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Tag: PBAT

  • Why it’ll be fatal to stop PBAT’s reforms

    Why it’ll be fatal to stop PBAT’s reforms

    • By Kunle Oyatomi

    Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up – Thomas Edison (1847-1931) American inventor and businessman.

    Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors of all time, was said to have filed an estimated 500-600 unsuccessful or abandoned applications in his lifetime. According to the record, he failed 2774 times. But that didn’t stop him from succeeding with the invention of the light bulb in January 1879 after more than 1000 failed trials.

    Now, imagine if the American inventor had given up because of the hundreds of botched attempts. Or because of the derision he received from the public. Or because of not wanting to incur more debts after huge capital investments, sometimes sourced from interests-laden loans. If he stopped his quest for the bulb, it would have been a tragic setback for mankind. Somehow, someone else would probably have done it. But in another age. This would delay its immense benefit to man. But Thomas Edison wouldn’t allow these distractions; and today he stands as a towering lesson in unwavering perseverance in human endeavours.

    I solemnly recommend Thomas Edison to President Bola Tinubu. Although the inventor wasn’t a government leader, his story teaches those holding political office that you don’t give up your strategies for the sake of expediency. Handling the ship of state, as I once said in an earlier piece, is not a sprint, not a short race. It’s not a run for the moment; it is a marathon, a long distance, where strategy is prioritized, not sacrificed on the altar of short-lived concerns.

    Of course you don’t abandon today altogether. But your two legs are moving in such a way that they are more positioned to hasten into tomorrow, solving today’s challenges to disallow them from escaping into tomorrow.

    What President Tinubu has done, in fuel subsidy removal and leaving our naira to compete with others, is the gruelling furnace the nation needs to birth into abiding growth and development. Please, note the ‘birth’ I deliberately applied. There’s no birth that comes without pangs.

    I recall as I write that there were attempts at bringing about these changes in the recent and remote pasts. Under presidents Umaru Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, there were deafening uproar against moves to do away with the fuel subsidy.

    True, there were inflationary trends that accompanied the regulated subsidy removal. Cost of living went up; costs of goods and services flew beyond the reach of the masses. It also took its toll on government as it could not honour its promises to deliver some basic infrastructure. Labour and the political opposition as well as civil society ganged up to lampoon the authorities for ‘imposing hardship’ on the people. Unfortunately, the leaders of the day couldn’t stand this backlash. They did not have the backbone to see through their initiatives. So they pulled back, instead of persevering with their nationalistic economic policies.

    Each time we retraced the bold steps towards the path taking us to the zone of emancipation, we were actually doing two things simultaneously: moving backwards to a despised past and throwing our problems into tomorrow for our children to solve. Which good parent would do that? What serious leader wishing to bequeath a rich heritage would not resolve the critical issues that rear their heads under him, but would leave them for his successors?

    In the early 1960s when US President J.F. Kennedy was giving his country radical governance, he also came up with something completely out of the world: America must get to the moon before the end of the decade! Indeed, she did in 1969, despite scoffers’ scepticism from the camp of the political opposition. Kennedy wasn’t alive when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in July 1969. But the Kennedy vision was alive and kicking. Why? Because realizing the vision wasn’t left in the hands of a hazy indistinct future when the conditions would be right or when there would be no protests or jeering.

    Read Also: PBAT and the security challenge

    The conditions for change or reforms are always rife as the idea sets in. If you don’t act on them to tame the problems they are meant to deal with, those problems will grow bigger as you postpone them for another day. That’s the experience we have had over the years with the issues of fuel subsidy and the naira floating. We pampered them to become monsters.

    President Bola Tinubu must prevent them from becoming invincible Frankenstein’s monsters that threaten to destroy their creators. The only way deal with them is to boldly push through with the reforms. This is not the time to beat a retreat like his predecessors did. Under him, this great African country can go beyond its potential status to emerge as the giant of the African continent. Let him prove that his leadership this era of our history can make a difference.

    This is a duty President Bola Tinubu owes the 200m+ Nigerians he is governing. We must all support him, irrespective of political party, gender, religious or social class divide. The people want him to sustain his reforms till he gets the ‘light bulb’ for Nigeria the way Thomas Edison persevered to get the bulb for mankind.

    • Oyatomi Esq is a member of Independent Media and Policy Initiative, IMPI, Abuja.
  • PBAT and the security challenge

    PBAT and the security challenge

    When he assumed office as governor of Lagos State in May 1999, the question of chronic insecurity was one of the most severe challenges that then-governor Bola Tinubu’s administration had to confront. It was at a time when banks were routinely robbed across the state with bank customers and staff losing their lives, being injured, or having humongous amounts of money snatched in dare-devil robberies carried out in broad daylight.

    There were incessant communal crises and violence in places like Ajegunle, Mile 12 market, Makoko, and Agege among others. Traffic robberies on the highway were a common occurrence in several parts of the state, a problem compounded by the derelict roads and ancillary traffic control infrastructure, a badly deteriorated environment particularly the menace of abandoned refuse heaps both in the rural and urban areas. Car snatching was also rampant across the state.

    The then governor Tinubu and his team worked round the clock to confound its several critics and lay the foundation for a safe and secure state. When the administration clocked 100 days in office, there were excoriating and scathing reviews of its performance in several newspapers as well as in the electronic media. The critics were not persuaded when the administration responded by stressing that it was impossible to bring about the much desired transformation in several sectors within a three-month timeframe even as it pointed out that it was relentlessly laying the foundation for the emergence of a new Lagos.

    It would appear that President Bola Tinubu thrives more when confronted with crises that compel him to draw on his inner psychological, spiritual, and strategic political resources to navigate treacherous terrain and come out triumphantly again and again.

    At the end, in 2007, of his eight-year tenure as governor in Lagos State, the mega city had evolved into a bastion of security of lives and property, rapid infrastructural transformation, and provision of social services especially to the most vulnerable segments of the population.

    I recall that, despite the hostility of the labour unions to his administration in its early phase due to differences on the national minimum wage, the leaders and members of the unions joined in giving Tinubu a resounding all-day-long farewell reception at the Adeyemi Bero Auditorium in the state Secretariat, Alsusa. During his eight-year tenure as governor, President Tinubu ultimately snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and left in a blaze of glory. His successors – Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, and now Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu – have in various ways done commendably well in building on the foundation laid for the state between 1999 and 2007.

    Indeed, President Tinubu’s widely acknowledged exemplary performance as governor in Lagos State played a key role in his victory in the keenly contested elections of February 2023. Many of his admirers and supporters are eagerly praying that he will replicate for Nigeria what he did for Lagos. True, Nigeria is not Lagos even though the mega city has people from virtually all ethnic groups in the country residing and working there.

