By Ademuyiwa Adebola
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu threw his hat into the ring to contest for the highest political office in the land he was well aware of the daunting task ahead and had no illusions whatsoever that it was going to be a tea party of some sorts.
Of course, to govern a nation with such a diverse, multiethnic and multireligious population of over 200 million people is certainly not a mean feat by any standard.
Mounting the saddle at a time the countrymen and women were just scraping by, no thanks to the biting economic crunch which literally left the economy on life support and with no hope in the horizon, it was only sheer Providence that the country survived the coming months.
As the realisation of the enormity of the crucial assignment dawned on him Asiwaju knew that he had to take the plunge at that auspicious moment and there was no going back.
Right there at the inaugural ground at the Eagle Square, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, President Tinubu shocked a bemused crowd and the nation at large when he announced that his administration was going ahead to implement the much touted fuel subsidy removal, a festering monster all his predecessors had refused to tame over the past decades starting from Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Ernest Sonekan, Sani Abacha, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.
To political watchers, that singular decision was tantamount to political suicide but Tinubu took the leap of fate reassured that it was in the best interest of the country.
It was not unexpected that those who benefited from the aged-old subsidy regime would just sit idly by and watch things go south for them. No. They fought tooth and nail. The backlash was something out of this world.
The traducers so vociferous and rabid in their condemnation of the Tinubu administration rained curses and expletives not just on the person of the president but on the country as a whole swearing that nothing good will ever come out of the regime.
Besides throwing darts and shades at the Office of the President at every given opportunity, they went further to draw needless comparisons between Tinubu and other governments before it, saying Nigeria fared much better under past regimes.
Unfortunately, one of those who has been in the forefront, leading the vanguard of traducers is the Ebora Owu himself and former president Olusegun Obasanjo, whose penchant for ‘bring-Tinubu-down’ at all cost remains for him a lifelong ambition of some sorts.
But it is just as amusing and laughable that Obasanjo who goes about with the supposed credentials of a democrat is anything but one in the true sense of the word.
Talking about progress, with the 4th republic as an example, Obasanjo had one task to sell democracy as our long-lost-treasure to build a federation and kickstart massive economic growth.
Our democracy was tested right in front of our eyes with one of the most talked about selfish moves ever orchestrated by a Nigerian leader — the 3rd term agenda. Still, we won. The instrumentalities won whether because of sincerity or clash of interests, the republic won. This singular event proved stability and right before our eyes, we called the bluff of dictatorship by standing up for democracy.
Historians have also stated that the 2007 elections was another trying-time for our polity and its potentialities because every strategy to win or retain power by the ruling party and the automatic leader of the party, the President were all geared towards destroying the ethics and principles of free and fair elections.
Another example is the removal of a constitutionally elected leader of a subnational government, a governor of a politically sensitive state of Oyo via non-state actors who were mere leaders of a transport union — the NURTW. Again, this strong nation forged ahead.
We miraculously, in shame, survived an era where plenty was wasted with zero consideration for the future because we were a “telecom economy”. The emergence of telecom operators felt like the sweet story of Oloibiri and our discovery of crude oil. We neglected infrastructure but collectively felt our go-to key performance indicator was the potentials in the GSM ECONOMY. This era of plenty had zero impact on so many sectors — we missed it, we raised the bar too low.
The deceptive smartness hidden from the common man was the enemy called SUBSIDY, this was our own manna from heaven, we cared less if the comatose economy will wake up to discover its true potentials or not.
Few years later, a retired military general came with a small life support for the economy in comatose — infrastructure. Freedom was the special treatment for the patient in the hospital. It is a fact that freedom can be abused. Do you know the greatest abuse? SLAVERY it is.
Have we collectively abused fuel subsidy? Is it sustainable and can it help us heal the economy? I am sure these were the questions running through the mind of Tinubu when he made the now famous inaugural speech at the Eagle Square declaring matter-of-factly that “subsidy is gone!”
Looking back, the decision to remove the subsidy has been a game changer for the Tinubu administration ultimately, as indications have shown.
