, pushing them deeper into poverty.

    One of the primary challenges facing the poor is the lack of access to quality education. Without adequate educational opportunities, the cycle of poverty stays unbroken, trapping generations within the same dire circumstances. President Tinubu’s administration must prioritize education reform and commit to allocating sufficient resources to improve the educational infrastructure, ensure teacher training, and make education accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic status.

    The state of healthcare in Nigeria is another pressing issue. Basic medical services, including access to clean water, sanitation facilities, and essential medicines, remain out of reach for millions of Nigerians. The poor are particularly vulnerable to illnesses and suffer disproportionately due to inadequate healthcare facilities. It is the responsibility of President Tinubu’s government to invest in the healthcare system, strengthen public hospitals, and expand health coverage to provide relief to those struggling for survival.

    Furthermore, the rural-urban divide exacerbates the poverty crisis. Rural communities often lack basic amenities, including reliable electricity, access to credit, and job opportunities. It is essential for President Tinubu’s administration to implement policies that bridge this gap and empower rural areas by promoting agricultural development, creating rural industries, and investing in infrastructure projects that connect these communities to the larger economy.

    The issue of corruption cannot be overlooked in the fight to alleviate poverty. Rampant corruption not only drains the nation’s resources but also perpetuates income inequality. President Tinubu must lead by example and demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, implementing stringent measures to hold corrupt individuals accountable, regardless of their social or political standing. He should start by probing into the corrupt practices of the previous administration and where necessary restore any stolen resources.

    To truly let the poor, breathe, President Tinubu must embrace a comprehensive social safety net that protects the most vulnerable in times of economic hardships. The implementation of well-targeted social welfare programs can provide a lifeline for those in need and create a more equitable society.

    Inclusivity and representation are also crucial in driving change. President Tinubu’s government must ensure that the voices of the poor are heard in policymaking processes. Engaging with grassroots organizations, civil society, and community leaders can foster a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the marginalized and aid in formulating effective solutions.

    The Nigerian people have shown resilience in the face of adversity, and they deserve a leader who prioritizes their welfare. President Tinubu has an opportunity to leave a legacy by championing the cause of the poor and creating a more inclusive society. Let us hope that under his leadership, the nation can take significant strides toward a more equitable and prosperous Nigeria, where every citizen can breathe freely and fulfil their potential.

    President Tinubu’s administration should prioritize job creation and entrepreneurship. Sustainable economic growth can lift people out of poverty and provide them with the means to support themselves and their families. By encouraging investment in industries, promoting small businesses, and supporting vocational training programs, the government can lay the foundation for a more prosperous future.

    The situation of the poor in Nigeria demands urgent attention and action. As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu leads the nation, he has the opportunity to enact meaningful reforms that will allow the impoverished masses to breathe freely, unburdened by the chains of poverty. It is time to prioritize the well-being of all Nigerians and build a nation where every citizen can dream and aspire to a brighter future.

    • Tosin Afeniforo, IUSS Pavia, Italy.
  • Mr. President, your week was so covert…

    Mr. President, your week was so covert…

    It was a week of intense pressure and much of covert activities. Since he assumed office on May 29, the just concluded week seemed the most tensed and longest, though on the surface, it almost looked like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was missing in action, almost like he was out of the country for a foreign engagement. This became the relative picture because the Presidential Villa, Abuja is known to usually be bustling and thronged by various visitors and callers, but this last week lacked in that character because not much was seen nor heard from or about the President.

    This narration, however, does not mean that the ‘Idan gan-gan’, as he has been fondly dubbed by his admirers in the Gen-Z category, was sick or lost his “back-to-back” mojo. As a matter of fact, the President was at his table everyday of the week, spending long hours, much more than the usual, it can be said: he shows up, on the average, from about 10am and leaves not earlier than 6pm or 8pm. He was very much available, he was just dealing with very high-stake duties, which required his undivided attention and clarity of mind.

    “This week has been unusually quiet, right from Monday till yesterday (Thursday), it seemed like Baba has not been around; no visitors, no engagements, only yesterday when he came out to speak at the APC Youths event”, a member of the State House Press Corps observed on Friday while discussing the week.

    However, it was reliably gathered that Baba devoted the week to putting the last touches to the compilation of the ministerial nominees list, which has been anticipated since his assumption of office. It was gathered that his handlers, led by the Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, kept his schedule for the week blank, keeping all non-essential visits and events out of his diary for the week.

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    In the whole of the last week, the only recorded visitors to the President’s office were the former National Chairman and the Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Senator Iyiola Omisore, respectively, on Tuesday, while the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Tajudeen Abass, visited along with other Principal Officers of the Lower Chamber to visit him on Wednesday. An earlier scheduled event for Thursday, being the visit of the APC Youths, had to get through the proverbial ‘eye of the needle’ before it could sail.

    However, on Thursday, after weeks of suspense, Tinubu unveiled his list of eminent Nigerians, men, women and youths, 28 of them, as his ministerial nominees. The list, which was conveyed to the Senate and presented to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, by the Chief of Staff to the President, Gbajabiamila, had been kept perfectly inaccessible to everyone, not even those one would expect to be privy (or so it seemed as it turned out to be miles apart from all the previous leaks in the media). That it was the Chief of Staff that had to delivers the correspondence to the Senate and not the Presidential Liaison Officer (PLO), the office traditionally known messages like this, further affirmed the importance the President attached to the assignment, as well as its integrity.

    The President list of 28 nominees includes Abubakar Momoh (Edo), Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi), Ahmad Dangiwa (Katsina), Hannatu Musawa (Katsina), Uche Nnaji (Enugu), Betta Edu (Cross River), Doris Aniche Uzoka (Imo) and David Umahi (Ebonyi), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai (Kaduna), Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom) and Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia).