    The security situation in Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as governor was not on the scale being witnessed across the country today. But the same measures, methods, and techniques that were so successful in Lagos can be utilized to decisively end the spate of massive kidnappings in various states all over the country, armed robbery, ritual killings, assassinations communal violence, rampant cultism, Yahoo-Yahoo cyber criminality, albeit with the necessary adjustments that may be required to meet the far greater security challenge at the national level.

    Whenever school children and other people are kidnapped or armed gangs descend on communities burning down houses, burning down farms, killing relentlessly, and raping women, it is not the image of the security high command that is at stake. After all, it is the President who appoints those who occupy these positions and they maintain their positions at his pleasure.

    Since it is President Tinubu’s image, credibility, and capability that is at risk with every act of atrocious criminality successfully carried out and the perpetrators easily get away, then he cannot afford to allow his appointees in these high-security offices to lull into complacency. During the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, there were no consequences for the members of his high-security command no matter how glaring the incidents of criminality that exposed their sheer incompetence.

    After each act of criminality, Buhari would summon his security chieftains, hold meetings with them, and order that the victims of these kidnappers and bandits be rescued urgently. This was the vicious cycle that characterized the Buhari administration with security meetings held, the President’s order issued only for another even more atrocious criminality to occur with the lawless kidnappers demanding ever-increasing amounts of money as ransom and the President giving his wearying orders to his security chieftains to ensure the urgent rescue of those kidnapped. The bandits and kidnappers will surely be having a good laugh in their forest redoubts each time these presidential orders are issued.

    Can it be that the bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements are out-thinking and outflanking our various security agencies? Why is it that the criminals seem to be more proactive in their operations than our highly trained security agencies? Indeed, the operations of the bandits and kidnappers suggest that they are flexible enough to change their tactics as necessitated by unfolding developments. On the other hand, our security agencies have, in my view, adhered rigidly to the same tactics they have used since the commencement of the war against assorted acts of criminality over the last 15 years.

    President Tinubu should be interested in knowing what the humongous sums of money aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our gallant troops at the frontline, was utilized for. It is also no secret that the Buhari administration procured sophisticated weapons, especially aircraft, to enhance the operational efficacy of the military agencies. But why have these measures such as humongous funding of the military and the acquisition of modern weapons for the armed forces not impacted much in our ongoing war against diverse forms of crimes threatening the stability and cohesion of the country?

    We cannot continue to do the same thing repeatedly and yet expect a change, it is often said. President Tinubu’s administration should deviate from the path of the preceding administration in addressing the continually deteriorating security situation. Heads of the various security agencies should be made aware that the retention of their offices will be contingent on a marked improvement in the country’s security situation. Again, what is most glaring is that weak intelligence gathering and utilization is at the root of our security debacle.

    Like so many others have said, it is simply difficult to understand how large numbers of bandits could have attacked a school in Kaduna State, capturing and taking away about 280 school children and members of staff into their nefarious abodes in the forests without being apprehended by security agencies. The bandits are reportedly demanding N1 billion to free their victims within a time frame of 20 days or else they will be killed.

    President Tinubu has rightly said that no ransom will be paid for the release of kidnapped victims by his administration. Ransom payment only gives the criminals the funds to acquire more sophisticated weapons and a greater capacity to wage war against society. But then, with the lives of about 280 persons affected in the Kaduna school children kidnapped under threat, does the government really have sufficient room for maneuver?

    Read Also: PBAT and unrelenting opposition (2)

    I can understand the President’s dilemma. In my view, everything should be done to ensure the rescue of all those currently in the kidnappers’ den and then we can begin to plan for a future in which these criminal gangs are thwarted right in their planning period so their plans are nipped in the bud before being actualized. Of course, this will entail an urgent reengineering of the intelligence agencies for more effective delivery in the implementation of their constitutionally stipulated mandates.

    With every successful act of mass kidnapping or sustained attacks by rampaging gangs on villages and farming communities, the ‘stateness’ of the state is drained and it cannot credibly claim that it is the sovereign authority within a geographically defined boundary. When non-state actors brandish sophisticated weapons and, for instance, tax farmers before the latter can access their farms, it can be surmised that the state is withering away.

    This is why the administration needs to move at an accelerated rate to actualize the decentralization of the country’s security architecture, a previously contentious issue that all parts of the country are now supportive of. President Tinubu is well placed to achieve this objective as he has been a champion of deepening federal practice in Nigeria for several years before being elected president.

    Again, during the campaigns, President Tinubu pledged to establish a Forest Guards outfit to sanitize and maintain security in the country’s vast forests. Most of the kidnappings particularly in the northern states take place on highways or schools and the victims taken into forests where the criminals live. Establishment of the Forest Rangers will help in driving criminal elements out of these forests as well as prove to the public that Tinubu has fresh ideas and is willing to think outside the box in finding solutions to our security challenges.

  • PBAT and unrelenting opposition (2)

    PBAT and unrelenting opposition (2)

    So bitter were opposition elements, particularly those of certain ethno-regional and religious affiliations, to the outcome of the 2023 presidential election that some had the temerity to openly call on the military to overthrow the democratically elected government of the country. It is surprising that such utterances that border on treasonable felonies were treated with kid gloves by the security agencies which ought to have apprehended those responsible and brought them before the law. Even right up to the swearing-in of President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, many bitter Nigerians continued to cast doubt on the possibility of the transition process successfully taking place. So-called men of God demonstrated that they were not more than ‘gods of men’ with feet of clay, their claims to hearing directly from God turning out to be purely fictional.

    Such people continue to harbor deep-seated grievances against the administration, lay all the blame for the current situation of the country at its doorstep, and pray for its failure. Even the current harsh sufferings of millions of Nigerians partly as a result of the largely inevitable economic reforms of the Tinubu administration is most welcome to such people. It is easier for them to blame the administration for years of humongous corruption on the part of successive governments, dysfunctional policies, inexplicable indebtedness, gross infrastructure deficit, and debilitating import dependency among other factors responsible for the country’s post-colonial economic crisis and underdevelopment.

    The PBAT administration must not underestimate the degree of bitterness against it in certain implacable quarters. It should not assume that the continuing deteriorating and fluctuating fortunes of the Naira relative to the dollar, the sundry threats to the security of lives and property across the country or the astronomical surge in the prices of basic necessities of life, for instance, are not informed by some elements of deliberate sabotage. Thus, it must put its security agencies on their toes to nab and prosecute those who may be minded to derail governance and destabilize the country.