With his firm handle on the economy now on overdrive, Tinubu’s economic train is on full throttle as it is, moving at an unimaginable speed in a manner of speaking!
The results are the outstanding achievements we’re seeing all around us in different spheres of our national life be it infrastructure, revenue increase, economic stability, job creation opportunities, boost in foreign direct investments, social security and welfare, and the list is by no means exhausted.
The devil as they say is in the details!
From available information, economic indicators show positive progress across all frontiers.
There has been significant reduction in inflation from 34.80% to 24.48% in February 2025, a record-breaking 6,003MW power generation, which is the highest in decades.
We have seen a tremendous increase in the federal allocations to states, and a 209.6% rise in Nigeria’s trade surplus to ₦18.86 trillion in 2024.
This is just as Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.8% in 2024, marking a positive turn in the country’s economic recovery plan since five years ago.
Still talking about positive growth trajectory, the government has more than doubled the aggregate revenues to over N9.1trillion just as it has reduced the revenue spent on debt servicing from 97% to 68%.
Unlike the distant past, the country now has a unified foreign exchange management system that has helped to rein in the excesses of currency hoarders and shylocks in the forex market.
The government has also cleared $5 billion in outstanding foreign exchange obligations thereby increasing the prospects for foreign direct investments by new investors.
Interestingly, we are witnessing resurgence in the oil and gas sector with local players like Aliko Dangote and a few others literally putting their money where their mouth is.
The war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism has culminated in the increase in the nation’s crude oil production from an abysmal 600,000bpd to about 1.8mbpd currently.
We have also witnessed the monumental changes brought to the structure of refining and pricing in the petroleum sector by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
In response to the 2023 fuel subsidy removal and subsequent petrol price surge; the federal government initiated a nationwide Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme to provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly transportation alternatives.
It is instructive to note that the CNG initiative has the potential for additional revenue stream including unlocking over $10 billion in five years on the one hand and another N5 trillion in revenue from the conversion of five million vehicles to CNG.
Additionally, Nigeria’s gas sector has witnessed significant progress in terms of infrastructure development, policy reforms, gas utilisation, and domestic initiatives, marking a remarkable turnaround for the sector.
That’s not all. The establishment of the Students Loan Fund has recorded a disbursement of N45.6 billion to students across the tertiary institutions thus further boosting university enrollment and this signpost progressive development in real terms.
As part of its food security programme, the federal government has also distributed fertilisers and initiated the laudable project to cultivate 10 million hectares of land.
We have also seen the transformation of the solid minerals sector which hopes to unlock $700billion mining fortune and ultimately boost the nonoil sector of the economy.
What about roads infrastructure? That’s coming up stream almost across the six geopolitical zones. The Lagos Calabar coastal highway and the Sokoto Badagry highway, to mention just a few, are some of the fast pace developments in the landscape visible for all to see.
The National Minimum Wage Act, the Tax Administration Bills recently passed by the National Assembly and the signing of Bills for the establishment of more tertiary institutions such as the Nigeria Maritime University, in Okerenkoko, Warri, in Delta State, are just a few others.
And all of these extraordinary records in less than two years are indeed a marvel!
Truly, Tinubu for all intents and purposes, sure deserves thumbs up from all well-meaning Nigerians.
Is yours truly saying that Mr. President should be complacent and literally go to sleep considering his records of achievements? No.
Of course, the Mr President I know won’t relent in his efforts at ensuring that his ideas and ideals of good governance are rather cut short on the altar of a fleeting ego. No.
Mr. President didn’t mince words when he made this avowal in his inaugural speech, “Today, fate and destiny join together to place the torch of human progress in our very hands. We dare not let it slip. We lift this torch so that it might shine on every household and in every heart that calls itself Nigerian.”
For Mr President his words are his bounds and he’ll surely follow through with all his campaign promises. No capping!
As for those doubting Thomas still in doubt about where the Tinubu administration stands in the scheme things, be ready for pleasant surprises: the progressive socioeconomic growth still to unfold will shock and choke you!
Adebola, a public affairs commentator writes from Lagos.
