The Nation Newspaper

Category: Bolaji Ogundele

  • As Tinubu’s South African outing gives them content for ‘Elon’s cheque’

    As Tinubu’s South African outing gives them content for ‘Elon’s cheque’

    Being the Eid-el-Kabir week, last week happened for President Bola Tinubu entirely outside the seat of power. Recall he already left for Lagos to celebrate the festival. The week kicked off on Sunday with the Sallah (Eid-el-Kabir) celebration. The festival, known as Ileya by the Yoruba people, is always marked with big celebrations in the different parts of the Southwest, bringing people of various faiths back home.

    The week had its striking moments, events with particularly noticeable activities, and their resulting effects. One of such events was the President’s outing in South Africa. Actually, it was not about what he did or did not, rather the sort of content that some others decided to create out of that rather innocent outing. During the week, Wednesday to be exact, President Bola Tinubu joined other African leaders to grace the second term swearing-in ceremony of President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria.

    Speaking about the occasion the next day when his hosted visited him at his hotel in Johannesburg, President Tinubu noted that Ramaphosa’s speech at the occasion captured the current African challenges, which leaders, particularly those of Nigeria and South Africa, must work collaboratively to tackle. “I really enjoyed your speech at the ceremony. I was delighted listening to you. We have lots of issues in common, and we need to work more closely together. It was a good celebration” were his words captured in a statement by his Spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale.

    On his verified X handle, @officialABAT, President Tinubu, on Thursday summed up his outing in South Africa, saying “I had the honor of attending President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration in Pretoria yesterday, and today I met with him for a bilateral meeting. Our discussions focused on strengthening cooperation and enhancing the economic ties between Nigeria and South Africa.

    “President Ramaphosa’s warm welcome and dedication to mutual respect and cooperation reflect the depth of our relationship. We intend working together to address our countries’ challenges through robust trade and economic strategies, and I am hopeful that we can lead our nations towards increased prosperity and unity. Looking forward to collaborating at this crucial juncture for the progress of our continent”, he said.

    Corroborating our President’s narration, the South African Presidency, on its verified X handle, @PresidencyZA, published President Ramaphosa’s submission after the meeting, quoting him as saying “we want to engender good economic and trade relations between Nigeria and South Africa to address the challenges that our two countries face. So it’s been a great pleasure and an honour to have you here, Your Excellency, and that’s why I felt I should come and pay my respects”. That was Ramaphosa’s message to his brother President, Tinubu.

    These were the highlights of the two occasions featuring Tinubu in South Africa, however, one of the two occasions seemed to catch the attention of some of our compatriots with spasm. Before that bilateral meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday, the main event had held in Pretoria on Wednesday, a grand occasion by all standards. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by a number of heads of state and government as well as official representatives of some other countries. Our President attended as one of the invited heads of government to the event. However, proceedings at the event somehow became a content source for some of our compatriots, something to pour out on by a certain category of Nigerians.

    Almost immediately after the ceremony, an opposition figure and an associate of Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Aisha Yesufu, took to her YouTube channel, recorded a video, which she posted on her verified X handle, @AishaYesufu, claiming that President Tinubu was snubbed by his host and also pushed back from the from row. She seemed her post would garner comments and likes from people who share same feeling and political view with her.

    Before long re-tweets, likes/dislikes and other forms responses started trailing Yesufu’s post, it became a huge content in the media, especially on the social media platforms, even beyond that day. It formed topics for discussions, as a matter of fact, it became a topic for some groups, especially Obidient groups, to discuss on various social media platforms.

    What she must have also expected were some of the reactions and comments that would not agree with her claims. A particularly revealing and bubble-bursting reaction was from O’tega Ogra, Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Digital/New Media. Ogra, who is acquainted with presidential protocols as well as what actually went down in Pretoria, responded almost immediately to the 8:31 minutes-long video by Yesufu, putting a lie to her claims and revealing she had pushed out untruths and manifest ignorance, doing so with video and pictorial evidences.

    Read Also: EFCC arrests two ex-bankers for stealing dead customer’s N4.1m

    “Aisha has the constitutionally guaranteed right to express yourself, but your consistent display of crass ignorance and shameful behaviour, seemingly aimed at garnering likes and retweets, in the name of your disdain and hatred (which you profess at any given opportunity) for Nigeria is shameful to say the least.

    “For the record: (1.) That first row at today’s inauguration was reserved for South African kings/royalty. (2.) The South African President wasn’t expected to start greeting dignitaries at the time of the video you shared and he was respectfully recalled to the podium by the inauguration compere (see video below). (3.) Immediately after President Ramaphosa finished the anthem, he went ahead to greet the visiting presidents who were all seated in the second row (similar to the way visiting presidents were seated in the third row during Nigeria’s own inauguration on May 29, 2023 – see pictures below)”, Ogra said in the response posted on his verified X handle, @otegaogra.

    After all the hullabaloo about Tinubu being snubbed by Ramaphosa at the inauguration ceremony, the South African President made it better for those wondering what really happened, (who should be believed between Yesufu, those who swallowed narrative hook, line and sinker, and those who felt she was only playing with people’s intelligence with outright falsehood and ignorant claims), by travelling 58.2 kilometres from Pretoria to Johannesburg to meet with his Nigerian counterpart, hold a bilateral meeting, during which they both agreed on issues of mutual interest, requiring their collaboration and cooperation. How do you visit someone you allegedly snubbed on your big day?

    He definitely put a lie on the claim that did not just slight Tinubu and Nigeria, but depicted his administration and country in bad light. Matter sorted, but not without giving those who live on social media content something to glean from Elon Musk. To borrow Ogra’s summation of Yesufu’s intent: “with or without your personal enmity, Nigeria will succeed. I truly hope you receive your ‘Elon Cheque’ in full this month”.

    Besides the Wednesday /Thursday’s development in South African, the President had a full week of real activities. On Sunday, which was the Sallah day, he observed the Eid prayers with other senior officials of the administration, as well as Lagos’ political class, after which he sent his Sallah message to Nigerians, urging citizens to embrace the spirit of sacrifice, love, and charity, especially towards the vulnerable. He also emphasized that citizenship comes with responsibilities, including loving one’s country and neighbours, and sharing resources with others.

    It was also Father’s Day and in his message to all Nigerian fathers, himself being one, he saluted all those who fill that role for their sacrifices and resilience in shaping the country’s future, noting that society is in better stead because of fathers’ sacrificial responsibility. He acknowledged the significance of the day, which honours all fathers, living and deceased, for their role in guiding children and instilling values like discipline, integrity, and service. He praised fathers as “true heroes” who work tirelessly to provide for their families, describing their commitment as a “bounden duty” to positively shape the destinies of the next generation.

    Then on Tuesday, still as part of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration, he received representatives of the National Assembly, led by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio. It was another opportunity to pass a strong national restructuring message to citizens: If we must achieve a working nation, we as citizens have our own role that must not be shirked. Though much is expected from leadership, the citizens must also ensure their part is not left unattended. 

    “The need (for some citizens) to change the rent-seeking mindset and become more productive to the economy is a challenge. The need to stop smuggling and all economic sabotage”, he urged, adding “why should we have people removing rail tracks and all that, stealing electric cables and sabotaging the economy? We must embrace the campaign to change our value system. We must tell our people that the challenge we face is for all of us to change our mindset about our country.

    “Yes, there is poverty; there is suffering in the land. We are not the only people facing such, but we must face our challenges. We must find a way to eliminate banditry and terrorism so that farmers can bring out food from the farmland. If you do not have good roads to bring the food to the population, even if you grow the food and you are losing 60-70 percent to damages, you will pay the price”, President Tinubu said.

    There were other occasions that saw his celebrating with some Nigerians for reasons of celebration, and there were also occasions to mourn those who lost loved ones. For instance, on Wednesday and Thursday, he celebrated the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, for their birthdays respectively. In like manner, on Monday, Wednesday he mourned one-time Chairman of the Old Oyo State Civil Service Commission, Chief Oluremi Ademola Atanda; a long-reigning traditional ruler in Southern Kaduna, Dr Tagwai Sambo; and the mother of former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, Chief Florence Morenike Saraki, respectively.

    He also attended the Jumat Mosque in Area 1 on Friday, where a special anniversary prayer session was held in honor of his mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, and inauguration of construction of 330 boreholes across the country in her honor. During the session, there was also recitation of the Holy Qur’an.

    Although he returned to Abuja from South African on Thursday, the new week is actually going to be the first active working week since after the Sallah holiday, which ended last Wednesday. Many activities are expected, including a possible Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. Let us watch if content creators will have something new and juicy to feast on.

  • Presidential swagger and the ‘dobale’ for democracy

    Presidential swagger and the ‘dobale’ for democracy

    The last week was another exciting one that came with ramifications. It was the week that commemorated a very significant spot in Nigeria’s history, the Democracy Day, marking the 25th year of unbroken stretch of democratic rule. It was another week for President Bola Tinubu to interact publicly with Nigerians, give them an idea of what he has been doing, what he is doing with his mandate and what should be expected going forward, especially as it concerns the prevailing economic and political situations in the country.

    Without seeming to detract from the importance of the previous days and days after June 12, the Nigerian Democracy Day, it was that day that saw the most momentous events of the week. Things still being discussed and debated; from the morning of that to late into the night, the series of unusual conversations and activities stood out through the week, leaving virtually no time for other issues to be considered.