    All of this is not to say that much of the current hardship is not a function of the consequences of its economic policies. The administration must therefore continue to recalibrate these policies not just to restructure the economy in the long run but, as much as possible, to ease current pains. Perhaps mindful of the federal constitution which we run, despite its unitary features, the administration has largely left states to their own devices in the design and administration of palliatives. And this despite the humongous amounts of money it made available to state governments for this purpose.

    Unfortunately, only a handful of these sub-national units have come up with meaningful and concrete palliative measures to cushion the pains of their people. Happily, an increasing number of states are forthcoming with positive initiatives in this regard. As noted in the first part of this piece last week, the efforts to soothe current pains must be a collaborative effort on the part of the three tiers of government especially with the sharp increase in Naira revenues accruing to them as a result of the removal of the fuel subsidy.

    One key reason for the administration to speed up the process of decentralizing the security architecture of the country preferably along geo-regional lines as suggested last week is the intimate link between pervasive insecurity, food scarcity and the attendant high cost of essential food items. Large numbers of farmers have abandoned their farmlands and whole farming communities dislocated by large scale kidnappings, banditry and attacks by rampaging herdsmen. These communities and farmers must quickly be restored and rehabilitated for agricultural productivity to improve appreciably.

    In this piece, I will quote the views and ideas of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo at some length because his views on agriculture, industry and other aspects of economic policy are still cogent, relevant and pungent. In this regard, it is my view that the administration ought to reconsider its position on food importation particularly with respect to rice and other essential grains. If the administration can take drastic steps to bring about a crash in the price, for instance, of rice which has become a stable food consumed in most homes, a substantial part of prevailing pains will be mitigated. If this will mean food importation in the short term, so be it.

    Achieving this objective will lead to an immediate soaring of the administration’s image and goodwill. Despite the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s massive investment in local rice production through such policies as its Anchor Borrowers Scheme, it did not appear to have the desired effect on local rice productivity. Consequently, its closure of the borders and ban of the commodity had substantially negative consequences on living conditions.

    Speaking extensively on his approach to economic management in his address to his party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) on the 20th of May, 1979, Chief Awolowo said “This brings me to the issue of bans on various items of imports, the aim of these bans is to conserve our foreign exchange, but in the process we have intensified the inflationary pressure at home. We have even done worse; we have encouraged smuggling on a large scale, which ipso facto involves illicit dealings in foreign currencies also on a large scale, to the utter detriment of our foreign earnings and the frustration of our aim to conserve Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve. In spite of all the ban on imports, in spite of all the controls and monetary manipulations, our inflationary rate is steadily on the increase, and our balance of payments position is continually on the decline. In the circumstances, the Unity Party of Nigeria will have no hesitation at all in lifting all the ban on imports and abolishing all the existing controls.”

    Continuing, Awolowo noted that “In our approach to the problem of inflation, we have, in our mental indolence, tended to base our solution mainly on monetary manipulation and price control. The Unity Party of Nigeria will strive to do much better than these. Firstly, we will, under our integrated rural development scheme, produce much more food at home. Fortunately, most of our foodstuffs are yearly or twice-yearly crops. We will abolish price and other controls and produce more foods, more houses, more clothing material, and more consumer goods generally. Experiences over the years have demonstrated beyond any doubt that much control breeds much inefficiency and much corruption. Secondly, we will deliberately seek to export part of our international inflation to foreign countries. “

    Even if importation of staple grains becomes inevitable to ease food costs in the interim, the country needs a more radical, even revolutionary approach to agricultural productivity if she is ever to attain food self- reliance and convert the sector into a massive earner of revenue through agricultural exports. The ideas of Chief Awolowo in this respect also remain substantially relevant and valid in my view. He advocated the organization of farmers throughout the country into farmers’ cooperatives which would be equipped for large scale mechanized farming and given generous financial and technical subsidies.

    In his words, “From all that has been said, it is crystal clear that, whichever way you look at it, the present system of farming condemns the average Nigerian farmer to grinding poverty, to degradation and abjectness. This is a situation which must be terminated with the utmost sense of urgency and unabating Vigour.”

    Read Also: PBAT and unrelenting opposition (1)

    He proposed that “If it is our determination, as we often profess to lift the farmers from the morass of social degradation and economic miseries, at the same time help to raise and improve their standards of life, the immediate introduction of certain programmes is absolutely imperative. First, the state governments should take immediate steps to mobilize and organize our farmers into cooperative societies throughout the country. A cooperative unit of between 100 to 200 practicing farmers, all depending on the type of crops to be cultivated, could be the optimum. In this regard, it must be constantly borne in mind that the individual farmer, except a rich landowner, is not a viable proposition. Secondly, each state government should provide the co-operating farmers with areas of farmlands which are adequate for the fulfillment of their aims and objectives. Thirdly, revenue should be allocated to the states in such a manner as to enable each of them to give massive financial and technical assistance to co-operating farmers who must, of course, register their organizations as limited liability corporations under the co-operative law of the state”.

    Some of these ideas on managing the economy must certainly be of some value to members of the President’s economic advisory team. Awolowo was of the view, for instance, that “In this connection, I would like to state that what indigenously owned Nigerian industries need is not injudicious tariff protection which does more harm to many more people than the good it does to a few. What they need is assistance in various forms to enable their products to compete effectively with imported goods. Such assistance will take the form of cheaper and more dependable infrastructures, lower customs duties on imported materials, lower excise duties on finished goods, subsidized technical assistance, direct financial subsidy for food production, and so on and so forth.”

    On import levies, for instance, some business people are of the view that import duties on specified varieties of non-luxury vehicles should be drastically scaled down. They argue that such vehicles used for public transportation, for example, will have the salutary effect of reducing transportation costs and mitigating high living costs. Renowned human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has also identified over 20 sources of corrupt enrichment by public office holders that can be blocked with a significant positive impact on public revenues and reduced need for reliance on foreign loans. The Tinubu administration should be acutely aware of the danger of the humongous amounts of corrupt funds in private hands to its regime’s security and national stability.

    For instance, a number of those who were stupendously enriched through the alleged illicit accumulation of public funds during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari are known to have, directly or indirectly, worked against the emergence of Tinubu as President. The administration should be ruthless in going after the recovery of such funds. Even though Buhari’s anti-corruption credentials and integrity remain unblemished, one weakness of the former President was that he was too trusting of his close aides and many allegedly hid behind his ascetic image to commit atrocities detrimental to the economy.

    Equally critical to the ultimate success of the administration’s economic reform efforts is the need to deliberately and consciously cut the current exorbitant costs associated with governance. The existing disparity in living conditions between a microscopic minority of affluent Nigerians and the vast majority of poverty-stricken Nigerians is another source of the grave insecurity that is the responsibility of the PBAT administration to address.

