I sometimes wonder how Asiwaju Bola Tinubu manages as President of Nigeria. I mean, this a nation of millions of people with one very interesting sense of entitlement, also self-hating, but as a leader, you just have to learn to keep your cool, wear the hurls of insults from all sorts of people like a comfortable garb and stay un-distracted. You will get a proper sense of what I mean, about who we are as a people, on some of the social media platforms, especially WhatsApp, where people who will never lift a finger to contribute to efforts concerning everybody, including themselves, but will be the first to see errors and then lead the charge for the attack on those responsible enough to sacrifice on everybody’s behalf.
Imagine the intense pressure the President has been under since assuming office last year, especially as a result of the reforms being applied; the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange market regularisation. Most responses from the public, so far, have been rather negative, cutting him no slack, even if most reviews of his administration’s performance, especially with regards to projections and quality of policies, have been positive. Ironically, the efforts for which he is being constantly heckled with insults are designed and targeted at making life more humane for the same people.
It was almost looking like nobody in the country was appreciating the President’s efforts at rescuing the country from the depth it had been buried over the years, seeming like the voices of blames and reprimand were drowning everything else, until Thursday last week, when some Nigerians came through to show they have been following events and observing Tinubu’s noteworthy efforts at giving Nigerians their country back.
On Thursday, in two different locations; one, directly to him inside the State House and another one, by proxy, to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, in his office, also in Abuja, two respected organisations, inadvertently and simultaneously, handed Grand Patron investitures to the President, to show their appreciation of his efforts at redirecting Nigeria back to the path of growth and proper nationhood.
First, it was the National Academy of Science, led by its President, Professor Ekanem Braide, that called on President Tinubu, with the intent to show appreciation for his administration’s focus on building a science, technology and innovation-driven economy. Braide applauded Tinubu for his administration’s recognition for the need for Nigeria to move towards knowledge-based economy, disclosing that the academy is currently working with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning on the review of documents that would aid urgent interventions for national development.
“We commend the administration of President Tinubu for truly recognizing the need for Nigeria to move towards knowledge-based economy, we are reviewing national planning document through the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and we are advising necessary interventions required urgently for national development. We have been informed that the President had directed that steps be taken to set up National research fund”, she added.
While the Academy of Science’s show of appreciation was happening, there was, in yet another part of the Three-armed Zone, a similar event holding, this time around in the office of the SGF. Senator George Akume, the SGF, also hosted a group of highly revered Nigerians, who were in his office to present another award of Grand Patron, conferred on President Tinubu. The Council of Former Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS), led by its Chairman and former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, deliberately packaged the conferment of the award as part of its week for 2024. The coincidence in the presentation of the awards of same nature, by two unrelated revered professional bodies, was the icing on the week’s cake for me.
The week was more than just the affirmation by conferment of awards on the President, he did a lot and, just in the same pattern of his daily work routine, he lived the workaholic life all through it. Maybe I should add here that how Jagaban lives everyday is now public knowledge, especially after his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed in an interview with Chude Jideonwo on Thursday that the President is a workaholic, whose sleep hours are reduced so he could meet up with work.
“I’m working with a man who I can personally vouch for because he is going to bed at 2 am-3 am every single night, including Sundays. He wakes up at 7 am-8 am every morning, including Sundays, opening his files, working into the late nights when no one is there to say anything good or bad about him. He is doing the work. He is a workaholic, and he is doing it all to build a country that is reflective of a progressive and advanced country and prosperous society that he has envisioned, the same way he did in Lagos. I’m asking Nigerians to support the president, he means well”, Ngelale had told his host in the dialogue.
So it was a very busy week for our President, starting it with an all-important State Visit to the State of Qatar, on the invitation of the Emir of the country, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. While in Doha, on Sunday, he held a bilateral meeting with the Government of Qatar, during which multi-sectoral agreements were signed between both countries on education, enterprise development, investment promotion, youth empowerment, mining, tourism, and sports.
He also participated in the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum, which was organized jointly by the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Qatar’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The forum opened a platform for businessmen and investors in both countries to explore opportunities in key sectors, including oil and gas, manufacturing, agro-business, construction, real estate, ICT, renewable energy, solid minerals, as well as the service sector.
He returned to Nigeria on Monday, got back into that regime Ngelale described in his interview with Jideonwo. After his return, he sent some of his lieutenants, like Vice President Kashim Shettima and SGF Akume, to represent him at some public events, and personally handled those he thought he must personally handle. For instance, on Monday, Akume represented him at the African Regional Dialogue on the Summit of the Future in Abuja, while Shettima represented him in Lagos on Monday at the Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership in Lagos on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the President initiated new policy directives aimed at improving the investment climate and position Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the oil and gas sector in Africa. Then on Thursday he made new appointments, suspended some, all in his effort to clean the system up and buoy up those in need of it. Most of the activities were in the Power sector. For instance, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), he suspended Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, the Managing Director and three others. In their stead, he appointed Abba Abubakar Aliyu as interim MD, along with four others.
At the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Power Company, he reconstituted the boards and amended their structures, appointing the Minister of Power as Chairman. Then later in the evening, he threw in some words for the Nigerian woman, describing her as the pivot of the nation. On Friday, he issued an order for the immediate rescue of kidnap victims in Borno state, where more than 200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Kaduna where about 287 pupils and teachers were kidnapped in recent times.
Showing off with one of his best
I think I should highlight this occasion in Doha where our President, the City Boy, made a show off again. It was at the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum, he was making a point about Nigeria being ready for the world to come take advantage of the unusual business and investment friendly environment available nowadays. There has been a perception, wrong albeit, that Nigeria slows business down with bureaucratic bottlenecks and the effect of corruption. To disabuse minds on that, the best from his arsenal is his National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who once oversaw the nation’s anticorruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to him, his administration had significantly strengthened the war against corruption and insecurity with Ribadu’s appointment as NSA, saying “we have a man who has won many global awards for anti-corruption as an anti-corruption czar. My responsibility is to tell you that Nigeria is open for business, and to assure you that your investments are safe in our hands. We have men and women of great reputation here and we believe we can forge a good committee that will advance our discussions to fruitful conclusions. A nation is an artificial entity unless there are good people to drive it. People build great nations and we have great people. We are ready”.
Showing Ribadu off, in the forum he did, far away from home, says a lot about the value he places on him. If I were the NSA, this will push me to do more than I do currently, although I know most of us cannot match his speed. He is a certified high-flyer, reason his Boss reposes so much trust in him.