    Also on the list are Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (Ondo), Stella Okotete (Delta), Bello Muhammad Goronyo (Sokoto), Uju Kennedy Ohanenye (Anambra), Dele Alake (Ekiti), Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara), Muhammad Idris (Niger), Olawale Edun (Ogun) and Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo), Iman Sulaiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa), Ali Pate (Bauchi), Joseph Utsev (Benue), Abubakar Kyari (Borno), John Enoh (Cross River) and Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba) also made the list.

    Tinubu’s list of 28 ministerial nominees, which turned out to be just a part of a whole, as more is said to be due in a matter of days, turned out to be a real task, not a walk in the park by any means. That a man who is renowned for his pragmatic work ethics and a skills-set of one of the best administrative minds in the country could be cocooned away from some of his official routines, speaks volume to the nature of the particular task.

    Speaking at the Villa after his errand to the National Assembly, Gbajabiamila provided a little insight into the background of the list, saying “first of all, I’m sure you all know that the government is not fully formed until a cabinet is in place and that process started a while ago, culminating in the delivery of ministerial nominees today. The President took his time, spent a lot of time going through, did a lot of due-diligence, going through the nominees one by one.

    “As you know he had 60 days from time of inauguration, as stipulated in the Constitution. He has fulfilled that requirement of the Constitution by submitting 28 names today, as his letter stated, and was read on the floor of the Senate, the remainder names, not sure how many, probably about 12, maybe 13, will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days.

    “As far as the nominees themselves are concerned, and like I said, Mr. President took his time to sift through those names, he dissected those names with a fine-tooth comb and that’s what you’ve seen, each and every one, I believe, of the persons on that list, are worth being on that list. But I really hope that we haven’t missed anything that would have necessitated any name not being on that list, but we wait and see.

    “It’s a good mix of both people with political acumen and technocrats. So this is a good balance and it’s needed, these are people who have keyed-in to the vision and mission of Mr. President. Like I said, it’s a good balance, needed to move the country forward, as Mr. President is eager to do and has already started doing”, he said.

    Besides the task of meeting the 60-day constitutional deadline for him to form his cabinet, another headache, a strain rather, reared its ugly head in a neighbouring country; some ambitious members of the Presidential Guards of Niger Republic decided to steal what they took oaths to guard and protect. News broke out in the early hours of Wednesday that the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, had become a captive of his guards, who cordoned the Presidential Palace off and later made it clear they had seized power.

    When Tinubu took reins of leadership at the head of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) as chairman, one of the charges he gave in his address was for the sub-region to protect popular democracy and halt the negative trend of soldiers toppling the popular mandate of the people through barrel of guns, saying “we must stand firm on democracy. There is no governance, freedom and rule of law without democracy. We will not accept coup after coup in West Africa again. Democracy is very difficult to manage, but it is the best form of government”.

    The Niger Republic situation, almost as much as having to assemble the right set of people for ministerial positions, placed much load on the President and further compounded his week. Between Wednesday, when the coup was initiated, and Friday, Tinubu has had to do one thing or the other as the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS. For instance, on Wednesday, he held an emergency meeting with the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, who was immediately dispatched to Niamey on an intervention mission. He already condemned the coup before meeting Talon and on Thursday, he engaged in consultations with the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, and the United Nations’ (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, both of whom he spoke at length with over the development. He has scheduled an emergency meeting of the Authority for today.

    It must be said though that no matter how very stealth his activities during the week were, he was still able to attend to other issues outside the crosses of ministerial nomination and solving the Nigerien basket case. He defused the anxiety over federal universities’ tuition fee issue on Wednesday and took some guests, including Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State, former governor Simon Lalong, former governor Adamu Aliero and many others.

    This week, which is not expected to be bugged down with the sort of weight of the last week, should see a restoration of normal schedules for the President, along with the usual heavy activities. 

  • To Tinubu, listening is as easy as doing the people’s bidding

    To Tinubu, listening is as easy as doing the people’s bidding

    It was a busy week as usual, although there were not too many physical activities. Starting with his outing at 5th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (5thMYCM) of the African Union (AU), the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), and the African Union Member-States, held in the Kanyan capital, Nairobi, on Sunday, to the several other open and closed-doors meetings held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after his return on Monday throughout the week.

    One thing was a common factor in all President Bola Tinubu’s activities, either in the interest of the country or in response to regional needs, throughout the week: it was all about setting the right tones for development administration. While he took time to reason the way forward for the security and prosperity of West African, at a Troika+ meeting, where he hosted three other co-presidents and the President of the ECOWAS Commission at the Presidential Villa, during the same week he continued with actions that will insulate all categories of Nigerians against the harsh realities trailing the administration’s economic restructuring.

    During the last week, those watching activities of the Presidency have identified three issues as the most noteworthy in the diary of the nation’s seat of power. Two were steps taken by the President, while the third one was a unanimous decision of the federal and the states about seeing that the people get to breathe indeed. The first was the decision of the President to show that he really listens to Nigerians whenever they call out to him.

    It would be recalled that the administration, since the removal of fuel scarcity was actualise on May 29, has been engaged in managing the multiple rippling effects trailing the action. In that process, the President has deployed everything in his arsenal to halt an impending industrial action, which could have grounded the nation to a halt. He has also initiated measures to cushion the attending harsh economic realities trailing the end of petrol subsidy, one of which was a plan to adopt the conditional cash transfer to the desperately poor members of society. According to the plan, twelve million poor households were meant to receive N,8000 cash transfer. A noble intention, some have said.

    However, noble as it might have been or seemed, there were those who have come out to question the integrity of this kind of populist approach to a solving a universal challenge. While some argue that a similar system run by the predecessor-administration failed the integrity and purpose tests, some just believe that the Nigerian public system is too decadent to be trusted with the volume of resources that will be involved in the process.