  • Cost of governance vs cost of living

    Cost of governance vs cost of living

    Nigerians are going through harrowing times, and I believe the elected officials have taken notice. With food inflation roaring at 29.9 percent, many are predicting that the country is a tinderbox, and could descend into anarchy at the slightest ignition. My younger nephew, who has witnessed the price of basic groceries double in the past six months, asked me whether the prices would ever come down. Lacking the power of clairvoyance, I replied that I don’t know.

    But it appears that our political leaders know that there is fire on the mountain and unless drastic measures are taken, there may be no office to hold, if anarchy is loosened upon the land. One sign that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) took notice some months ago was his directive that the number of those who travel with him should be reduced. Another sign that some federal lawmakers have taken notice is the proposal by 60 parliamentarians to return Nigeria to parliamentary system of government, arguing that the presidential system is too expensive.

    While the two indicators show a concerned political class, there is little doubt that the executive and legislative arms of government hold the key to a new Nigeria. PBAT should consider setting up a presidential economic advisory council, drawn from the best hands that are available in Nigeria and overseas, to advise the president’s economic team on measures to halt the spiralling inflation that has made a mess of the lives of Nigerians. Such group would advise the team on how to stabilize the value of naira.

    Of course, no one is projecting for a group of economic miracle workers, but obviously, those presently in charge need help. Agreeably, there are global economic challenges ravaging most economies across the world, but Nigeria’s case is peculiar, considering the gross economic misadventures of the immediate past government, especially the monetary policies of Godwin Emefiele’s era. Apart from the unprecedented exposure of the apex bank, through ways and means, the CBN became a lender of first resort, doling out trillions to any group that caught Emefiele’s fancy.

    Perhaps, if the CBN is a licensed commercial bank, and its exposures are audited, it could go into receivership. Already overexposed, under the previous regime, the bank has become too weak to intervene on behalf of the federation, which is the primary reason for its existence. So, the challenge facing our national economy requires a pooling of ideas. Furthermore, the PBAT policies on housing, roads and other physical infrastructure projects that would put monies in the hands of labourers, artisans and less skilled persons, should start without further delay.

    The state governments which have received windfalls from the removal of fuel subsidy should turn their states to construction sites, so that their citizens can be engaged in pursuits that bring income to them. All over the states, there are roads, schools, hospitals and public buildings that requires patching, rebuilding, reconstruction and improvement which would keep their citizens meaningfully engaged, as well as increase their gross domestic productivity. Local contractors who use large manpower should gain priority in this era, over sophisticated big guns.

    This is not an era for all those big ticket projects like airports that put money in the hands of big contractors, who bring in expatriates to repatriate the money paid, and who don’t employ a lot of manpower but rather engine power and imported products to build fanciful monuments. Patriotic contractors who have been awarded big road projects should be encouraged to reduce machine input, while they increase human input, even if the delivery periods would have to be extended.

    Local government administrators should replicate similar industry at the local levels. Instead of sharing local government allocations to placate party stalwarts and engaging in dismal economic activities, the monies received should be channelled to infrastructure developments which will keep the people meaningfully engaged. The executive arm can engage in needs assessment of communities, mobilize the youths to work, while the state commissioners, and local council supervisors monitor the projects, sign completion certificates and ensure disbursements from relevant ministries and finance departments.

    On their part, the federal legislators should declare austerity for themselves. This column has written severally that considering the importance of the legislature as the blood of democracy, a compromised legislature is like a cancer in the blood of the political system. Such a legislature, instead of engaging in oversight functions, seeks filthy lucre from the activities they are supposed to oversight. As the engine room of the checks and balances that strengthen democracy, a compromised legislature rather becomes a vampire that sucks life out of the political system.

    So, while awaiting debate on the proposal to return Nigeria to parliamentary democracy, the National Assembly should shave what they have appropriated to themselves in flagrant disobedience to the provision of Third Schedule Part 1N (d) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which provides that their salaries and emoluments should be determined by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. This column believes that if they can turn a new leaf, they can effectively oversight the executive arm, where the bulk of the nation’s resources are spent.

    Read Also: Economic hardship: Tinubu inherited a failed economy – Gbenga Daniel

    The same role should be applicable to the state and local government legislative authorities. While most of the state legislatures have not shown the daring courage of the federal legislature to forcefully take a chunk of the available resources for themselves, they lack the courage to oversight the executive arms, as provided by the constitution. Many of them are just docile, awaiting the directive of the governors, for which side to turn their legislative heads. The result is that most governors are tin despots, with the requisite checks and balances that breed effectiveness lacking.

    While this column trusts the capacity of PBAT and his team to turn around the debilitating economic challenges we face as a nation, it admonishes that time is of essence. The regime must know that it has many political enemies, who are eager to conflate their political interests with the economic challenges faced by the masses. If they have the opportunity they would ignite fire to burn down the country, believing they are burning down PBAT’s regime.  Hunger, desperation and hopelessness on the part of the poor and downtrodden can be exploited.

    So, the president, state governors and local government administrators must join forces to pursue developmental programs to end the spiralling poverty ravaging the land. It would be a monumental tragedy if the country is allowed to burn down in an orgy of angry protests. The debilitating pains in the street, coupled with the harsh weather condition, are a cocktail for disaster. Those who don’t care about the country must not be handed over the initiative, to turn the country upside down.

  • Restructuring: Open letter to PBAT

    Restructuring: Open letter to PBAT

    SIR: When you took the oath on May 29, 2023, the hopes of many citizens soared, inspired by your enduring commitment to democracy and true federalism over the years.

    Your initial months in office have witnessed bold steps, such as the removal of the fuel subsidy and unifying the exchange rate. However, it is evident that these initiatives, and future ones, will face limitations without embracing true federalism and the devolution of power. The pressing security and economic challenges confronting Nigeria demand a more nuanced approach beyond the centralization of power.

    A crucial aspect that cannot be overlooked is the need for a comprehensive restructuring of Nigeria’s political framework. The current structure has inherent flaws that impede development and foster an environment conducive to mediocrity and corruption. Regardless of your well-intentioned efforts, the system, as it stands, is programmed to fail. Bring President Obama, Trump, Biden, and Clinton to govern Nigeria with the current constitution and military imposed unitary system, they will all fail miserably.

    Read Also: PBAT’s insecticidal revolution

    Every successive government in Nigeria has been worse than before since Obasanjo’s presidency, and the trend continues because of a bad structural bankrupt unitary system. There is no hope in the current Nigerian system, unless we are in perpetual denial, the urgency to change it for the common good is now.