    Right from 7AM of Wednesday, June 12, President Tinubu started giving Nigerians contents when he addressed them through a live broadcast, in commemoration of the democracy, which he was a key player of the struggle that restored the popular mode of governance to the country, describing it as “this democracy for which so much has already been given”. Of course he had so much to say about democracy, especially the fact that he was not just a major part of the process that eventually brought democracy back, but that he, a player in the struggle, is now a direct beneficiary of the process, having emerged Nigeria’s President at this point in time.

    “Fellow Nigerians, our Democracy is more than a historic fact. It is a living, breathing reality. The true meaning of this day is not to focus solely on the great deeds of the past that have brought us to this point. Yes, we pay eternal honour to those who laid down their lives, sacrificing everything to pave the way for the nation. I stand uniquely placed in this regard. I was among those who took the risk to midwife the birth of our democracy. I am now a direct and obvious beneficiary of the fruits of those historic efforts”, he said.

    It was later in the evening, at the Democracy Day dinner held at the State House Conference Centre that much more became clear as to the roles the then Senator Bola Tinubu played in the democracy struggle. The dinner also revealed clearer the identity of the President before he became the preeminent Nigerian politician. There was an assembly of his comrades in the struggle, many of whom you might not have thought were once in same boat with Tinubu. It is not strange to see him with people like Aremo Olusegun Osoba and perhaps that they both braced the dangerous military onslaught side by side, it would take anyone who followed the pro-democracy struggle to place him with the likes of Senator Shehu Sani, the Senior Advocate Olisa Agbakoba and the current Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani.

    As a matter of fact, people like Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida, before he also became a target for being too vocal about return to democracy, revealed some of the roles played by Tinubu. According to Professor Akinyemi, most of the funding and the intelligence connections that got most of those who escaped either incarceration or death were supplied by the man who is now President. He said Tinubu sold his house in London to fund the struggle, ameliorating the effects of the squeeze unleashed by the General Sani Abacha junta on those daring his authority.

    Senator Sani, while making a plea for the release of #EndSARS protesters still being held by security agencies, revealed something about the President; he described him as the father of protests in Nigeria, referring to the dark era of citizens’ face-off with the military. “Any young protester in Nigeria today, learned from you because you were the father of protest in Nigeria. Do something about it, give them the freedom. You taught us, you funded us to stand up and fight. So, they are your children and your grandchildren, give them the pardon”, he said 

    But before that revealing evening, when a lot that used to be more of personal or interpersonal information became universal, the President spoke to Nigerians on topics concerning their collective and individual survival. The raging issues are the state of the economy and the organized Labour’s demand for a new national minimum wage, the President did not fail to give updates on these as well. Already there was anxiety in the public with many wandering if he was treating the issues that touch them most.

    “Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil. The reforms we have initiated are intended to create a stronger, better foundation for future growth. There is no doubt the reforms have occasioned hardship. Yet, they are necessary repairs required to fix the economy over the long run so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour. As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.

    “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less”, he said, addressing the issues affecting Nigerians most.

    Then during the Democracy Day Parade held at the Eagles Square, much later in the morning, there was that incident which caused a stare and some stir, not just at the square, but virtually everywhere the event was being watched live. While ascending into the open-roof parade inspection vehicle, the President tripped forward in the car. Those closer to where it happened disclosed he stepped on his agbada and while trying to stand upright, the cloth pulled him back, causing a fall. Almost immediately this became the sensation for many, especially on the social media. In his words later in the day at the dinner, that incident sent social media confused with all sorts of conjectures sparking here and there.

    In their usual manner, social media horde started the caricature, even those who borrowed MTN and Airtel data seemed to have something to cruise over, giving it all sorts of meanings. However, the man had immediately picked himself up, stood straight and continued with his scheduled task of parading the square, waving at the people and receiving cheers along the way. Later in the day, while speaking at the dinner, he started with that incident, providing a much deeper meaning and perspective than most people could have imagined of something they thought was a misfortune.

    Although those who are always quick to cast their country and leaders down had their laugh, dry and empty, Tinubu, when it was time for his right of reply, once again showed the stuff he is made of; always applying the higher faculty, coming from where most minds could not fathom. He corrected the impression that what happened in the morning was not a misfortune, rather another obeisance to democracy, which he noted came at a very expensive cost.

    “Early this morning, I had a swagger and it is on the social media, they are confused whether I was doing Buga or doing Babariga. But it is a day to celebrate democracy, why doing dobale (prostrating) for the day. I am a traditional Yoruba boy, I did my dobale (prostrating). Democracy is a day that is worthy of falling for”, he explained.

    This his explanation of what some thought would have taken heads has been applauded widely, hailed for introducing a perspective never expected and lighting up everybody’s mood, including those who had feared the worst.

    Like indicated earlier, Wednesday was not the only exciting day of the week, although it had much more than most days. For instance, at the beginning of the week, Sunday to be precise, he took further critical steps at establishing a globally competitive climate action framework. Besides appointing more people into that sector to expand its governance structure, he also approved a list of clear-cut terms of reference for the man running the show, the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action (SPEC), Ajuri Ngelale.

    Read Also: From Kudi Abiola Corner to Dobale for Democracy

    On Monday, besides felicitating with elder statesman, Chief Arthur Mbanefo, who turned 94 years, he appointed a new Chairman for the Police Service Commission (PSC), in the person of retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Hashimu Argungu. He also appointed Mohammed Sheidu as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (NPTF). On Tuesday, he ordered a manhunt for the bandits killing defenseless citizens in Katsina. He also praised the faith of an Indonesian investor company in Nigeria, Tolaram Group, which took over Diagio’s investment in Guinness Nigeria.

    Then on Wednesday, he celebrated ace journalist and media proprietor, Chairman of Vanguard Newspapers, Uncle Sam Amuka-Pemu, who clocked a new age. Same way he celebrated the President of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who clocked 70 years on Thursday. He also celebrated Otunba Adekunle Ojora who clocked the ripe age of 92 years, also on Thursday. Later same Thursday he appointed Taminu Yakubu, a one-time Chief Economic Adviser to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as Director-General of the Budget Office.

    On Friday, before he left Abuja for Lagos, where he is now celebrating his Eid-el-Kabir, he met with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), America’s principal law enforcement agency, Christopher Wray, to discuss critical security collaborations, including fight against fight against cybercrime and terrorism. He also approved the release of a reviewed list of appointees into governing boards of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

    The last week came with its own sort of excitement. This week will definitely come with its own type, especially in this season of sallah celebration, tomorrow and Tuesday’s holiday notwithstanding. Let us watch how it pans out.

  • Labour strike: Tinubu the statesman resolves it again without drama

    Labour strike: Tinubu the statesman resolves it again without drama

    It was a challenging week for Nigeria and much more for the Presidency. It was the week during which both the patience and continence of most Nigerians, especially those who do not see how whatever the organised Labour demands could have been in their interest. For President Bola Tinubu, being able to find rhythm even in the face of an orchestrated plot to grind the nation to a halt, putting many of his administration’s earnest efforts to set things straight for the nation at risk, was another show of statesmanship and unusual leadership.

    The week started out with a heavy pall of uneasiness and anxiety, flowing from the threat of an indefinite nationwide industrial strike called by the organised Labour, led by Joe Ajaero’s Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Festus Osifo’s Trade Union Congress (TUC). The Labour has been in talks with the government levels and the organised private sector (OPS) since last year over a number of things, the highest ranking of which is a new national minimum wage. From time to time they have had to add this or subtract that along the line, but the constant one has been the demand for new salaries.

    It will be unfair to suggest that the work force’s call for a new minimum wage is undeserved, especially when the turn of events, since the removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the Naira, or  simply put, removal of subsidy on foreign exchange trading, which the President described as “a highway of currency speculation”, as “it diverted money that should have been used to create jobs, build factories and businesses for millions of people”, two policies introduced by the Tinubu administration at its inception as part of its efforts at building a safer, stronger and more prosperous Nigeria, have stiffened livelihoods

    In the last one year, the healing shot on the economy has turned and twisted the ordinary Nigerian family man’s life a couple of times over, with inflation hitting the rooftops and the attendant indications forcing prices far beyond the reach of families. Of course, President Tinubu and his economic team, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, and many others, have not just sat comfy, watching the situation slide further down, they have designed and devised some of the most novel plans and strategies to dam the effects of the negative economic crises.

    For instance, on August 1 last year, the President responded to the prevailing situation facing Nigerians by announcing a number of measures targeting various sectors of life, including food security, buffering loans for categories of businesses, rollout of the CNG programme for transportation, cash-based social intervention and many other plans that have all come to be known as the subsidy removal palliatives. Then in October last year, he approved a Provisional Wage Award of ₦35,000 for six months for treasury-paid federal civil servants, something of a social intervention.

    Despite these efforts and notwithstanding the reason for the economic revitalization reforms, the organised Labour has constantly kept the system on the edge, threatening to cripple the economy (as though crippling the economy would make things easier) every time it remembers that Tinubu is still President, like there is an unexpressed motive for the adversarial and antagonistic front it has exhibited from the onset of the administration.

    The heat experienced in the week, which actually achieved what has seemed like Labour’s objective, took off from the commemoration of this year’s Workers Day anniversary. At the event, the two bodies representing the organised Labour, NLC and TUC, in their message, demanded a ₦615,000 minimum wage, which they continued pushing at the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage. The haggling continued between Labour on one hand and the government levels and the OPS on the other. When government and OPS’s ₦60,000 was not meeting up with Labour’s ₦494,000, then Labour resorted to strike action, against pleas and advice.