    While that back and forth was ongoing, a new concern reared its head during the week, specifically on Tuesday, with the pump price of the premium motor spirit (PMS) further got hiked from over N500 to more than N600 across the country, tightening the economic noose further on the citizens, including the desperately poor. This formed another headache for the administration.

    However, responding to the attack on the planned modus for ameliorating the harsh economic realities on the very poor, as well as the backlash following the modulation in fuel pricing, the President took another look at his slate and reacted promptly. On Tuesday evening, he responded with a declaration intended to answer many question. In a statement released by Dele Alake, his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, President Tinubu directed a review of the N8,000 planned cash transfer and announced other measures to address the effects of the economic situation on all citizens. He also ordered the release of grains and fertilizers to 50 million families and farmers, respectively, basically to crash food prices. He  

    “A lot of ill-informed imputations have been read into the programme by not a few naysayers. The Administration believes in the maxim that when there is prohibition, there must be provision. Since subsidy, the hydra-headed monster threatening to kill the economy, has been stopped, government has emplaced a broad spectrum of reliefs to bring help to Nigerians.

    “While it should be noted that cash programme is not the only item in the whole gamut of relief package of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a listening leader who has vowed to always put Nigerians at the heart of his policy and programme, the President has directed as follows: That the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programmed envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households be reviewed immediately. This is in deference to the views expressed by Nigerians against it.

    “That the whole gamut of palliative package of government be unveiled to Nigerians and immediate release of fertilisers and grains to approximately 50 million farmers and households respectively in all the 36 states and the FCT. The President further assures Nigerians that the N500 billion approved by parliament to cushion the pain occasioned by the end of subsidy regime will be judiciously utilised. The beneficiaries of the reliefs shall be Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation.

    “President Bola Tinubu has promised to always prioritize the wellbeing of Nigerians and he is irrevocably committed to the vow. A number of decisions taken so far by this Administration have buttressed this stance. You will recall that the President took a similar decision after listening to complaints from the business community/stakeholders about burdensome taxes, particularly multiplicity of taxes they are made to experience. This warranted the signing of four (4) Executive Orders cancelling some classes of taxes, while suspending the implementation dates of others. In addition, the President has also set up a Tax Reform/Fiscal Policy Committee to bring up recommendations that will engender a wholesome fiscal environment for the country and remove anti-business barriers”, the statement had said.

    In alignment with the actions of the President, on Thursday, the National Economic Council (NEC), which is headed by the Vice President and comprising of 36 governors of the federation, Ministers in charge of finance, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), among others, rolled out a list of relief measures to quell the heat of harsh economic realities.

    It would be recalled that the NEC had at its last meeting, set up a sub-committee, which was charged with the task of coming up with plans to urgently ameliorate the harsh conditions trailing recent economic changes, especially the removal of fuel subsidy and the merging of the foreign exchange rate windows.

    Disclosing the feedback of the subcommittee to journalists after the Council’s almost five and a half hour meeting, Ogun State governor, Abiodun, reeled out the plans approved to include Cash Award Policy for civil servants, payment of outstanding liabilities to civil servants, special funding for the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the immediate implementation of the Energy Transition Plan, which is transiting from being reliant on petrol to now being reliant on other fuels that are cheaper and more stable, particularly Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and the eventual use of electric cars and other measures.

    “We also proposed accordingly that each state should begin to plan towards implementing a cash transfer program that will be based on the social registers of the states because it is the states that are better positioned to do that enumeration so you can ensure the integrity of the social register. Again, it was also proposed by the Council that we should implement a Cash Award Policy for all public servants. What’s a Cash Award Policy? That would be a policy that allows each sub-national to actually pay the public servants a certain prescribed amount of cash on a monthly basis and was prescribed that that should be implemented for six months in the first instance”, Abiodun said in part.

    The second action of the President during the week, which was considered very significant was also directed at bringing economic succour to citizens and establishing a firm economic structure for the country. On Thursday evening, he approved the establishment of the Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for states, with the aim of helping the sub-nationals to develop the various critical sectors of the economy, all in a bid to percolate development and development more easily to all segment of society, benefiting all citizens.

    Explaining the essence of the ISF in a statement, Alake said “the new Infrastructure Fund will enable the states to intervene and invest in the critical areas of Transportation, including farm to market road improvements; Agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions; Health, with a focus on basic healthcare; Education, especially basic education; Power and Water Resources, that will improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians”.

    In the course of the week, there were a number of activities, but not many were very visible. The visible will include the Troika+ meeting, which was indeed an elaborate event. Vice President Kashim Shettima also held a couple of meetings, aimed at securing soft landing for the administration, just as the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, continues to reach out to groups on behalf of the administration.

  • Tinubu’s one stone to kill many birds

    Tinubu’s one stone to kill many birds

    THE week closed just the same way it opened; high sounding and mazed activities heralded his work week, same way another big declaration wrapped it up. At the start of the week, being Sunday, July 9, he was declared the new Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States‘ (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, making sure not to leave the stage on that day without sounding a notice of what the sub-region and indeed, the whole of Africa should expect. Then as the week drew to a close, on Thursday evening, he alerted the world to a novel idea of solving two nagging concerns of Nigerians; hunger and unemployment. He declared a state-of-emergency on the nation’s food security.

    “Accordingly, in line with this administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported, Mr. President has declared, with immediate effect the following actions: That a state of emergency on food security be announced immediately, and that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council”, Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, disclosed the new way to go at a press conference held at the State House.

    Though both are very significant developments, analysts have tended to put the declaration of the state-of-emergency on food security ahead of the new task of chairing the ECOWAS decision-making body. To Bolaji Lawal, a finance expert who is also a stakeholder in the food production and distribution value-chain, the late-Thursday declaration by President Tinubu has become one of the most significant and far-reaching decisions of the new administration, which rippling effects will be felt even beyond West Africa.