    Dear President Tinubu, I implore you to reflect on your pre-presidential speeches and advocacies, especially when you were in the trenches as a pro-democracy activist and as the governor of Lagos State, during which you championed the cause of true federalism. It is clear that attempting to govern Nigeria within the existing structure may lead to little or no success. Our nation requires a fundamental shift towards a more sustainable and equitable system.

    The call for restructuring is not just a plea for change; it is a necessity to ensure the future prosperity of our great nation. The current trajectory is unsustainable, and the echoes of underdevelopment are becoming increasingly pronounced, especially when compared to our African counterparts.

    Nigeria must not be left behind in the progress that other nations of the world are achieving. It is time to break free from the cyclical challenges and embrace a path that allows each geopolitical zone to develop at its own pace.

    The choice is clear: You can go down in history as the man who took the bull by the horns and led Nigeria towards a restructured future or risk being bound by the limitations of an outdated system.

    • Prof. Babs Onabanjo USA.
  • PBAT’s insecticidal revolution

    PBAT’s insecticidal revolution

    • By Oluwole Ogundele

    Man, regardless of his geographical location, skin colour and shape of the nose, is corrupt by nature.  Regulations and their strict enforcement are the age-old mechanism for checks and balances. Any society that does not handle this aspect of humanity with utmost seriousness is doomed to failure. Corruption is a global challenge of huge monstrosity.  However, the intensities do vary through time and space. Economic/financial corruption is just one variant of this immorality. Therefore, corruption is an encapsulation of a wide range of evils against the human society. Thus, for example, racism is an element of unbridled prejudice and by extension, corruption.  Tax evasion usually by big business men in Europe and America among other places is an act of corruption. Similarly, accepting and keeping stolen monies from Africa in Western banks are a form of monumental immorality.

    But despite the fact, that saintliness is still light years away, the developed world is trying hard to tackle the menace of corruption usually through the lens of the rule of law. For instance, Europe and America have little or space for bigotry. Again, nobody is above the law. The reverse is the case in Nigeria where ethnic and religious bigotry makes it difficult to reduce bribery and corruption to the barest minimum.

    Leaders blatantly loot the public treasury and thereafter, begin to whip up sentiments rooted in ethnicity and/or religion. Not surprisingly, thieves who should have been sentenced to life imprisonment, have the effrontery to flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. Looting public treasury and abuse of power have become a way of life in Nigeria. From the late 1950s to-date, politicians have gone haywire, as they serially rape mother Nigeria, understandably because there are no consequences for financial crimes and criminality.

    The judiciary needs to redeem its image in this connection. Insatiable longing after wealth or insane greed is an encumbrance to personal or professional integrity.  Given the current magnitude of economic/financial infractions, Nigeria cannot remain afloat the ocean of modern globalisation. No amount of foreign trips by Mr. President to woo investors will lead to appreciable success in the face of endemic corruption and insecurity. Therefore, the president should kindly wrestle with corruption, so that socio-economic development on a sustainable scale can become a reality. Those greedy members of the leadership class across the board in Nigeria are hereby christened, insects-ants, flies and to a lesser degree, cockroaches and spiders.  They are enemies of the Nigerian society.  As a result of this, the president needs to equally beam his searchlight at those managing the state and local government affairs, where accountability, transparency, and probity have also taken flight.

    It is against this background, that an insecticidal revolution under the direction of President Bola Tinubu gains its relevance.  We do not need insects in our age-old social environment. If the US and Britain among other developed nations could mitigate their corrupt practices, Nigeria too, should be able to do the same thing within the confines of the rule of law. Nothing is wrong with our genetic make-up! The country’s leadership needs the will power to positively change the narrative.

    I quite appreciate the fact that this is a difficult task to accomplish. The led must give their maximum support in this regard. Good governance (to some extent) is a collective exercise. Nigerians have to de-couple from their age-long mind-set embedded in sentiments-vestiges of savagery or barbarism. These vestiges are an anathema to societal growth and development on a sustainable scale.

    Many political leaders are guilty of engendering ethnic and religious sentiments for selfish reasons. Political office holders and their close family members, as well as business associates, do not remember the ordinary people, when stealing public monies and buying exotic cars. They do not care a hoot about the welfare of the masses after winning or rigging elections. These insects masquerading as political leaders merely use the led, like a set of tools for self-aggrandisement.  Therefore, the masses should stop behaving like a bunch of morons despite their multi-facetted material poverty.

    Those political officeholders, who have stolen our patrimony, thereby turning more than 100 million Nigerians into paupers, must return the monies after thoroughgoing investigations. Henceforth, such cockroaches and flies must also go to jail after returning the stolen monies. This will serve as a deterrent to others. The wretched of the earth among us, who are always eager to defend crimes and criminality (as a result of unfettered bigotry), should try to liberate themselves from the shackles of spiritual poverty. They must shut their mouths in the interest of peace and national progress. Their prostituted mind-set has to be re-engineered.

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    Nigerians want to begin to experience governance as if seriousness and unalloyed patriotism matter. By this token, those leaders who are not ready to adapt to the new political environment can voluntarily resign or get the boot. PBAT is prepared to redeem Nigeria enmeshed in unbridled corruption killing the system slowly. The masses (always on the receiving end of a great deal of mal-administration), are ready to support the president once he is able to set an example to other members of the leadership class across the board.  Those who are stealing our crude oil and mineral resources under the guise of local and foreign investments, as well as companies using Nigerian youths like slaves in their fatherland, must be dealt with according to the rule of law. Again, the government should stop telling us that they know the sponsors of terrorists. The law is no respecter of persons! Deal with those sponsors and their accomplices/satanic elements, maiming or killing innocent Nigerians. Let the hitherto pampered terrorists know that Nigeria under the leadership of Tinubu is no longer safe for them.

    This exercise of re-engineering Nigeria will certainly meet with grave resistance from a wide range of persons, especially those who have looted our common treasury before now. But there is no doubt that such reactionaries will fail woefully in the long run. Nobody, no matter how monstrous and hypocritical, will succeed in truncating this great process started by PBAT-the potential Nelson Mandela of our times. The insecticidal revolution has commenced. The train of sustainable economic development is moving. It is deadly to cross the rail line carelessly. In other words, the president is doing everything possible to crush those insects (gluttonous public office holders) polluting our socio-economic environment.

    However, the recovered monies have to be spent on projects that directly touch the lives of the masses. There should be no more taxes until the newly approved wages start. The ordinary people have made enough sacrifices. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is a failed experiment. It has become synonymous with monumental corruption, right from its inception in August 2019.  Nigeria is not yet there! No reliable social register. No sufficient financial discipline. In addition, Nigeria needs to be participating in the Bretton Woods Institutions like the World Bank and IMF in a critical manner. Most of their interventionist programmes are suffocating. We need a home-grown agenda. Nigeria is no longer a colony of Europe.