    So when Monday, their deadline, came and the employers did not seem able to climb the ‘Mount Impossible’, something seeming like a setup, Ajaero and Osifo lit the signal light for the commencement of the no-holds-barred nationwide industrial action. To make it pungent and strong enough to hurt everybody, the unions unleashed the more militant elements amongst them on public offices and facilities, starting with the power sector, the sector where the NLC President, Ajaero, rose from to lead the Nigeria workers (he was General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), shutting down the national grid and crippled all economic, social and any other form of activity relying on electricity.

    Though the strike did not last two day, it dealt a blow which effect is still being calculated. As a matter of fact, importers, on Wednesday said they lost N200 billion within those hours of strike. In the face of all these provocative aggression, even when Labour seemed to transgress against the State and the law, the Nigerian leader has kept his cool and has responded with candour and a statesman’s demeanour. Even the week when Labour ignored all cautions and blindsided Nigeria by shutting down electricity, seized airports and locked government offices up, his response was a commitment to paying a national minimum wage above N60,000.

    He even committed to freeing those among them who violated the law from facing the consequences of their actions by allowing an item in the resolutions reached at a meeting called by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume. The item that said “no worker would be victimized as a result of the industrial action” will naturally translate to mean that even those who committed a treasonable felony by shutting the national grid down and committed assault (and maybe attempted murder) by manhandling those who were on duty at the grid, would not face the law for their actions.

    By choosing to be graceful in dealing with those devoted to reversing his attempts at making a desired and decent homeland from our current state of the nation, those not paying mind to his strategy for giving hope to the ordinary Nigerian and feigning to be oblivious of the fact that building takes time and consistency, Tinubu earns one more rank. He is not the leader who would arrange ‘alternative methods’ to deal with errant citizens. He is the father of all so he see children who are yet to realize their purpose in the family as juveniles who need guidance and not a heavy hand.

    The President’s week still witnessed positives, not just the abrupt end of the suffocating strike. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike continued with his harvest of projects and Tinubu was at the centre of it all. Starting with the expanded Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX) on Monday, to the Arterial Road N20, connecting the Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX) and the OSEX on Tuesday and the other ones through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, it was either Tinubu was on hand to perform commissioning or he sent his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, or any other ranking public officer.

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    He had the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) leadership as guests on Thursday, got a message out on the World Environment Day, celebrated the Mexico’s newly elected President and celebrated the General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, on Wednesday, while on Tuesday he rejoiced with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who won a new term in office.      

    Conversations around the new ‘Old National Anthem’

    The President signed the National Anthem Act 2024 on Tuesday May 29, restoring the nation’s previous national anthem, known as ‘Nigeria We Hail Thee’, in place of the ‘Arise O Compatriots’, which has been recited as national anthem since 1978. Some Nigerians, including those who cannot recite either of the two, have come out to comment on the development, mostly negatively, passing comments like “he’s got his priorities wrong” and “is national anthem the problem of Nigeria?”.

    Some others have actually commended him for taking Nigeria back to the old anthem and many in this category stating why they believe “Nigeria We Hail Thee” is actually more recommendable, putting their reason, mostly, on the wordings and the connotation. Learned Silk, Professor Mike Ozekhome, in a lengthy reaction to other public reactions to the development, lauded the President and the National Assembly for the act.

    “While I share these strong sentiments, many of them well-placed, I however disagree that changing to the old national anthem was not a step well taken. I give kudos to President Tinubu and the National Assembly for passing the bill into law.

    “For historical purposes, what the President and the National Assembly just did on 29th May, 2024, was actually my idea 10 years ago, when on the floor of the 2014 National Confab which was headed by the now late Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (JSC) Rtd, with his deputy as Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, and the Secretary as Dr. Mrs Valerie Azinge, SAN”, part of his statement stated.

    However, it is important to see the action of early morning of Wednesday, May 29, 2024, from the perspective of the President to really appreciate what he has been doing, has done and will still do.

    If you have been following his engagements with critical national stakeholders, right from when he assumed office a year ago, you would have realized that President Tinubu has been intentional about reawakening the nationalist feeling in Nigerians. At various meetings and whenever he received people in audience, his messages have been laced with calls to patriotism, consideration for the unity, well-being and greatness of the country. In fact, at some occasions, he has had to challenge leaders from different parts of the country on leading their various people to nationalism.

    For instance, when he hosted traditional rulers and religious leaders to a Ramadan fast dinner, Iftar, in March, he reminded them that Nigeria is all we have, nowhere else will give Nigerians the kind of privileges their citizenship of Nigeria bestows on them. Hence he asked them to play their own roles and never to condemn their country. He has said similar things with regards to achieving a developed and enviable Nigeria, saying no one else can achieve this for Nigeria, but Nigerians.

    Achieving all these needs something that will be the constant reminder of our role as citizens who are involved in the task of pushing our motherland to its destination and what can best be such a reminder than a regularly recited anthem that describes who we are and where our place should be among other humans: we are a nation forged from nations (though tongues and tribes may differ), working together to triumph together as a people and make our own among humans (in brotherhood we stand).

    So the next time you are in a place where they are talking about why the new ‘Old National Anthem’, especially by those with the tendency to denigrate and put down, tell them the anthem is back to strengthen their patriotism and infuse an adequate dose of nationalism into them, for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians, themselves inclusive.  

  • It was Tinubu’s Positively Exciting week

    It was Tinubu’s Positively Exciting week

    Fanfare or no fanfare, watch out for actions this week, notwithstanding” was the closing line for the piece last week. The week did not betray as had been projected, it was another week of very choked activities for President Tinubu. It was the week of May 29, his anniversary in office and expectedly, ministers were competing to have him commission some of their completed projects that were achieved within his first year of office. So it was from one event to the other, commissioning projects, the fruits of his one year labour. It was hectic, no doubt, but I guess it was a positively ‘hectic’ for him. Having to cut tapes here and there for projects the grace of God has helped him to achieve for the people he lives to serve at the moment.

    The commissioning spree started from the first day of the week, being Sunday, when the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, took him back to Lagos, his own home, to perform the first set of tasks. He was initially scheduled to inaugurate the newly reconstructed Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota-Oshodi Expressway, a 36.02km road connecting Nigeria’s premier ports – Apapa and Tin Can Island – to larger parts of Lagos State, as well as virtually inaugurate the recently rehabilitated Third Mainland Bridge. He was however represented at the task by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    The funding of the Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota-Oshodi Expressway was undertaken by the Dangote Industries Limited, under the tax credit method of infrastructure funding, with Hitech Construction Nigeria Limited as the subcontractor. The road is expected to enhance access to the ports, boost commercial activities, and spur economic development.

    Much later he led dignitaries from Lagos and from across Nigeria to the Ahmadu Bello Way end of Victoria Island for the flag-off of the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a project already described as ‘legacy’ because of its huge economic, social and strategic importance. It will be safe to say of all the several projects commissioned during the week, either personally or by proxy, it was the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway that touched his emotions most.

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    First, this was the project that has mostly come under attack from opposition politicians, some of whom had alleged base reasons. For example, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who contested the Presidency with him last year, has attacked the project, the President and his intents on the project more than once. He once alleged that the project is being rushed, just as he has alleged that it is meant to serve the President’s personal interest.

    However, at the flag-off ceremony, the visibly excited Tinubu declared it his bragging day, apparently giving it back to those who had failed to see the potentials of the project, not just for the people of the nine litoral states the project will cross through, but for the entire Nigerian State, and had weaponised it for political reasons. He went on to point out its benefits

    “I said earlier that it’s my bragging day, we said we will do this road, we’re determined to do it. The way we’re going, we’ll have a road that will outlive all of us here present. That is how to build the future. The project is more than just a mere road, it is a symbol of hope, unity and prosperity. I’ll go on the next ten benefits of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. During the period of construction, the road will provide direct employment to thousands of people and indirect employment to ten of thousands of artisans and more.

    “Economic opportunities for millions are being opened, it will fast-track community development, it will bring development closer to the people and give 30 million people improved access to production and marketing centres. The potential of the road is enormous. The spur to Sokoto is undergoing procurement, let us sped up the financial details being worked out. Don’t be afraid, we will do this road, it will be a success for Nigeria and we will do more. I am a very happy man today. Share with me in the joy today”, the President said.

    The colourful coastal highway, which was graced by the crème of Lagos corporate and political class, as well as the federal might of Abuja, was combined with the virtual flag-off of the nationwide reconstruction and rehabilitation of emergency interventions on 330 roads and bridges across the six geo-political zones of the nation.

    President Tinubu returned to Abuja on Tuesday, resuming another round of very hectic outings. From Tuesday, the man he dubbed the ‘Landlord of Abuja’, that is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, hijacked him for the commissioning of his many projects. First was the Southern Parkway project, which serves as a critical artery connecting major areas within the city and which has been named after him (Bola Tinubu Way).

    Wike continued with his heist on Wednesday; he got the President to flag off the commercial operation of the FCT Light Rail System also known as the Abuja Metroline, a project. That occasion was another opportunity for Tinubu to show that populist in him. He got the FCT administration to give free rides to Abuja commuters on the Metroline till the end of the year.

    Before he went for Wike’s show, he was earlier at the National Assembly Complex where he commissioned a library. Before the library commissioning he spoke to the Joint Session of the National Assembly, calling for stronger collaboration and strengthening of the nation’s bonds of unity, its diversities rather being binders than divisive tools. Earlier that morning, he had already signed the National Anthem Bill 2024 into law. That law reinstates the former anthem known as ‘Nigeria We Hail thee’.

    On Thursday, the third consecutive day, Wike had the President again, this time around to commission an engineering infrastructure (over-head bridge) linking Wuse to Wuye.