    According to Lawal, the declaration has singlehandedly taken an aim a number of age-long issues, not just that of hunger and unemployment. As it will be fixing the primary concerns, it will play a role in fixing security in the country as it is expected to end nomadic herding, which is a major cause of many clashes in different parts of the country. It will serve not just Nigeria from the projected food sufficiency, it will usher in a new era in which the country will potentially become the ECOWAS food basket.

    “July 13th 2023 is a day the masses of Nigeria sing hosanna as President Tinubu unfolds his agenda to ensure food security for Nigeria and Nigerians. While several governments in the past have made attempts at food security, this is the single, most comprehensive effort yet as it touches on different aspects of food production across the value chain, up to the commodity exchange.

    “The effort of the Tinubu administration creates value throughout the value-chain as: one, targets farmers and the poor with inputs and foods to cushion the effects inflation; two, use its MDA’s to provide resources that ensure adequate production and availability of food all year round; and three, use the about-to be-created Commodity Board to ensure a stabilization of price while collaborating with several stakeholders.

    “The bold decision to set up ranches not only eliminate the incessant herder/farmer clashes but it modernizes the business in a manner that benefits the farmers and Nigeria as a country as this is the first step in Nigeria becoming an exporter of beef and other associated livestock products.

    “The ambition to create millions of jobs in the agricultural value-chain is a strategic effort at recreating the middle class, which will trigger an economic prosperity in Nigeria within a few years”, he said.

    The emergence of President Tinubu as Chairman of the ECOWAS’ Authority of Heads of State and Government, earlier in the week, has also been categorized as one very significant development. In the thought of many, the Authority deciding to yield leadership to a newcomer, who was just elected leader of his people just a little over a month ago, speaks volume. Some say besides the general recognition that Nigeria is the Big Brother in the sub-region (Nigeria is home to more than half of the population of the entire 16-country ECOWAS region), Tinubu as choice of the next Chairman also speaks to the fact that he is a respected leader, capable of retrieving the destinies of more than 387 million West African citizens from the doldrums. The influence of Nigeria on the rest of the region was recently tangibly appreciated with the removal of the ruinous petrol subsidy. That decision reverberated throughout the region, leading to protests in some neighbouring countries.  

    Almost immediately after he was announced Chairman, Tinubu reeled out details of a marshal plan for the region, including economic, military and political targets, just as if he was waiting to be unveiled.

    “In furtherance of my vision for our region’s economic recovery and growth, Nigeria intends to convene an ECOWAS Extra Ordinary Summit on Trade and Investment in October 2023. The event will provide opportunity for Member States to showcase their potentials and encourage match-making, in order to evolve business cooperation among the various organized private sector within the region,” he added while calling for the strengthening of the institutions of the body. In the area of strengthening our Organisations Institutions and ensuring effective performance, we underscore the need for the conclusion of the on-going institutional reforms of the organization. Given that Community Levy remained the biggest source of generating funds to run our organization, we must ensure that our citizens being taxed must be positively impacted by the programmes and projects of ECOWAS. This is in line with the shift of ECOWAS slogan from ‘ECOWAS of State’ to ‘ECOWAS of People’, the Nigerian President emphasised.

    Analyzing the import of the election of Tinubu as ECOWAS Chairman, an Abuja-based Public Affairs Analyst and an author, Daniel Oshubaye, said “in his speech as Chairman of the ECOWAS, President Bola Tinubu proclaimed ‘Nigeria…we are back!’. These words encapsulate the essence of a nation’s revival, charting a new course for Africa. Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to continental unity reverberates in his promises: protecting democracy, upholding the rule of law, and fostering inclusive economic growth in the region.

    “The World Bank’s latest data, unveiling Nigeria’s 52% share of ECOWAS’s population, underscores its pivotal role. This acknowledgment ignites fresh optimism for a brighter future, as Nigeria’s steadfast leadership propels Africa toward prosperity and solidarity. With closed borders, terrorism and heightened insecurity in the region, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will tackle these challenges head-on, while optimistic about the ECOWAS currency and enhanced trade ties among member states. Nigeria is poised to embrace its destiny as Africa’s beacon of progress”, he said.

    Of course, the week was littered with lots of events and activities, some of them rather nostalgic for the President, just as some of them elicited passion from him. For instance, on meeting the Class of ’99 Governors, a class he belonged as former governor of Lagos State, on Wednesday, the expression on their faces, including his, was priceless. The banters were much more. Walking into the Council Chambers, it was the leader of the visiting group, former Edo State governor, Lucky Igbinedion, that first caught his gaze and then he went “Lucky, Lucky”.

    During the meeting, the President, again, revealed the emotional side when he revealed he was not oblivious of the hardship the people are going through as a result of the some of the policies and decisions taken so far, assuring Nigerians that it is for the benefit of the majority. “I understand that our people are suffering yet there can be no childbirth without pain. The joy of childbirth is the relief that comes after the pain. Nigeria is reborn already with fuel subsidy removal. It is a rebirth of the country for the largest number over a few smugglers. Please tell the people to be a little patient. The palliative is coming. I don’t want cash-transfer to fall into wrong hands. I know it pinches and it is difficult. In the end, we will rejoice in the prosperity of our country”, he had said.

    Other events of note during the week will include his meeting with the leadership of the Senate, led by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, during which engagement he emphasized the importance of protecting democracy. On Thursday, he met with all the 36 Women Leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), during which meeting he declared that his administration was poised to retrieve the country from the stranglehold of those he described as ‘vested interests’.

    Also in the course of the week, the President had series of meetings, received different categories of dignitaries, including the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II; the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Olusola Alao, former Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode.