    •Prof Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.

  • National contradictions PBAT must resolve

    National contradictions PBAT must resolve

    • By Michael Owhoko

    Any Nigerian with rational and open mind knows that complexity of governance in Nigeria today is rooted in the country’s political system, which by any stretch of imagination and logic, is unsuitable for a heterogeneous society like Nigeria with over 250 ethnic groups that are characterized by incompatible cultures, varied history, background and interests. 

    These ethnic groups were hitherto independent nations that ceded their sovereignty to the Nigerian state under federalism, a political system that took cognizance of their peculiarities and agreed upon by the country’s founding fathers.  But ever since this system was subverted and replaced with a unitary state structure, Nigeria has been embroiled with unending suspicion, distrust, disunity, disharmony, nepotism, hegemony and rivalry among the various ethnic nationalities, indicative of its inappropriateness. 

    Unsuitability of the unitary state structure, inequitable revenue sharing method, breach of country’s secularity status, dishonest quota system and political location of industries are major national contradictions undermining Nigeria’s potentials.  Except to hide under cover of pretence, it is a common knowledge that Nigeria’s progress is held down by these national paradoxes. They are aberrations and drawbacks that are fundamentally responsible for the country’s stunted growth.  These are what President Bola Tinubu must address to set the tone for equitable and prosperous Nigeria. 

    Efforts outside this trajectory amounts to sheer cosmetic administrative routine and waste of valuable resources incapable of restoring hope.  The unitary system of government has become a Frankenstein monster that is pushing the country towards the precipice with diminished national and global stature.  Until a more suitable political template is introduced, Nigeria will continue to drift in circles like a regional giant with no illuminating potentials to inspire public confidence. 

    Federalism had been tested in Nigeria, and it worked.  It is a system of government where all federating states and central government are financially independent, autonomous, interdependent and co-equal with neither the federal government nor the states inferior to each other.  This is the political system that best suits the country’s cultural diversity and sociological complexities, capable of achieving equity, justice and balance. 

    In a plural society like Nigeria, unitary system is a misfit, lacking the capacity to promote unity.  It engenders acrimony, disaffection, nepotism, primordial nationalism and marginalization, owing to conflicting cultural aspirations.  Emergence of separatist movements and other related self-determination groups are some of the challenges facing Nigeria today, justifying the need for federalism to stem the tide.  Otherwise, the country risks more ethnic nationalities surfacing to seek autonomy.

    With about 68 items on the Exclusive list and 12 items on the Concurrent list, the 1999 Constitution is in structure, content and spirit, a unitary constitution, where the destiny of the states and people are determined and centrally regulated, using revenue allocation as tool for coercion and subservient corporatism.  This constitution has failed Nigerians.  The states or geo-political zones want independent hold of their future within the context of their distinct cultural aspirations.

    As a way out, the concept of the 1963 Constitution should be invoked to allow states to take control of mineral deposits found in their domains.  In other words, fiscal federalism with derivation principle allowing retention of 50 percent minimum of accrued revenue found in or generated by the states, should be introduced.  All states and geo-political areas in Nigeria are evidently endowed as God has provided every habitat with natural resources, including agricultural crops for subsistence.  This will not only give states the necessary financial autonomy, but will encourage them to harness and optimize their potentials, just as it will encourage hard-work, healthy competition, and discourage indolence.

    Government’s involvement in religion is also a national contradiction and aberration.  Nigeria is a secular state as affirmed by Section 10 of 1999 Constitution, which says that the government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion in Nigeria.  But federal government’s behavioural disposition undermines this clause when viewed against the backdrop of its contribution and participation in religious matters. 

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    By establishing the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) to oversee and facilitate the process for participation of Muslims in Hajj or Umra in Saudi Arabia and pilgrimage of Christians to Jerusalem and other holy sites, the federal government has adopted Islam and Christianity as official religions, contrary to the intention of secularism.    

    Religion is a personal affair, and individuals are at liberty to practice their faith as deemed appropriate, as long as it does not violate the right of others.  The huge amount expended by federal government annually to fund NAHCON and NCPC, as well as meeting financial obligations in Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC, is an infringement on the right of Nigerians whose taxes are used to service these private interests. 

    After all, government’s involvement in religion has not reduced moral decadence in Nigeria, as most beneficiaries of these pilgrimages are involved in corruption that have contributed to the country’s woes.  Rather than waste the country’s resources on these unprofitable ventures, such money should be used to shore up decaying infrastructure across the country. 

    President Tinubu should therefore dissolve NAHCON and NCPC, and remove Nigeria from membership of OIC, as part of strategies to maintain the secularity of Nigeria.  Any state government whosoever desires to fund its citizens to holy sites is free to do so at its own expense.  The federal government must hands-off religion to save taxpayers’ money. 

    Quota system is another national contradiction.  It is part of Nigeria’s problems, and a source of bureaucratic ineptitude that should be discarded for excellence.  This system has been consistently abused and manipulated by government officials to serve primordial and entrenched interests.  The system has also deprived millions of brilliant Nigerians of opportunities to serve their fatherland on account of their states of origin.  

    When merit is sacrificed on the altar of representation, what you have is incompetence and failure.  Nigeria is currently paying price of poor performance in government owing to quota application in recruitment process in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).  The outcome has been inefficiency and poor delivery output with no value addition. 

    Sadly, the quota system is applicable to the educational sector that is supposed to be the substratum of research and development.  Unqualified students are admitted into federal unity schools and universities while brilliant ones are unable to secure placements.  In some cases, appointment of professors and award of PhD degrees are based on quota system, leading to production of quota scholars lacking capacity for research and discovery.  What an irony for a country that is striving to compete in global affairs!

    Another national contradiction is political location of industries.  Oil and gas companies involved in exploration of crude oil in the Niger Delta should be compelled to relocate their administrative headquarters to areas where they have a minimum of 70 percent of their operations.  This will not only accelerate development of the region, but will help in resolving current poverty and frustration, resulting from negligence and degradation in the region.  The Nigeria LNG Limited which moved its administrative headquarters from Lagos to Bonny Island, Rivers State, where its operational base is located, is enjoying support from its host communities.  The company should be commended and emulated.

    Therefore, to reset, reshape and reposition Nigeria for stronger brand identity aimed at maximizing its full potentials to achieve national progress, regional influence and global respect, President Bola Tinubu must address and nip these national contradictions in the bud by next year, 2024. 