    The next event after returning from the Wuse-Wuye Bridge commission was also critical for many reasons, but what we might have the space to treat here is one of the pungent points he made during the event. He received leadership and members of the very critical Arewa Consultative Forum (AFC) and seized the opportunity to ring the bell in favour of the local council administration. It was important for him to throw an appeal to the socio-cultural body because of the legal matter between the federal and state governments, to determine the autonomy of that third tier of governance. He needed the voices of those revered across lines, those who can also collectively determine the fate of any politician, whatever position he might occupy.

    “We are running a constitutional democracy. I will appeal to you to summon the governors. I am doing my very best to enhance the revenue base of the country. They must equally be sympathetic, and they must urgently consider the needs of the local people. People reside in the local communities. That is where they work, farm, and live, if the local governments are not effective in delivering services; as leaders, we must not hang on to the numbers. We have 774 local government areas, but are they truly effective? Do they solve problems for Nigerians? Do they coordinate development programming with the state and federal governments? Who is being held accountable for the performance of the 774 local governments? Maybe we should look at recalibrating. What was good four years ago may not be good today. When we want the votes, we go to the locals; when we get the votes, we move to and focus on Abuja”, was his appeal.    

     There were other events, but like indicated earlier, only what could be accommodated will be contained. It was indeed a loaded week and deservedly so.

    By the way, some people have expressed their surprise at the choice of the President of the Senate, Akpabio, representing Tinubu at the commissioning of a project executed by the Executive, wondering what happened to the Principle of Separation of Powers. Although the concerns were not entirely misplaced because those expressing it are not foreigners and it is assumed they are informed enough to know there should be a dividing line between the domains of the Executive and that of the Legislature. What these concerned citizens might not have taken into considering is the fact that the anniversary warranting the commissioning is not peculiar to the Executive, which the President presides over, it was also their anniversary at the National Assembly, the Legislature, which the President of the Senate presides over.

    In fact, Akpabio is a first-timer President of the Senate, except anyone knows when he once led the Upper Chambers before the inauguration of the 10th Senate. Like Akpabio being a first-timer President of the Senate, there are tens of newcomers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, who are also celebrating their first year at their new political station.

    But even much more than it being their mutual anniversary, President Tinubu, who has consistently acknowledged the support of the National Assembly for his administration, considering the level of access he has enjoyed, has attributed whatever amount of success he has had to the legislators’ cooperation, hence making his success theirs as well. So in that philosophy, Akpabio commissioning projects executed by Tinubu’s administration is not just a positive sign, it is also an indication that none of the arms wants to obliterate the other. 

    There are still many more projects lined out by ministers and heads of agencies, even state governors who want to identify with the President. We can only wait to see what the coming week will look like.

  • Tinubu Looks to the future, solidifies energy transition plan with structures

    Tinubu Looks to the future, solidifies energy transition plan with structures

    It was rather a silent week during which not much was heard sounding out of President Bola Tinubu’s office as there were not so many special events, but there were visits and meeting, some of which were featured in the media. Saying it was silent does not it was barren, there were serious events that are meant to have a lasting effect on the life of the nation and its citizens.

    It started with the announcement of an action that is intended to prepare Nigeria for the future; the idea of organising and laying all the proper lines for Nigeria’s energy transition. First, he announced the establishment of a Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions, a body formed to drive his administration’s climate and green economic initiatives and appointed his official spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, as Secretary of the Committee and Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action.

    Other members of the committee include the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, who will serve as Vice Chairman; Lazarus Angbazo, CEO of InfraCorp; Salisu Dahiru, CEO of NCCC; Michael Ohiani, CEO of ICRC; Aisha Rimi, CEO of NIPC; Aminu Umar-Sadiq, CEO of NSIA.

    Others are Yusuf Maina-Bukar, CEO of NAGGW; Abdullahi Mustapha, CEO of ECN; Abba Abubakar Aliyu, CEO of REA; Uzoma Nwagba, CEO of CrediCorp; Khalil Halilu, CEO of NASENI; Fatima Shinkafi, CEO of SMDF; Bala Bello, Deputy Governor of CBN; Lolade Abiola, UN SE4ALL; and Teni Majekodunmi, Adviser to NCCC.

    Also on the Committee are representative, Federal Ministry of FCT, Member; representative, Federal Ministry of Finance, Member; representative, Federal Ministry of Power, Member; representative, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Member; representative, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Member; representative, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security, Member; representative, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Member; and representative, Nigeria Customs Service, Member.

    The Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Segun Imohiosen, who announced the establishment of the Committee in a statement said it is aimed at removing constraints to coordination and fostering a whole-of-government approach to climate action programmes. He also said the committee will identify, develop, and implement innovative non-oil and non-gas climate action initiatives, coordinate activities of federal institutions towards climate action and green economic objectives, and collaborate with government, sub-national governments, non-government, and civil society entities towards achieving climate action objectives.

    He said the committee will also monitor, evaluate, and guide the progress of climate action and renewable energy projects, track the implementation of initiatives by the Energy Transition Working Group, supervise the work of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, and prepare a half-yearly green ambitions update.

    On the same day, the President still went on to announce the plan to develop Nigeria’s first Green Industrial Zone to be known as the Evergreen City. To undertake the task of management and running of the special zone, he appointed the Dr. Lazarus Angbazo-led Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp) as the Lead Arranger and Developer.

    A statement by the President’s spokesman, Ngelale, InfraCorp’s said the terms of reference for the team will include “selection of partners/consultants to undertake critical development activities, including project design, environmental impact assessments, feasibility studies, financial modelling, and market engagement. Raising private funding for the development of the city and constituent projects, coordinating with partners, development institutions, and other providers of capital and technical assistance, as well as reporting to the Supervisory Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen”, it said.

    President Tinubu also established a Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen, a technical working group, comprising of fifteen members, to work with InfraCorp on achieving the project’s targets. Members of the Committee include the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Ajuri Ngelale as Chairman; Lolade Abiola (UN SE4ALL), Secretary; Lazarus Angbazo (CEO, InfraCorp), Member; Salisu Dahiru (CEO, NCCC), Member; Aminu Umar-Sadiq (CEO, NSIA), Member; and Khalil Halilu (CEO, NASENI), Member.

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    Others are Abba Abubabkar Aliyu (CEO, REA), Member; Fatima Shinkafi (CEO, SMDF), Member; Uzoma Nwagba (CEO, CrediCorp), Member; Bala Bello (Deputy Governor, CBN), Member; Teni Majekodunmi (NCCC), Member; Nana Maidugu (NSIA), Member; Michael Ivenso (NCCC), Member; Suleiman Yusuf (Blue Camel Energy), Member; and Chidi Ajaere (Jet EV), Member.

    Then on Friday, he found another platform on which he could pass another strong transformational message to Nigerians. He hosted a delegation from the Yoruba Leaders of Thought, led by its Convener, Prince Tajudeen Oluyole Olusi, and he told Nigerians that he is in favour of the resuscitation of the local government tier, in the interest of the development of the nation. He tasked the people to challenge authority to its duties so that all-of-government, at all levels, can synergise to work for the desired growth and development. He also assured the people that Nigeria has departed the past as some of the practices that were forcing it to its knees are currently being sacked with policy redirection and reforms.

    “Healthcare upgradation is ongoing. Road rehabilitation and construction is ongoing. Education development is ongoing. I am charging you to look at what is going on in the states. Pay attention to your state governors. Tell them to take their responsibilities seriously and make the people the focus of their development plans. Once there is synergy, then I can assure you that Nigeria will be one of the best nations that you will see anywhere on earth.

    “Local government administration is being suffocated. People are looking at the opportunity to ensure that they survive and become more purposeful through community development programmes. What I will not support is any effort to make the local government a unitary system by handing all core responsibilities to the federal government. That is criminal when there is a federal system.

    “We have a federal system. There is state and federal administration. We have two components. States must do whatever is in the best interest of their own process of administration. There is no one-size-fits-all. That is what we should do by looking at the revenue formula, and we must be consistent with federalism; fiscal federalism. Those are the things you should expect from me, not the knee-jerk reactions ahead of elections.

    “I can tell you that Nigeria is no longer printing paper money and deceiving itself that it has a base for survival. Nigeria went through terrible labour pains, but we have seen the baby coming out alive,” the President concluded.

    There were complaints in some quarters during the week over alleged unfair spread of appointments to serve as chairmen and members of governing councils of federal tertiary institutions. The complaints followed the release of the names of about 555 appointees by the Federal Ministry of Education, an action faulted for lacking in federal character. In obvious response to the complaints, on Thursday the President directed a comprehensive review of the appointments, citing alleged failing of the test of the Federal Character Principle.

    On Wednesday he made three appointments; he appointed Assistant Corps Marshal Mohammed Shehu as the new Corps Marshal and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). Same day, he appointed Engr. Emeka Woke as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Dr. Adedeji Ashiru as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA).

    He had several other considerable activities mentioned in the media, like on Tuesday he directed law enforcement agencies to conduct a swift and diligent investigation into the fire incident at a mosque in Larabar Abasawa, Gezawa council area of Kano State, which claimed several lives and left many others injured. Also on Thursday, he was in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad Republic to grace the swearing-in ceremony of Mahamat Déby as the President of the country.

    By the way, this last week was the 52nd week of President Tinubu’s Presidency and it has been a roller coaster, just as he acknowledged on Friday when he hosted the Yoruba Leaders of Thought, saying “it has been challenging. It has been fulfilling as well”. The 52 weeks, which is a calendar year, has seen much more that many four years of some other administrations. Within the year, the Tinubu administration took off, proposing serious structural reforms for various sectors of our national life; from security to the economy, industry, commerce and trade, infrastructure, foreign policy and other critical sectors.