    He has flown to Nairobi yesterday, being Saturday, let us wait to see if another shocker will come from there.

  • ‘Baba-Go-Fast’ takes crusade for FDI abroad

    ‘Baba-Go-Fast’ takes crusade for FDI abroad

    The last week made President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a month in office, having been sworn-in on May 29, 2023, last Thursday made it exactly one month since his administration was inaugurated. However, the week in review was spent entirely away from the seat of power in Abuja; it would be recalled that the President left for Paris in France for the New Global Financial Pact signing on Tuesday, June 20. He was there till Saturday, June 24 when he departed for London, the United Kingdom (UK), for a private visit. He was in London till the eve of the Eid-el-Kabir festival, to come in just in time for the festivity.

    Being away the whole week did not impede work or slow down the characteristic momentum of the man that has earned the epithet ‘Baba-G0-Fast’. As a matter of fact, while in France, the President went out to shop for goals that will further enhance the country’s financial standing. Explaining the key reason for President Tinubu’s outing in France, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Mr Dele Alake, said it all boiled down to shoring up the finance base through foreign direct investments (FDI), which needs to be shopped for.

    Alake was projecting what the outlook of the first foreign visit of the President would look like, while speaking to journalists on arrival in Paris last week Tuesday. According to him, “the essence of this trip is to network as much as feasible and as much as is practicable. The President wants to network with international finance corporations and institutions, countries that are well healed that would facilitate or that could facilitate direct foreign investment into Nigeria.

    “Don’t forget that Mr. President has taken some very bold steps in the area of economy, in the area of social engineering in the last three weeks, and particularly with reference to the unification of the multiple exchange rates, which has caused very positive multiplier effects. However, in the short term, we have noticed and expected that there will be a slight spike in the demand and then that would affect the value of the Naira, viz-viz the dollar”, he had explained.

    Indeed, before departing France after the main event and several other meetings and agreements on the sidelines, Tinubu had garnered some tangibles for the government to work with and made some of the needed progress in the direction of economic healing. Though Alake had projected only a few prospectives that the President was expected to meet and negotiate investment opportunities in Nigeria with, Tinubu himself sealed more deals than projected.

    Whereas his spokesman had seen the United States of America (USA), the host country of France, Switzerland and a couple others as prospective interests in Nigeria’s investment opportunities, President Tinubu met, negotiated with and got others, especially global development agencies, to give their words and indicate financial commitments to the development in the country.

    “At the last count about three, four different heads of state of developed countries have indicated willingness to meet with him, have a chat with him and explore areas of cooperation on the economy, on agriculture, on other areas that are salient to the development of Nigeria’s economy. That is generally the essence of this meeting”, Alake had said.

    However, much more than revealed by the presidential spokesman was achieved in sideline meetings, lined before the President arrived in Paris and he was careful in making the right choices for Nigeria’s economic prosperity. He met with the French President, Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée; the Swiss President, Alain Berset, at Palais Brongniart; President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon; Director General of World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina; President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), Prof. Benedict Oramah; and President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud–Basso.

    In these several meetings and engagements, Nigeria won a number of deliverables, either in financial kind or in promissory kind. For instance, in his meeting with the EBRD President, Tinubu warned it would be disastrous for the world, including the developed nations, to ignore the huge natural and human potentials the Nigeria he now leads is offering. This warning was taken literally by Renaud–Basso when she said it would be a mistake for the development bank not to invest in Nigeria, after considering six potential economies for investment. She categorically identified the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as a targeted area the bank would place its investment attention in Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the Afrexim Bank promised to inject more funding into the Nigerian economy, additional to what it already had put, to further build confidence in other investors. However, the AfDB made a more physically relatable commitment to the economic development of the country; its President, Dr Adesina said the bank will be supporting the growth of Nigeria’s agro-allied sector with a $520 million in the development of agro-processing zones in the country. Besides the $520 million categorical commitment, Adesina further alerted that the bank will be committing more resources into investments in Nigeria and his simple reason for this is the fact that the administration had shown, within its few days of existence, that it is committed to uplifting the ordinary people.

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    He was also able to attract a commitment from one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, Airbus/ATR, co-owned by French and Italian investments. Tinubu met with the company’s executives, led by its Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Laurent Rahul Domergue, who assured that the company was prepared to invest in the Nigerian aviation sector, particularly in supplying planes. Baba-Go-Fast was able to elicit the commitment by assuring the team that the Nigerian Aviation Sector would be streamlined for efficiency, especially in maintenance of aircrafts and training.

    These were just a few of the achievements, but like it is trite knowledge, not everything, especially in foreign policy and security packaging, that is put out there for public consumption. The spirit with which the President returned home on Tuesday, after his private stop-over in London, and the high praises that have so far trailed his outing from both local and global quarters, have indicated that there should definitely be more to what has been achieved than the layman knows about.

    Two of the major highlights of the last week were the return of the President home after his first diplomatic outing as leader of the largest African economy and the fanfare/revelations made during his thank-you homage to two of the royal fathers in Ogun State. The first, being his return, gathered so much crowd that it was almost as mammoth as though it was another presidential campaign. Eager and enthusiastic Nigerians had gathered at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos since early part of the day, awaiting the return of the President, who arrived past 5pm. His return has been described as heroic.

    The second most significant event of the Presidency was considered to be his visit to the palaces of the Paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, in Ijebu-Ode, and Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, in Abeokuta on Thursday. It was at the palace in Ijebuode that he explained the legendary pronouncement ‘Emilokan’. According to the President, ‘Emilokan’ was a spiritual invocation against the attempt made at frustrating his journey to the Presidency. It played its role in the long run.