    • Dr. Owhoko is a Lagos-based journalist and author.
  • PBAT the negotiator and the reopening of Emirati corridor

    PBAT the negotiator and the reopening of Emirati corridor

    it was another very exciting week and especially so because President Bola Tinubu continued with the streak and momentum of the week before. The week before last week, he did it home front to offshore, but last week it was offshore to home front. He started his week in New Delhi, India, where he has been from the week before and the event that took him that far from home happened to close on the first day of the week.

    Last week Sunday, just as the G-20 Leaders Forum was winding down in New Delhi, a couple of sidelines meetings were organised among various heads of states. President Tinubu met with three world leaders that day; Prime Minister of the host country, India, Narendra Modi; German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz; and the South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol. The day before then, he had had what his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, described as ‘informal exchanges of views’ with U.S. President Joe R. Biden; European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen; and World Bank President, Ajay Banga, amongst many others.

    In one of the meetings, the one he held with the South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, President Tinubu showed purpose and single-mindedness. While his counterpart was busy with patronage and pleasantries, trying to make him feel good about himself, Jagaban just switched to what was his primary reason for meeting with anybody at all, like “let’s talk about business and our economies, enough of pleasantries”.

    “We will leave nothing hanging. We will finalise what we agree to and we will execute. We will work point-by-point with you to secure rapidly implementable MoUs across sectors of partnership that will involve the active presence of your biggest firms, not just in terms of Nigerian consumption, but in local Nigerian production, from telecommunications to technology, and oil and gas”, Tinubu assured Yeol.

    However, of all the very exciting developments of the last week, the stopover he made in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi, seemed to stand out and won him the star event of the week. When his spokesman, Ngelale, right from India, where he was attending the G-20 Summit, announced the President’s plan to make a stopover in Abu Dhabi, not many people immediately figured the purpose out.

    It became the toast and talk of the town on Monday when multiple sources, including President Tinubu himself and Ngelale, unveiled the details of the fruits of the Abu Dhabi engagement. Of course we knew he was going to meet with his counterpart, the President of the UAE, but details of what they should be discussing were not out there for everyone to know. Except, however, for some who immediately guessed it might all be about the souring relations between both countries since last year, which has affected business in many sectors.

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    “Today, in unity with my friend, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, we have initiated a new era of collaboration and friendship between our nations – Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates. We’ve also laid a robust foundation for substantial investments in various sectors in Nigeria, a testament to our shared vision for a prosperous future. Together, we are committed to building bridges and fostering a friendship that stands the test of time. As part of our discussions, the following have been reached:

    “Immediate lifting of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travelers by the UAE. Resumption of flight schedules into and out of Nigeria by Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines, without any immediate payment required from the Nigerian government; an agreed framework for new investments worth several billions of U.S. dollars into the Nigerian economy by the UAE government, covering multiple sectors including defense and agriculture; a joint, new foreign exchange liquidity programme between Nigeria and the UAE, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks; a commitment to normalize and enhance the relations between the two countries, fostered by the collaboration between myself and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan”, President Tinubu disclosed on his verified X handle on Monday.

    Almost immediately the news hit the town, reactions excitedly started streaming in. Even if it was meant to be operational in a matter of days, talking about the lifting of travel ban and the reopening of the operations of the two airliners, Nigerians, both back home, in UAE or in other parts of the world, started praising the President for his boldness and thoughts for Nigerian interests anywhere in the world.

    Miss X is a well travelled Nigerian professional in the media industry, she has traveled to the UAE; either Dubai or Abu Dhabi, a couple of times, besides the fact that she is quite informed about the operations of travel agencies. To her, Tinubu has taken a rather strategic step, especially considering the shape of diplomatic politics these days.

    “In this era of evolving geopolitics and global alliances, I firmly believe that no nation should isolate itself. Nigeria, too, must keep pace with these changes. Strengthening our ties with the UAE can bring significant mutual benefits, and one crucial step is facilitating travel between our countries. Therefore, the prospective lifting of the visa ban and the resumption of Emirates and Etihad flights are indeed positive developments.

    “I hope these plans can be realized without undue delay. It’s worth noting that this achievement reflects positively on the Tinubu administration, especially considering the previous unsuccessful attempts by the Buhari government to lift the ban and reinstate these flights”, Miss X said.

    Another outstanding activity during the President’s week was the approval for the establishment of a Presidential Committee dedicated to the reform of the livestock industry and the provision of long-term solutions to recurring clashes between herders and farmers in the country, headed by the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje. The Committee will be attending to an issue touching various social issues like security, food security, productive agriculture and many others. Besides, it is an issue touching many lives and cultures and which has fueled fears in many ramifications.

    While meeting the Committee, the President explained that the it is expected to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and propose recommendations aimed at fostering a peaceful co-existence between herders and farmers while ensuring the security and economic well-being of all Nigerians. The most significant item on the list of recommendations by the committee has been said to be the proposition for a Ministry of Livestock Economy.

    “The federal government is fully prepared to cover the cost of acquiring the land. These opportunities will provide gainful employment for our veterinary doctors, while opening doors for the private sector as the provision of new educational opportunities for herders’ and their children emerge. Medical facilities will be established. This is a life-changing opportunity that we have.

    “Imagine us producing enough milk for our school children. Imagine us becoming net exporters of cheese and yoghurt. Imagine us producing the skin massively with a major Nigerian leather industry. Imagine us providing cold storage facilities and employment across the nation. These things are possible in front of us,” the President charged.

    Taking a look at the route now being plied by the President in the attempt to put an end to farmers-herders age-long conflict, the National Chairman of the Arewa Economic Forum (AEF), who also happens to have a background in Agriculture, Ibrahim Shehu Yahaya, popularly known as Dandakata, hailed the innovation, but still expressed the opinion that only the creation of a Ministry of Livestock Economy will bring the best out of the entire idea. 

    “While we see the acceptance of the report by the President of Nigeria as a sign of excellent and positive response to a very good initiative and extensive work by the committee, we remain fully behind the creation of a Ministry of Livestock Economy, not a committee.

    “It’s pertinent to note that the pastoralists do not enjoy much benefit from the government at all levels. While other citizens that are engaged in various businesses get all kinds of support from governments like markets, schools, access roads, inputs at subsidised rates, water, electricity and various kinds of assistance and incentives the pastoralist gets not much if any.

    “Meanwhile the grazing routes and reserves are not available for their use. The calls for ranching doesn’t take into consideration the amount of funds needed to develop that business unit, which no bank has funds available to offer those in the business, coupled with the fact that the main requirement for a loan in Nigeria, land collateral, isn’t available to the pastoralists while at the same time the govt hasn’t provided them with education and the facilities that will enable them navigate the intricate financial system to be able to negotiate for such funds.