    He has been focused on introducing new policies, and reforms, working almost without a break to inject changes into how things have been done all along, the ways that have not really brought us results. Nigeria has lived with petrol subsidy for more than forty years and crooks within and around the system have learned to corrupt it and instead of it alleviating pressure on the most vulnerable members of society who were originally the target of the subsidy, things were getting worse for the majority. On the other hand, the few greedy who had corrupted the subsidy started getting richer and fatter. The same system has sustained across programmes and other interventions of government.

    Well, Tinubu said he came to change this state of affairs and his strategy was unleashed on petrol subsidy and another one that have to do with foreign exchange administration in the country, which had become another money laundry window for the politically exposed and their acolytes. Attempts at dismantling the rings created by beneficiaries of these systemic corruptions have had their backlash. Just like when people who understand medicine introduce chemotherapy to treat cancer, and the reaction is always harsh on the body of the sufferer, the Nigerian system is still finding it difficult to adjust to the treatment administered to corruption.

    However, there are assurances that the treatments will all pay off eventually. Number one assurance is the confidence of the man at the driver’s seat, President Tinubu is certain of his solutions and he has exuded that confidence all along, appealing to the people to give him more time. The second assurance is the fact that even in the face of the present pain, the works are constantly grinding, with every member of the team being kept on his toes, just like physicians on emergency call. Then the third assurance, among others, is the fact that this is a familiar terrain for the man in the saddle. As Lagos Governor, the then federal government-orchestrated crisis, rather than slow the progress of his state down motivated him to find development from some other uncharted courses.

    In three days, that is Wednesday, May 29, it will be exactly one year that his administration took off, he has ruled out plans that may involve fanfare in celebrating the occasion. Fanfare or no fanfare, watch out for actions this week, notwithstanding.

  • Additional 16,300km2: Tinubu takes delivery of Gulf of Guinea’s Golden Triangle

    Additional 16,300km2: Tinubu takes delivery of Gulf of Guinea’s Golden Triangle

    Closing last week’s edition of this column, I did hint that President Bola Tinubu’s official activities would increase. Well, the last week, his fifty-first as President, did not disappoint. Right from the first day of the week, being Sunday, throughout the whole of it, each day was event-filled. In many of the cases, the events or actions were too significant to the life of Nigeria and the survival of all of us that they may deserve to be celebrated individually: he chaired the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting for two straight days (Monday and Tuesday), during which some landmark approvals and decisions sailed.

    Nigeria recorded many successes during the week, many of them reported in the public and many more kept in secure spaces where they are meant to be kept for their value. Of all the ones made public, the one considered to be of the highest value was the report of the High Powered Presidential Committee (HPPC) on Nigeria’s Extended Continental Shelf Project. Ironically, it has seemed as though the full extent of its value and the potentials of its impact on Corporate Nigeria and every citizen is yet to be comprehended by most people. For the records, this achievement will rank as one of the most vital economic and diplomatic gains of the century for Nigeria.

    What happened on Tuesday was a very significant event in the life of the Tinubu administration; he became the President who received the outcome of a very important national effort at naturally enhancing the economic and diplomatic fortunes of Nigeria, by proposing to extend our maritime boundaries, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an effort spanning fifteen years and yielding some of the richest resources the nation can lay claim to as a sovereign.

    For clarity, the report presented to Mr President by the Powered Presidential Committee (HPPC) on Nigeria’s Extended Continental Shelf Project was the positive response from the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), the international body mandated to, among other things, consider the data and information submitted and provide recommendations on the outer limits claims of the coastal states, permitting Nigeria’s request for an extension of its maritime boundaries seawards with an additional 16,300 square kilometers.

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    Like earlier stated, that effort was initiated in 2009, that was fifteen years ago, with the submission of Nigeria’s request to the UN’s CLCS, and between then and now, a lot has happened. For instance, records showed that for a long time, the process got frozen for some reasons and it took the coming of former President Muhammadu Buhari for the process to resume in November 2015. Prior to Buhari’s coming, the National Assembly, the Senate precisely, had in February 2013 considered the project and advised the federal government to fund it and set up an independent body to handle it.

    So when Buhari came in 2015, he dusted up the project with the Senate’s recommendation and set up the HPPC, going after experts and professionals with deep knowledge of the functions of the maritime/aquatic spaces, as well as the United Nations’ politics and technicalities to run the show, assigning the then Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to oversee the project. In April 2022, the Committee presented something of a situation report to the then President, indicating that work was still ongoing and that the line of technical communications was still intact between the Committee and the UN’s CLCS, with very positive feelings all around the project. Then finally, in August of last year, the UN’s CLCS agreed with the position and data provided by our HPPC.

    So on Tuesday, the Committee, led by its very experienced Chairman, Ambassador Hassan Tukur, came to see the President with the positive report. Listening to the cerebral presentation of the report by the technical team, including Professor Larry Awosika, a marine scientist and member of the Committee, and Surveyor Aliyu Omar, Secretary of the Committee, President Tinubu could not hide his delight. They informed him that the UN had approved Nigeria’s submission, granting sovereignty over additional square kilometres of maritime territory, at last fifteen years of consistent hard work has paid off for the country.

    “When the HPPC briefed former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 on the status of the project, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) was still considering Nigeria’s submission and having technical interactions with the HPPC. These interactions and consideration have now culminated in the approval for Nigeria to extend its continental shelf beyond 200M (200 nautical miles). As it stands now, the area approved for Nigeria is about 16,300 square kilometres, which is about five times the size of Lagos State”, Surveyor Omar told the President.

    Now why should the news make more meaning to everyone identifying as Nigerian? It means that Nigeria has just increased in size, bigger than even when Bakasi was part of our territory, as a matter of fact, the size of the territory just added to Nigeria is said to be about five times the size of Lagos State. Number two, the newly gained territory lies within the area identified as the ‘the Golden Triangle’ in the Gulf of Guinea, which contains unquantifiable resources. According to Professor Awosika, the economic potential of the newly acquired territory, are so vast, but mentioned some of them to include hydrocarbons, gas, solid minerals, and a wide variety of sedentary species. Some of the available natural resources have not even been discovered.

    Then President Tinubu highlighted another positive of the new achievement; it was won without a war. For those who understand history and international jurisprudence, the most certain way of annexing territories, across human history, has always been through wars or some forms of other conflicts, but in this case, Nigeria got bigger without a fight. This effort deserves national celebration, just as a victor-nation would celebrate after a war.

    “This is big congratulations for Nigeria. At COP28 in Dubai, I also exchanged views with President Lula of Brazil on the need for collaboration within our economic and maritime boundaries. Today, it is a great honour for me to receive this report. I have listened attentively to this very specialized report, and I know it took a whole lot of effort to get to this stage. I commend the team, and we must take advantage of this and invite you again to have a repeat of this knowledge exploration on geography, hydrography, and the marine life. Nigeria is grateful for the efforts that you put into gaining additional territory for the country without going to war. Some nations went to war, lost people and economic opportunities. We lost nothing but have gained great benefits for Nigeria. We will pursue the best option for the country”, the President said.

    President Tinubu’s old-man’s perception of the achievement by the HPPC will be better appreciated by those who are conversant with the temperature-raising objection of Russia to a similar claim by the United States of America to a seabed territory off the coast of Alaska.

    Another very significant achievement for the President during the last week was the commissioning of three critical gas infrastructure projects in Imo and Delta states on Wednesday. That event alone, involving the expanded AHL Gas Processing Plant; the ANOH Gas Processing Plant, and the 23.3km ANOH to Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Custody Transfer Metering Station Gas Pipeline, will increase Nigeria’s domestic gas supply by more than 25%.

    “This event is highly significant to our country as it demonstrates the administration’s concerted efforts to accelerate the development of critical gas infrastructure, geared at significantly enhancing the supply of energy to boost industrial growth and create employment opportunities. It is pleasing that when these projects become fully operational, approximately 500MMscf of gas in aggregate will be supplied to the domestic market from these two gas processing plants, which represents over 25% incremental growth in gas supply”, the President had told stakeholders and guests who participated in the launch event.

    Also on Monday morning, just before the commencement of the fifth FEC of the year, he graced the launch of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development’s (OAFLAD) #WeAreEqual Campaign in Nigeria, where he vowed that his administration would ensure that no Nigerian child is excluded from quality education, as well as end gender-based violence. After the OAFLAD’s event, he proceeded to the Council Chambers, swore in two more Commissioners for the National Population Commission (NPC), then straight into the FEC. FEC held for two days and like I said earlier, the outcomes were mostly landmark, including a directive mandating ministries, agencies and departments to disapprove purchases of vehicles and other power generation equipment not CNG or any other renewable energy-powered.

    On Wednesday, after the launch of the gas projects, he received Ogoni leaders, reassuring them of his administration’s commitment to the clean-up of their polluted environment. He also received the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah, who paid him a private visit. On Thursday, he received the new President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, at the State House, treating some of the ECOWAS sociopolitical developments with him. On Friday, he received letters of credence from three new ambassadors to Nigeria, including those of Burundi, Philippines and Kenya. He received some Chinese business executives, representing China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) same day.

    Let’s say this is an abridged version of a much fuller version of the landmark activities of Mr President in the last week. Activities are expected to get more intense as the administration draws closer to its one year in office. For now, assuming to know exactly what the mood will look like during this week will be assuming too much. Let us just wait and watch. Know it will be clumsy, what you may not know yet is what and what will make the list of activities.