    According to the President, he invoked the spirits of freedom and determination, symbolised by ‘Baba Emilokan’ to overcome the obstacles in the election. “Our monies were confiscated. The cashless policy didn’t work, it was terrible then. I realised that, I came to Ogun State to invoke the spirit of freedom which we are noted for. I invoked that spirit twice. The spirit of Baba Emilokan. That’s Baba. Being blunt, being decisive, that’s him, he will tell you. The second spirit is that money or no money (we will do the election and we will win)”, he explained.

    The last week had its dual elements; local and foreign, but it was as eventful, and fruitful, as usual. There was even the possibility of the week being more fruitful than the past three weeks; this week took the crusade to the world stage in an attempt at foraging for a critically needed FDI life-support.

    Coming into this week, it is expected to be as eventful with a lot of tasks to defray. It is believed that a lot of files and memoranda are waiting for the President’s attention. Let’s go into the week together.

    By Bolaji Ogundele

  • Widening borders of economic latitude, setting security structures in place

    Last week was, in its own way, exciting at the Presidential Villa because President Bola Tinubu continued to pull more surprises, sustaining the identity he cut for the administration from the very first day. You will also agree that the consistency has earned the epithet ‘the back-to-back era’. From sustaining the agreement with the organised Labour on sorting out the issues ancillary to the removal of fuel subsidy and staving off a threatening industrial strike, to taking a real first step towards sorting out the myriad of security issues thawing at the very life of the nation’s stability and peace, to taking the crusade on reviving and reorganising the nation’s economy to the global stage and many other issues. It was a very busy week, as usual.

    Like suggested the upper week, the President pressed on with his agenda of salvaging the fortunes of the country by ensuring to take all the right steps at every approach. First, to ensure the state machine grinds without halting, his team resumed negotiations with the organised Labour to forestall an industrial action. If you have been following events since the Bola Tinubu administration took off, you would have known that his first action as President was dealing a decisive treat to fuel subsidy by sounding its end in his inaugural speech. Fuel subsidy has been described as the one single drain on national resources, which would have forced Nigeria to collapse.

    Removing fuel subsidy, which has survived for more than forty years and has fed the greed of a small section of the social system, will not go without a fight, especially as its rippling effects will sorely affect the larger number. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the two umbrella representatives of the organised Labour in the country, kicked against the action, which they said was taken without giving adequate consideration to how it would affect the ordinary Nigerian. This informed the need for the negotiations between government and the Labour, which reached an advanced stage last week.

    At the end of the meeting on Monday, June 19, both sides announced they had agreed to a timeline for the implementation of the initial agreements from the previous talks, which led to Monday’s conclusions, which the TUC President, Festus Osifo, disclosed to journalists after the resumed negotiation meeting, saying “we are looking at five broad technical committees that will be subsumed into Presidential Steering Committee. There must be timelines in these terms of reference but maximum should not exceed eight weeks. By next week Monday, we will be here again, same time”.

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    Having secured the uninterrupted function of the state system, the President went on with the process of reflating the economy, achieving stability by fixing the security system and attempting to spark the fire of love for the country in the citizens. Imagine Nigeria, at this point and considering how the daily affairs are for the individual Nigeria, having the entire system ground to a halt by a nationwide Labour strike. Every Nigerian should be thanking God that government and Labour found rhythm.

    Having sorted the harmony with the Labour, the rest of the week faced other pressing national issues, mostly economic. On same Monday, the President moved to save another major crisis threatening the maritime/oil distribution system of the country. The administration, in its bid to pool as much resources as possible to help the country tackle the various crises, went out to demand freight taxes from vessel owners, mostly foreign, who have owed taxes for more than ten years, running into millions of dollars. But there was a resistance, the vessel owners did not want to pay and their way of saying that was by threatening to stay clear of the Nigerian waters, an action that threatened freighting of commodities to Nigeria, including fuel importation.

    The President, through his men, led by the Special Adviser on Revenue, Zaccheaus Adedeji, Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, immediately intervened, negotiated an understanding, which staved off what could have been another devastating hit on the economy. “So, we’ve agreed to give the parties three months to come to the conclusion and we will also give a grace period of six months, when we will not enforce any of these laws, just to allow for reconciliation. In essence, no vessel or ship will be detained or delayed”, Adedeji told journalists.

    Meanwhile, the President has continued to further push the boundaries around the economy; besides what his advisory team has been doing by the sides, he has been leading the charge through meetings, calls, granting of courtesy visits and so on. Before he left for France on Tuesday, he received a couple of global economic players at the Villa, with whom he discussed areas of partnership and discussed his administration’s programme.

    For instance, he received the Founder of Bharti Airtel, Sunil Bharti Mittal, whom he assured of the safety of foreign investments in Nigeria; met with the United States’ Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Energy Resources, Geoffrey Praytt, to whom he expressed Nigeria’s concerns on restrictions accompanying energy transition, placed side by side with Nigeria’s natural endowment in oil and gas, and the irony of poverty in the country. Then the meeting with two of the richest individuals in the world; Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote and one-time richest man in the world, Bill Gates.

    Most of the meetings and courtesy calls have focused on the economy, something like someone who just opened a new business venture and is on a patronage drive. He took the patronage drive beyond the shores of the country on Tuesday when he flew to Paris, the capital of France, where he participated in the signing of a New Global Financial Pact. However, beyond just participating in the main event, he also needed to make the trip in order to showcase the potentials that Nigeria has to offer to investors. In the words of his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Tinubu went to France to also “network with international finance corporations and institutions, countries that are well healed that would facilitate or that could facilitate direct foreign investment into Nigeria”. 