    “Our call is for the establishment of the ministry which will engender a positive platform for the pastoralists to be fully engaged in the formal economic sector and the revival of nomadic education that will ensure the pastoralists are brought into the 21st century as other citizens”, Dandakata said.

    Still on Thursday, President Tinubu hosted the very colourful Rivers people, who visited to show solidarity, pledge their loyalty and support. This visit came with some revelations. Of course, the visitors, drawn from across political parties, besides securing a commitment from the President on the repair or reconstruction of the Eleme Junction axis of the East-West Road, they made him blow the cover on his relationship with the former Rivers State governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike. Jagaban revealed that Wike is not just his minister, but an adviser and admirer, whose works as minister so far he credited.

    Then during the week he made a number of very critical appointments, which will tell on how the administration performs financially, eventually. He appointed Zacch Adedeji, a man who has been described as a numbers genius, as Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Thursday and on Friday named Dr Yemi Cardoso as Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). There were still others though.

    Now this week is just starting, but it is safe to say from now that it is going to be largely offshore as he leaves today to participate in the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the USA. We’ll wait to see how it goes.

  • PBAT as salesman

    When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) said to state governors and other elected leaders that they should not make heavy weather about the poor state of economic affairs inherited in their respective political jurisdictions, but should rather go do the work they begged and danced for, he surely took his own lessons well.  In the past 100 days plus, President Tinubu has turned into the most enthusiastic international salesman for Nigeria, and he is making a kill of it.

    His performance in India, on the side-lines of the G20 summit, where he went to cut multiple deals for Nigeria, showcases the sterner stuff of a salesman. Within hours of landing in the country, he held meetings with leading Indian multinational companies which yielded over $14 Billion in investment plans. At the meeting he told the business leaders that he has a formidable team, of which he is the captain. He promised he will be available to solve all challenges that businesses face in his country, and that those who heed his call would not regret taking his bait.

    The president followed up with talks with leaders of Korea, India and Germany, and the German leader is billed to visit Nigeria next month. This column urges state governors regardless of party affiliations to learn one or two tricks from the president, which is to market their states for investment opportunities. The governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, another businessman-politician, appears to understand the most critical responsibility of the chief executive. He recently hosted the first Enugu State Investment and Economic Growth Stakeholder Roundtable.

    According to him, he plans to move the state economy from its present GDP of about $4.4 billion to $30 billion. At the roundtable, he unveiled 30 potential investment opportunities said to worth about $2.1 billion.  He said: “projects in our pipeline range from specialist geriatric, paediatric, and maternal care hospitals to natural gas-to-power plants and renewable energy parks to meet our state’s 690 megawatts base load requirement and ensure the sustainability of the energy sector.”

    This writer is particularly enthused by the governor’s plan to take advantage of the constitutional amendment that placed electricity in the concurrent legislative list. In an earlier article, this writer wrote on the imminent emergence of super states in Nigeria, following that amendment. Clearly, unlocking the electricity requirement by any state government is a sure strategy to join the emerging elite club of states which will not depend on federal allocations to survive. Interestingly, President Tinubu recently recognized electricity as the most important modern factor of production.

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    Another potential gold mine for Enugu is agriculture and agro-allied industrialization. Again as this column has argued severally on this page, the southeast states have an agricultural belt which they should exploit. Of the states in the region, Enugu is particularly blessed with enormous potentials, and hopefully the state governor would walk his talk. Amongst the cash crops targeted by the state, cashew nuts should enjoy pre-eminence, as the state can tap into the long abandoned cashew belt wasting in the state.

    On its part, Lagos State which is already a super state is on the highway to mega state status. With an economy valued at $75.965 billion, while many states are celebrating the construction of flyovers as achievement, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently launched the state’s blue line rail, the first of the planned rail lines in the state. The governor with plans to make the state a 24hour economy hopes to exponentially expand the state economy. One of the several exciting infrastructure development is the fourth mainland bridge, which will link Ikorodu to the Lagos Island, with all the economic potentials.

    Another interesting development coming to Lagos is the Lagos-Abuja superhighway, proposed by the Minister for Works, Engineer Dave Umahi. Such a highway showcases the vision of the PBAT administration, who chose Umahi to head the vital ministry, despite the poor vote harvest from his region, as rightly observed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State. And considering the pedigree of the minister, there is every likelihood that the concrete road will be delivered within the maximum eight years that PBAT may likely serve. Moving from region to region, inspecting federal roads, most of which are dilapidated, Minister Umahi should do the Ebonyi magic across the country.

    The vice president, Kashim Shettima is clearly among the team PBAT talked about. In his usual jocularly manner, but dead serious in its import, the vice president has promised to retire former vice President Atiku Abubakar to his farm. It is interesting to see governors of the northeast flock around him, as he inaugurated projects delivered by the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) over the weekend. Of course PBAT made a strategic choice in Shettima, a development oriented leader, like himself.

    If Shettima can led the charge to teach the northeast and even the northwest leaders the need to focus on developmental projects, instead of personal aggrandizement that has held their regions down for decades, history would be kind to the PBAT administration. One shudders what would have been the fate of the region, if the party of under-development leaders like Senator Aminu Tambuwwal, had won the presidential election. What happened to Sokoto State under the former governor in terms of massive underdevelopment would have been the lot of the country.

    For this writer, the future of Nigeria lies in entrusting power and authority in the hands of development oriented leaders. PBAT shows himself such a leader, and this column urges governors regardless of party affiliation to tap into that leadership skill. The urgency of the situation does not allow for bigotry and excessive partisanship. President Tinubu exhibits that sense of urgency in his presidency, as he is constantly consulting and hosting meetings with businesses and groups that can add value to his work. By the time his efforts begin to yield abundant fruits, Nigeria will return to the growth era, especially in non-oil areas.

    Those who invited PBAT to the G20 summit understand the potentials of Nigeria, and the fact that for the first time in its recent history, a leader capable of moving the country effectively to a medium economy in international relations is at the helm of affairs. President Tinubu also showed understanding of international relations by not showing enthusiasm to the 15th annual summit of the BRICS countries held recently in South Africa. At the critical juncture Nigeria stands, she must first get back to economic and social prosperity, before it can play effectively in the international politics of anti-west.

    As PBAT showed at the G20 meeting, his job is to sell Nigeria to the world, and through foreign direct investment, bring prosperity back to the country. Hopefully, state governors would also become salesmen too. This writer admonishes: seek ye first economic freedom, and every other thing shall be added unto you!