  • Private visits as another buffer time for serious business of State 

    Private visits as another buffer time for serious business of State 

    It was another week with an unusual character. The week started without President Bola Tinubu’s activities away from the eye of the media. It would be recalled he had travelled about two and a half weeks ago, exactly April 23, for official events in the Netherlands first then headed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While in the Netherlands, he held high-level talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte on a range of issues of mutual interests to Nigeria and the Netherlands, after which he held separate meetings with His Royal Majesty, King Willem-Alexander, and Queen Maxima of the Kingdom, after which he proceeded to Saudi Arabia where he attended a Special World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, from April 28 to 29.

    After he left Saudi Arabia, the President proceeded on an unannounced private visit, which took him to the United Kingdom and France. While on this visit, what he was all about was unavailable for the media and the usual critics to feast on, hence the hues and cries all over the airwaves. The media made the loudest ‘noise’ of it, starting with Daily Trust, which last Sunday devoted its lead story of the day to the President’s inaccessibility: ‘6 Days After Forum in S/Arabia, Tinubu Yet to Return’. A few other media platforms joined the fray after Daily Trust’s banner headline.

    To calm the ‘storm’, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had to offer some soothing assurances by informing the public, including the news hounding houses, that his boss would soon return home. On Tuesday afternoon, Onanuga left a message on his verified X handle saying “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, along with his aides, will return to Nigeria tomorrow from Europe”. That was about 3:46pm on Tuesday, by 2am on Wednesday, his assurance was validated by the arrival of the President in Abuja. He followed up his hint later on Wednesday morning with “welcome home Mr President”.

    The apprehension that trailed the President’s absence could have been either a manifestation of fear or suspicion, both taking roots from the experiences of past years. Fears that the situation might be worse than had been let out, considering the circumstances around former President Muhammadu Buhari’s months of incapacitation due to a health challenge and the haze that initially beclouded the real nature of his infirmity, until he started speaking about it in subsequent media interviews. On the other hand, there was a sense of suspicion, largely fed by the media and past experiences. 

    As it is typical of the media, once we feel denied of the access we require to be informed and thereby be empowered with a scoop to cast, we resort to forcing the truth out by making insinuations, provocative in most cases, in order to elicit the truth for a reaction. In the period when the media was unable to establish the whereabouts of the President or what he might be doing wherever he was, some media platforms started spinning theories, including suggesting that his health needed attention and thus he had gone for medical treatment.     

    For instance, during her segment of the Arise Television’s Morning Show, Ojy Okpe on ‘What’s Trending with Ojy Okpe’ tracked reactions on social media about the President’s absence, saying “the Presidency however, has not released any statement on why the President has not returned to Nigeria. This has led to speculations in some quarters that the President may have proceeded to Paris, France, where he has travelled to several times, reportedly for his medicals”.

    However, the facts about his whereabouts and why he needed the sort of quietness he sought and which necessarily kept him out of circulation, according to available reliable signals, were actually very noble. Though he was out of sight in the name of private visit, he was actually out there executing engagements, brokering deals and building up on subsisting deals in need of further negotiations or clarifications, all on behalf of Nigeria.

    He visited both the United Kingdom (UK) and France, but contrary to the panic-inducing suggestions of the social media commentators, as well as some in the traditional media, he was out of sight to seek serenity and quietness that the official space does not allow. If he had been home immediately after the Riyadh engagement, as those using microscope to search for his whereabouts had wanted, many of the meetings he was said to have held in the UK and France might not happen soon because of the volume of activities he has to deal with daily in office.

    A reliable source around the President, who had knowledge of his movements, told yours truly that the President actually went to Europe for more work, saying “there was actually no need for speculations. He was in UK and France within that period and it was very necessary for him to be there. If he had returned immediately after the Special World Economic Forum, he couldn’t have achieved the much he did for the nation on some very critical deals and agreements, at least not this soon, because other events and visits wouldn’t have allowed him the kind of time and focus he had during the visit.

    “So it wasn’t like he went there for any special leisure or that he was sick, like some people suggested. Far from that, he was pushing our frontiers further, in the interest of all of us and those yet unborn. I may not be able to give you details of all his engagements, but I can assure you they were meetings focused on fulfilling his promise of achieving a functional and prosperous Nigeria through the Renewed Hope Agenda”, he said.

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    His return to the country in the early hours of Wednesday calmed nerves and put paid to those theories that had no bases in truth. Since he returned he has been engaged with more state matters. For instance, on Friday he received representatives of Chinese investor companies, Avatar New Energy Materials Company Limited and Canmax Technologies, entities involved in lithium exploration and value addition.

    Also on Friday, the President displayed, again, his respect for public oriented service, experience and the traditional institution. It was the commemoration of the 90th birthday anniversary of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, and the President Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, added colour to the occasion by conferring the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), the second highest national honour, on the revered monarch. He had on Thursday penned a heartfelt tribute to him, saying “Oba Adetona is not just another traditional ruler in Yorubaland and indeed in Nigeria and Africa, he is a preeminent royal father who has brought rare honour, integrity, dignity, courage and impeccable strength of character to the throne over the last 60 years”.

    In the course of the week, Mr President made a couple of appointments, including that of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, as co-Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), on Thursday. He also appointed Engr. Emeka Woke as new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority on same Thursday, while on Friday he received letters of credence from the ambassadors of Egypt, Pakistan, and Greece.

    Since his return, visitors have resumed their daily calls at the office of the President, mostly privately. For instance, among his Thursday visitors were three governors; Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Uba Sani of Kaduna and Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa. On Friday, the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, was sighted among visitors and so were the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardozo and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Mele Kyari. That is if we will not have to mention Governor Sule of Nasarawa’s day-two’s visit at the head of the Chinese investors’ call.

    It is a new week and new presidential activities are expected to herald it. The reliable source on what the President’s private visit was all about tasked me to watch out for fruits from his meetings in coming days, weeks and months, he also said I should pay attention to coming developments. In turn, I appeal to you to also watch out and pay attention.

  • Technology is Tinubu’s silver bullet for sabotage

    Technology is Tinubu’s silver bullet for sabotage

    It was a week offshore for President Bola Tinubu, having left the country Tuesday the previous week for official events in the Netherland and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pursuing the economic and diplomatic interests if Nigeria. You will recall that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, managed to get President Tinubu to reveal what inspires him to work so passionately for the Nigerian people. That was adequately dealt with in the last edition of this column titled ‘Hard decisions: Tinubu credits his courage to Nigerians’.

    He continued the assignment during the just concluded week, attending the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh. On the sidelines of that meeting, he held a couple of other business meetings, among which were the President and Chief Executive Officer of Samsung, Hong Namkoong, and the Chairman of Samsung Investment Global, Jungwook Kim. He also met with the Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Robert Maersk Uggla.

    The President also met with philanthropist and Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, on Sunday in Riyadh, another sideline event from the Special World Economic Forum meeting. The President’s conversation with Mr Gates became especially interesting because of how it relates to the basics of the entire economic recovery campaigns of his administration: fighting off saboteurs and their antics and secure the national patrimony. This topic of sabotage has come up countless times from President Tinubu himself, his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and many other officials of the administration.

    As a matter of fact, in the last week alone, both the President and Vice President Shettima spoke about it at different forums. Sabotage has been a thing in our system over the years, it has found its way into the very fiber of the Nigerian being; in the public service, the selection processes, every appointment, assignment, contract done in the name of the public suffers a sort of human interference or the other. Interferences aimed at protecting personal or group interest, at the expense of the national interest.

    It always targets activities with economic focus, ending up short-circuiting public gains and funneling it into purses other than that of the Nigerian State. For instance, it is believed that the first step in the direction of an effectively run and functioning power sector, being the consumer metering system, has continued to failed because operatives of power distribution companies do not want it to work. It is believed it will take out one of the most irregular practices in the power distribution arm of the industry; estimated billing. It is believed to be one of the cash cows for individuals within that system.

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    At every turn and in virtually every public space, individuals, groups and organizations have devised sharp practices through which they outsmart Nigeria and with the connivance of public officials. The malfeasance oozes from virtually every corner, everyone, in one way or the other, is guilty of sabotaging the system, especially economically, although everybody still thinks government is to blame for the wrongs they are caught up in.

    So coming into the saddle, for the Tinubu administration, the way out of our growth and development crisis is taking care of ‘the bull in the China shop’, which is sabotage. This is the primary goal. Take down the ineffective petrol subsidy regime, which had over the years fed the greed of rent-takers and portfolio executives, who cannot truthfully claim to have invested anything into the ventures that gave them the prohibitive wealth they have garnered over the last decades. Petrol subsidy has been seconded over the years by foreign exchange arbitrage. The double-windowed FOREX market has made hundreds of lazy billionaires over the years, people who made unthinkable wealth from just having friends in government or at the apex bank.

    On Thursday, speaking at the Second Chronicle Roundtable, themed ‘Tinubu Administration’s Economic and Social Agenda: How it Will Transform Nigeria’, Vice President Shettima,  expressed pain over how saboteurs, mostly Nigerians, have worked against the public interest, even invested ill-gotten funds to shore up arbitrage for their selfish interest. He, however, noted that the administration is winning the war against sabotage, citing the recent positives recorded in FOREX market.   