    These days, people wake up in the morning to go check the news for the latest big step of Tinubu. They are usually looking to hear or read about a new declaration about an issue that has lingered eternally because of government’s indecision or lack of boldness, or the announcement of change of guards in many government’s formations. Last week, their back-to-back President did not disappoint because he actually took steps that got some people fired and another set appointed. On Monday evening, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) announced the appointment of a new National Security Adviser (NSA), Chief of Defence Staff, new service chiefs and an Acting Inspector-General of Police, an action which effectively sacked those who were in those positions till late that evening

    Almost two hours later, OSGF announced another shocker; the dissolution of the Boards of federal agencies, parastatals, institutions and government-owned companies, with the exception of those listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution.

    A rundown of activities in the course of the week reflected activities in different shades, even with the fact that Tinubu traveled out of the country since Tuesday. His week started with a message to the men folk on Fathers’ Day on Sunday, celebrating them for the role they play in society and reminding them of their duties to country.

    Then Monday was parked with so many events and actions, probably because he was already scheduled to jet out the next day. It was on Monday he met with Mittal, Gates, Dangote, the US Assistant Secretary of State of Energy Resources, Mr Praytt. It was still same day he sacked the entire security team and replaced them with new ones, as well as freed up the appointive offices of the Boards.

    Though he traveled on Tuesday, his deputy, Vice President Shettima, did not allow a vacuum, he decorated the new Acting IGP, Kayode Egbetokun and carried on with whatever needed to be done in the house, like holding meetings with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria and a roundtable with governors, Dangote and Bill Gates on Wednesday and Thursday.

    Even as he is in France, Tinubu continued to pursue the national economic agenda of attracting foreign direct investments and solidifying the country’s outlook to the rest of the world. Before returning to Nigeria on Saturday, he met on Thursday, in separate meetings, with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim), Prof. Benedict Oramah; President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Odile Renaud–Basso; Chairman of Indorama, Sri Prakash Lohia, then on Friday with the President of Swiss Confederation, Alain Berset, and the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, all on the sidelines of the Summit for New Global Financing Pact.

    So over all, the summary of the President’s activities in the course of last week will suggest that he was mostly preoccupied with getting the economy back on its feet, accessing various channels, locally and internationally. Then there will appear to be an attempt at setting up the structures of the administration, when one thinks of, not just the change of guards in the security sector, but also the dissolution of the Boards.

    The excitement promises to continue this week, especially as many will be looking out to see how the President celebrates the Ileya festival (Eid el-Kabir) in his new position.

  • Idan always gets whatever Idan wants

    Idan always gets whatever Idan wants

    It has been three weeks of non-stop, everyday-grinding-and-humping for Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and he does not seem like who wants to slow down soon. Since he his inauguration as President on May 29, Tinubu, whom the younger generation of Nigerians, especially those whose contact address is on Twitter, have re-christened as the ‘Idan-gan-gan’, a Yoruba alias, loosely translated as ‘the Real Magic’, has either made proclamations or announced decisions on issues touching on the life of every Nigerian and such proclamations, decisions have turned out to be widely accepted.

    For instance, last week closed on an unexpected note of the suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, by the President. Made public late, many watchers of the activities of the administration had suggested then that fallouts from the action will feature very prominently this week and true to that projection, ripple effects from action are still unfolding. The action has also come across as one of the many actions of President Tinubu that have been universally praised as welfarist, either because of the room it will create for the healing of the nation’s monetary environment, or because of the pains of the recent past, inflicted by his Naira redesign/cash swap policy, to which many have permanently lost their livelihoods or their very lives.

    Following Mr Emefiele’s suspension on Friday night and since leadership or administration, just like nature, abhors vacuum, an interim CBN Governor emerged, as directed in the statement announcing his suspension, in the person of Folashodun Sonubi, who was Deputy Governor in charge of Operations Directorate. Sonubi will act till a substantive governor is elected.

    “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended the Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, CFR, from office with immediate effect. This is sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy. Mr Emefiele has been directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), who will act as the Central Bank Governor pending the conclusion of investigation and the reforms”, a statement issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) had announced Friday night.

    Then signals started beaming out of the apex bank; on Wednesday, in an attempt to fist unify, then stabilise the exchange rates, the CBN floats the Naira. Floating the Naira has been explained to mean that Nigeria has allowed market forces to determine the exchange rate of its currency. Although they also warned that this will come with some initial shocks, like it has been disclosed that it lead to a significant rise in government debt in naira terms by about N12 trillion to N90 trillion that is external debt of $42bn will increase by the difference between the old and new rates. As a result of the above, the debt to GDP ratio will increase by about 5 percent. However, in the overall, they have called it a bold and positive step towards recovery.

    Another event during the week, which sourced origin from the past, especially from some of the actions of the week before last, was the constitution of the 10th National Assembly, especially how the principal officers of both chambers of eventually emerged. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had instructed its members-elect, including the returning and freshers, on the path to follow; Godswill Akpabio/Barau Jibrin for the Senate and Tajudeen Abass/Benjamin Kalu for the House of Representatives. However, it took the intervention of the President, who is statutorily the leader of the party, to step in and deploy the depth of his ingenious strategy of persuasion. This week Nigeria got its brand new National Assembly, being led, at both chambers, by the preferred APC candidates.

    Now the first day of work in the country, being June 12, was a national public holiday to honour democracy and its many heroes in Nigeria, especially the icon of the contemporary Nigerian democracy, Bashorun Moshood Abiola. However, since our President hardly tires, working almost round the clock, he still used the day to carry out some activities, which would set new tones for some segments of the national life.

    Starting with the Democracy Day message to Nigerians, President Tinubu reminded them of the sacrifices that have been made for the country to return to the path of popular global way, charging all to protect the freedom that it has bestowed and not let the sacrifices be in vain. He reminded citizens that the democracy they have today did not come on a silver platter, a reason why it must be protected, recalling some of the many heroes of democracy in the June 12 struggle, including the wife of late Abiola, Kudirat Abiola and Chief Alfred Rewane. He likened the June 12 struggle to the struggle for Nigeria’s libration from the colonial master and described it as the country’s second independence struggle, referencing the unjust annulment of the generally acclaimed free and fair elections, which ultimately materialized with the 1999 general elections.