    “Today, I stand proud to say that their (Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Yemi Cardozo, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu’s) interventions have translated into desired results and Naira’s pushback against all odds is an inspiring journey that doesn’t have to be learned in Buenos Aires, as someone wanted us to do. They were projecting that the Naira will go to as high as 5000 to the dollars. Some betted against the Naira, some borrowed mercilessly from the banks and bought dollar at a cost of 2000 to the naira. I align myself fully with the position of Dr. Shamsudeen Usman; it’s sad, it’s disheartening, it’s befuddling that some of us do not wish the nation well, they’ll rather that the nation imports. Well let it be known to them, when the rain falls, it doesn’t fall on one man’s house”, he said.

    Days before the Thursday’s engagement, Monday to be precise, the President, who was still represented by Shettima, had told the meeting of African Heads of State and Government on the 21st Replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA21) in Nairobi, Kenya, that Nigeria is winning in its struggle against economic sabotage, declaring that the country has escaped the phase of sabotage.

    “Since assuming office, President Tinubu has remained steadfast in fulfilling his promise to end the reign of economic saboteurs who have long exploited and hindered the progress of our nation. I am pleased to report that our economy has escaped the phase of sabotage”, he told the meeting.

    Putting the background information about the target and struggles of the administration against sabotage, and the slaps that Nigeria has received from unpatriotic citizens, together will provide a context to the conversation the President had with Mr Gates. Recalling how he did it when he was Lagos State Governor, he highlighted the neutralizing effect of 21st Century technology against sabotage. So in his challenge today as Nigeria’s President, with all the blows the system had received from malevolent elements, it is still the same solution that has achieved the escape from sabotage and will still do the much that is left to be achieved.  

    President Tinubu said technology is a potent weapon against corruption and financial impropriety in public service, which are ways the sabotage of all forms have manifested. He is investing in technology that is tailored towards ensuring transparency and accountability in government and accelerating public-sector performance and service delivery.

    “Technology is the enemy of fraud, corruption, and irregularity. We have been working hard on improving technology. There is always the initial resistance. Corruption, self-interest, and fraudulent activity will always be an enemy, but when you bend that curve, you will receive the benefit. The nation will receive the benefit”, he said.

    The last week ushered us into the month of May, the first day of which is devoted to the public worker everywhere in the world. He used the occasion to assure the nation’s workforce of his administration’s commitment to achieving not just their desired minimum wage, but a living wage, which meets them at the point of their need. He used the opportunity to stretch the Olive Branch to Labour leaders and assured them of the sincerity of his intents for Nigeria.

    “Great Nigerian Workers, we cannot achieve a just and equitable society that caters to the needs of every member, including the strong and the weak, without fostering peace and unity. Our shared vision for national growth and development can only be realised in an atmosphere of industrial harmony and peaceful coexistence in every segment of our country. The dividends we have promised the nation, and which you work tirelessly to ensure, can only be achieved when we all unite for progress.

    “So, I call upon each and every one of you, as I have consistently done, to join hands in shaping the destiny of our nation towards greatness. Our allegiance and patriotism are the bedrock upon which our beloved country thrives. The success of our government’s policies and programmes hinges on the willingness of the workers, as the backbone of our workforce, to embrace them wholeheartedly. I appeal to you to continue using the power of the Labour movement for the greater good of our nation, fostering harmony and cooperation”, the President said. 

    He still related with people back home, either for celebration, like in the cases of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who both marked their birthday on May Day. Same went for Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, who clocked 90 years on Tuesday. He commiserated with Rivers State people and government over the tanker explosion in Eleme, which claimed four lives and destroyed millions of naira worth property, as well as a similar incident in Ogun State.

    As a new week starts today, new events and activities will define what we should expect. Just hang on and follow me.

  • Hard decisions: Tinubu credits his courage to Nigerians

    Hard decisions: Tinubu credits his courage to Nigerians

    Since May 29,2023, almost a year ago, when President Bola Tinubu assumed office and started calling shots and pulling unusual weights with his office, many observers, including leaders in other parts of the world, have wondered where he gets his guts and ideas from. Not many of those observers, who have met with him have thought of inquiring about these unusual administrative and governance moves and strategies, which have actually set a new tone, a new experience in public administration in a sub-Saharan African country.

    We all know the view of the rest of the world, especially the developed West, of the peoples in this part: they only see backward people, incapable of self-reengineering and most definitely bereft of techniques to self-govern. Their view had over the years been buoyed by the abysmal attempt at democratic rule in most parts and the countless cases of bare-faced stealing of public resources by leaders who rode on the back of electoral heists to power. But since May 29, 2023, the rest of the world welcomed a new leader in the most populous black nation, who has been damning consequences to inject new reforms that are targeted at reordering the lives and fortunes of Nigerians.

    Since Asiwaju took over, the subsidy on petrol, which has been part of our system for almost fifty years, has vanished. Petrol subsidy has been described as the single misadventure that was actually designed to finish Nigeria by steadily bleeding off the nation’s life source and its cost was progressively. In 2022 alone, officials in the nation’s oil sector put the cost of petrol subsidy at N4 trillion, which measured with about 23.4% of that year’s budget. The 2022 Budget stood at N17.12 trillion. So on his first day as President, he relieved the nation of that baggage with a mere proclamation.

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    Of course, that was not the last to be heard of the subsidy, the following months unleashed some of the most debilitating economic experience on most Nigerians and the rising cost of petrol started reflecting on the cost of other things of life we have been accustomed to. Transportation took a rocket launch and so were other domestic commodities. That situation was compounded by the floating of the Naira at foreign exchange market, another leviathan system through which some of the ‘people with connects’ have milked the common patrimony.

    There were protests and resistance from various quarters, some were even sponsored in different parts of the country. Among these resistances, those from the organised Labour seemed most agitating, considering the fact that they actually have access to the nerves and joints of the nation’s ‘wheel of progress’, but the one that was of most desperate concern was from those sponsoring others to protest, those who have for long benefited from the rot that has kept Nigeria weak and Nigerians poor. About this set of people, the President already knew they will fight back, and he once said “those who have been feeding fat on the system” will resist changes aimed at promoting transparency and accountability. These developments are well worn and most politically and economically aware people know where Nigeria is currently.

    Now the silent question in most minds, including many of his colleagues in other parts of the world, especially the developed West, has been about what could have been his motivation and staying power through the last eleven months. How did he come about the right reforms that seem to be addressing Nigeria’s age-long development crisis and finding the right antidotes for the series of malaise afflicting different sectors?

    However, on Thursday, in far away Netherlands, he was faced with that question from his very bold host, the Prime Minister of the country, Mark Rutte, who noted a few of the successful solutions that President Tinubu had administered in dealing with Nigeria’s peculiar issues. By the way, I must let you know that the week was one of those very busy ones for the Jagaban as he spent part of it in the Netherlands, on official visit, on the invitation of Prime Minister Rutte. While there, the President engaged in high-level discussions with Dutch authorities and participated in the Nigeria-Netherlands Business and Investment Forum.

    During their meeting, Prime Minister Rutte, out of curiosity, wondered “you are promoting democratic governance and the solutions it can bring in dealing with problems of development. I saw how you went through democratic channels to remove an incumbent president in 2015 in partnership with President Buhari and how that has led to development in your country. I saw you take the courageous decision to deal with fuel subsidies and other reforms, and we are interested in what allowed you to take the decisions that many before you could not take. And you took those decisions early in your term. It shows rare determination. Your stand in ECOWAS, all of these point to your commitment in leadership”.

    As his response to his host’s query, President Tinubu put it all back on Nigerian; his confidence and courage to face the daunting and scary. He simply said Nigerians have tremendous confidence in themselves and that his confidence in the Nigerian people gave him the courage to take difficult decisions on their behalf, given his full awareness of the need to give Nigerians the long-term tools they need to succeed. The resilience of his people encourages him to work for the enduring. The enduring is what basically makes the difference between those being looked up to and those looking up to them.

    “I am a determined leader of my people. I have and will continue to take the difficult decisions that will benefit our people, even if there is short-term pain. We have gone through the worst of the storms. I am unafraid of the consequences once I know that my actions are in the best long-term interests of all Nigerians. The Nigerian Naira is one of the world’s best performing currencies today. We took the necessary risks, and all resilient Nigerians kept faith with us. They will be rewarded, and the reward will only be greater as we partner effectively with you on new opportunities for development. As leaders, we must take decisions for the benefit of our nations, and we cannot shy away from that”, the President said.

    Meanwhile, in the course of the week, President Tinubu set another structural reform in motion when he approved the take-off of his administration’s Consumer Credit Scheme, which was on his to-do list when he was campaigning to be President. This scheme, for which a corporation, the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP), had already been established with the 36-year Engr Uzoma Nwagba, as its pioneer Chief Executive Officer, is targeting efforts at ensuring financial inclusion and economic prosperity for the majority of Nigerians.

    A platform known as Forexpedia describes consumer credit is an economic indicator that measures the amount of debt held by households in an economy. It measures the amount of credit extended to consumers in a given period of time. Consumer credit is a key driver of consumer spending, which in turn drives economic growth. It is what most of the developed economies have adopted to provide an economic cushion for their citizens, a buffer between insufficient resources and meeting basic human needs for a good life. 

    On Wednesday, Presidential Spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the commencement of the scheme, pointing out a couple of the deliverables targeted, saying consumer credit serves as the lifeblood of modern economies, enabling citizens to enhance their quality of life by accessing goods and services upfront, paying responsibly over time. It facilitates crucial purchases, such as homes, vehicles, education, and healthcare, essential for ongoing stability to pursue their aspirations. The President believes every hardworking Nigerian should have access to social mobility, with consumer credit playing a pivotal role in achieving this vision.

    Meanwhile, to prove that the scheme is not floating and that there is a long-term planning for it, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, during a briefing on 2024 Budget, said government had allocated N100 billion to support consumer credit, with the goal of strengthening the manufacturing sector and stimulating economic activity

    “We put N100 billion fund in the budget to support consumer credit. This is important because the manufacturing sector is struggling with two challenges: efficiency of production and finding someone who can buy. The introduction and support of consumer credit, we believe, will help in the revival of our manufacturing sector to meet international standards. It is a catalytic fund that is expected to have significant growth”, he said.

    However, advancing an opinion on how he thinks the scheme should run, a former Investment Banker, who is now devoted to agro-produce trading, Mallam Bolaji Lawal, said “I think as part of the attempt to boost the economy of Nigeria with consumer credit, we should have insisted that imported items that are being produced in Nigeria will not be funded with this consumer credit. In essence, the only imported items that will be funded with the consumer credit are those not produced in Nigeria. If I were a part of the credit committee, for household items like television, refrigerator, cars, generators and others, only those produced in Nigeria will be funded by the Consumer Credit Scheme”.

    Besides the disclosure of his staying power in his ongoing work on Nigeria and the launch of the Consumer Credit Scheme, other very impactful events littered the week. For example, on Monday he declared the African Counter-Terrorism Summit open at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in Abuja, telling the developed world that Africans know that the affliction of terrorism on the continent had been compounded by illegal mining, which in turn is being fueled from abroad. The key note he left with them was “we shall be knocking on this door of the international community to answer this call for justice, peace and fair play”.

    He also made appointments during the week. On Friday, his appointment of the Founder of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, as the Chairman of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was announced. Also, the appointment of Dr Innocent Barikor as the Director-General of the National Environmental Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and Prince Ebitimi Amgbare as the Managing Director/CEO of the Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority (NDRBDA) were also announced. He arrived Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where he will be participating in the Special World Economic Forum, on Friday evening.

    As a new week starts, new events and activities will be coming with it, so stay put to see whatever Jagaban has in store for Nigeria this week.

  • Agitators only have themselves to blame as Tinubu won’t relent

    Agitators only have themselves to blame as Tinubu won’t relent

    Last week was a week coming after a rather lazy one: that week devoted five out of the seven days to holiday and weekend days. Of course the system naturally entered the slow mood and bringing it back to full speed will take initiating new activities, so there were not much of physical activities. In fact, since Monday when he returned to the State House from his Sallah holiday in Lagos, besides the launch of the National Single Window Project on Tuesday, and the meeting with leaders of the Afenifere on Wednesday, most of the activities of the President were rather proclamations, conveyed through press statements.

    On Wednesday, Mr President gave a very important pay back hosting leaders of the Yoruba apex socio-political organisation, the Afenifere, and he was believed to have consider it a very special and cherished occasion. The Afenifere, led by its Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, had in the wake of President Tinubu’s declaration of his aspiration to contest the office of the President, come out to state its support for him, especially when it became clear that a group of senior citizens, among whom was former acting Leader of the Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, was out to delegitimize him.

    That move by Pa Adebanjo, to make it look like Asiwaju’s ambition had been met with disapproval from his Southwest or Yoruba home base was strategic, and so was the loud endorsement by the Afenifere, under Pa Fasoranti, who followed up the organisation’s stance with a congratulatory message for the President when he won his party’s ticket and a public show of acceptance of his victory as President-elect.

    So when the group, still led by the very elderly Pa Fasoranti, visited the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, first time since he assumed office eleven months ago, it was an opportune moment for the respected Yoruba organisation to relish the feeling of one its own leading the nation and speak for the people it represents, and they sure made some requests on behalf of the Southwest. On the other hand, it was time for the President to say thank you, listen to them, as he had done to similar organisations which visited earlier. It was also an opportunity to send some words back home.

    Coincidentally, the visit by the Afenifere came within a time belt with an incident that the President, like most reasonable Nigerians, must have thought rather absurd. The weekend before the visit, precisely on Saturday, some Yoruba elements stormed the Parliament House at the Oyo State Secretariat, close to the office of the governor. The group, now identified as Yoruba nation agitators, dressed in military camouflage, aimed at seizing the premises that housed the Old Western Region’s authority.

    Although they were effectively subdued and taken into custody by security and law enforcement agents on that day and now being made to face the law, with their arrowheads still at large, this is the sort of indiscipline and sabotage that Tinubu will not condone, especially as they are his kinsmen, who ought to work for the success of Nigeria under his watch, now that he is doing everything to stabilise and firm up the judicial institution in the country. So in his speech while addressing his guests, the President sent a warning out to all elements, whichever section or category of society they belong, who think they could achieve the disintegration of the country, that they should be ready to face consequences of their attempts.

    “I am irrevocably committed to the unity of Nigeria and constitutional democracy. Constitutional democracy is reflected greatly here since we assumed office. What we face now is the challenge of terrorism. Security of life and property is very necessary for development. I can tell you we are achieving success. There’s improvement from hoisting flags on the Nigerian properties and sovereignty. We have degraded terrorism to a level that they cannot threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria any longer. Banditry and kidnapping will be defeated and there is no payment of ransom whatsoever. We are taking the battle to them. We are getting results more rapidly than before. We are working hard on intelligence gathering. Those who think they can threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria will have themselves to blame. They have a price to pay and we are not going to relent”, he warned.

    Meanwhile, on Tuesday the President had initiated another idea, which he tagged a game changer: the National Single Window Project. Keep it in mind that Tinubu, right from the onset, had hinted on his plan to take Nigeria through another route to nationhood, one we are not really conversant with, but which in the final summation will set us on the path to where we have always wished to be, like those other countries we have always aspired to be like. This time around, it is the system that will upgrade our import and export trade system to one that is very efficient, data-based, cost-saving and most contemporary. 

    As I understand it, the National Single Window Project is an initiative designed to harmonize all revenue collection into a single electronic platform to which all revenue generating agencies at all the nation’s borders are onboarded. This will ease port congestion and transactions and eliminate the incidence of imported goods lapsing to demurrage. It will essentially remove multiple payments and underhand dealings by unscrupulous people in revenue collecting agencies at the ports, air, land and sea.

    “The National Single Window is a game changer that will revolutionize the way we conduct trade. By simplifying government trade compliance through a digital platform, we will unlock the doors to economic prosperity and all other opportunities. This initiative will link our ports, government agencies and key stakeholders, creating a seamless and efficient system that will facilitate trade like never before. Imagine a Nigeria where business can save time and resources, where small enterprises can reach global markets and where the informal e-commerce sector is brought into the fold increasing our tax base. This is the Nigeria we are building with the National Single Window.

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    “The benefits of this initiative are immense. The paperless trade alone is estimated to bring an annual economic benefit of around $2.7 billion US dollars. Countries like Singapore, Korea Kenya and Saudi Arabia have already seen significant improvement in trade efficiency after implementing Single Window Systems. It is time for Nigeria to join their ranks and reap the reward of a streamlined, digitalized trade process. We cannot afford to lose an estimated $4 billion annually to red tape, bureaucracy, delays and corruption at our ports. The National Single Window will address these issues headlong, preventing revenue leakage and facilitating effective trade. By doing so, we will create a more transparent, secure and business friendly environment that will attract investment and spur economic growth.

    “The implementation of National Single Window will not be an overnight process, I know. It requires dedication, collaboration and a phased approach. But I assure you my fellow brothers and sisters, that we are fully committed to seeing this project through. We work tirelessly to ensure its success by engaging all partner agencies and stakeholders to create a system that works for every one of us”, he said.

    Attempting an explanation of his understanding of what President Tinubu is aiming to achieve with the project, a former Investment Banker, who is now devoted to agro-produce trading, Mallam Bolaji Lawal, said “the most important outcome of the National Single Window Project is the projected 7% annual GDP growth. This will lead to creation of jobs in the country, increase in government revenue, foreign exchange earnings and savings. Better days for Nigeria and its people”.

    That it was a week coming after a sluggish and scanty one did not make it event-less. Besides the outing with the Afenifere leaders and the launch of the National Single Window Project, the week was filled with loads of impactful activities from the desk of the President. For instance, he made a statement to acknowledge a very significant contribution of a Nigerian to the well being of all and the stability of the nation. On Wednesday he expressed gratitude to Aliko Dangote for his patriotic move by crashing the price of diesel, an action that is expected to have a ripple effect of the economy generally.

    Then on Thursday, he approved system-wide policies to comprehensively overhaul the education sector, aimed at improving learning and skill development, increase enrolment, and ensuring the academic security of the nation’s children. One of the policies will take care of a census for all schools in Nigeria, from basic to tertiary level. Then on Friday he made new appointments, first it was seven appointees for the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with Mairiga Katuka as Chairman. Then there was the appointment of another seven to the Board of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), with Ms Halima Kyari as Chairperson.

    Before the board appointments were announced later on Friday, he had already received letters of credence from the South Korean and Tunisian ambassadors, as well as the Zambian High Commissioner, all of whom are resuming their tour of duty to Nigeria. 

    He also did not fail to show his human side when it was called for. For instance on Monday, he reached the world through many media, both locally and internationally, to give hope to the loved ones of the Chibok Girls that are still not retrieved from their ten years of Boko Haram captivity. It was a message, not just to the parents of the girls, but all Nigerians. He said that sort of Chibok experience will cease soon. He celebrated Alhaji Mutiu Are, the Secretary of the Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), who turned 65 years on Tuesday and treated the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, to a similar recognition on Friday.

    By now we are all aware that our President is not a slow mind and he finds it hard to be quite for too long. That is the guarantee you need to be certain that as this week starts, activities will gain momentum. Just hang on.