    Watchers have qualified his Democracy Day message as part of a process, a process aimed at regenerating the feelings of nationalism in Nigerians, as well as strengthening faith and confidence in the actions of government. To those who have characterised the motive of the Democracy Day message, it came at a good time because the events that led to the 2023 general elections and the electoral process itself, did more harm to the already thinned cord of unity in the country. A message that seeks to find some common identity for all the various persuasions within the country is considered more than a soothing balm.

    The message also built further on the efforts to get the majority to agree with the government on the need to do away with fuel subsidy ‘albatross’, saying “it is for this reason that, in my inauguration address on May 29, I gave effect to the decision taken by my predecessor-in-office to remove the fuel subsidy albatross and free up for collective use the much-needed resources, which had hitherto been pocketed by a few rich. I admit that the decision will impose extra burden on the masses of our people. I feel your pain. This is one decision we must bear to save our country from going under and take our resources away from the stranglehold of a few unpatriotic elements.

    “Painfully, I have asked you, my compatriots, to sacrifice a little more for the survival of our country. For your trust and belief in us, I assure you that your sacrifice shall not be in vain. The government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of lives”, he had said.

    It would be recalled that one of the President’s key economic targets, as he has constantly enumerated, at different fora, is shoring up oil and gas production and part of the plan to achieve that will be by rooting out the menace of oil-theft. It would be recalled that he has constantly indicated his worry about the steady sabotage of the nation’s economic mainstay, being the oil and gas sect. In his first meeting with the security and intelligence chiefs, the President gave the categorical charge to the chiefs to go after oil thieves and crush them. He also expressed his concern to traditional rulers, when he met with them on June 9.

    So, during the course of the week, the President received various guests at the Villa and among them were those whose backgrounds and clouts would suggest that he is once again up to something especially with respect to his target at protecting the nation’s oil and gas domains. He has been meeting with key figures from the Niger Delta, like on Wednesday, he met with three key figures from the oil-rich region; the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku; former Managing Director of the NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe; and former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). Dr Dakuku Peterside. Ogbuku he reason was to update the President on developments 

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    On Friday, he met with a former lead agitator for the Niger Delta course, Alhaji Asari Dokubo. Though the other gentlemen he met earlier did not disclose what their discussions with the President were about, Alhaji Dokubo said so much; ending oil-theft and national security: “we discussed on wide range of issues, especially on security and oil thief in the Niger Delta.  Myself and my brothers, have assured the President that there would be zero oil theft and vandalization in the Niger Delta. We’re going to work with an NNPCL and the IOCs to make sure that oil theft is brought to zero”.

    From all indications, he seems to be lining his cards out on the target to increase crude oil production to 4 million barrels per day and 12 billion cubic feet of gas per day capacity by 2030. What has become obvious about his modus operadi is that whenever he targets anything, he draws his plans, deploys his strategy and does not stop until the goal has been achieved. Winning the war against oil-theft and vandalism of critical infrastructure looks almost certain to be achieved.

    Appealing to the sensitivities of Nigerians and firming up security and protecting the nation’s economy were the only things that kept the Presidential Villa abuzz last week, there were other important events that were worth noting.

    We should remember that it was the Democracy Day week and it was not just all about the President’s speech. In the morning, he also inspected a parade mounted for him by the Guards’ Brigade and other forms of entertainment. After the parade, he held series of meetings, some of which were in readiness for the inauguration of the 10the National Assembly. It was still same day that he signed the landmark Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023.

    On Tuesday, after the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, Tinubu took his time to pen a message to the new leadership and the entire house, reminding them of the task and asking them to set to work without delay. He hosted students’ representatives from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), who had come to him the seek clarifications on some provision of the new Students Loans Act and make some requests. He must have answered their questions satisfactorily. Earlier that day he received briefs from former President Goodluck Jonathan, Who is the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Envoy to Mali. He had some words for him on managing crises in Africa.

    The real big news of Wednesday was the suspension of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa by the President. This, curiously, turned out to be one of the most celebrated news from the office of the President since he resumed as President, almost as celebrated as Mr Emefiele’s suspension. Meanwhile, Bawa was one of the many guests that called at the President’s office that day.

    In fact, he received the governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule; the former governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari; the Emir of Borgu, Muhammed Haliru Dantoro; and his counterpart from Kontagora, Mohammed Barau; the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari; and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa. Don’t forget Alaibe, Dakuku and Ogbuku were also his guests that day.

    On Thursday he inaugurated the National Economic Council (NEC), headed by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima. All the states are members, so are some federal agencies, like the CBN. He once again evoked a national emotion when called on the governors to put their best into governance, reminding them that Nigerians are eager to be taking out of the despondence the see surrounding them.

    He announce Mr Dele Alake his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy; Mr. Wale Edun, Special Adviser, Monetary Policies; Mr. Yau Darazo, Special Adviser, Political and Intergovernmental Affairs; Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser, Energy; Mr. Zachaeus Adedeji, Special Adviser, Revenue; Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, Special Adviser, Security; Mr. John Ugochukwu Uwajumogu, Special Adviser, Industry, Trade and Investment; and Dr (Mrs.) Salma Ibrahim Anas, Special Adviser, Health.

    He met with former Military Head of State, Abdusalami Abubakar; pioneer National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande; Leader of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai; and then the former Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, whome he described as ‘Mr Monetary Policy’. Then on Friday, he met the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and Dokubo.

    Those who know the man the younger generation has decided to name the ‘Idan-gan-gan’, will tell you he hardly tires, so we should expect more of back-to-back as this new week commences.