The Story Of President TINUBU’s 100 Days In Office

• What City People Found Out

It is exactly six days after the Bola Tinubu led administration marked it’s first 100 days in office. The president was democratically elected as the 16th leader of Nigeria and assumed office on May 29. For the president, his loyalists, cabinet members and supportersacross the nation, it’s been subdued celebration and a huge sense of relief. Relief in the sense that, at some point, in the days leading to the May 29 inauguration day, there were palpable fears that the handing over of power may not eventually hold. And even after the inauguration took place, there were still doubts the government would last beyond it’s first one hundred days, owing to the anticipated outcome of the court cases hanging over the President’s head at the Tribunal. But all of that is over now. The cases have been done and dusted.

It obviously has not been a walk in the park for the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government. If truth be told, it’s been a tumultous first 100 hundred days. From the very minute the President announced that, ‘Subsidy is gone,’ and prices of petroleum products shot up to an all time high shortly after, the government has known no rest. There have been lots of hue and cry from Nigerians bemoaning the impact the removal of subsidy has had on their lives. Threats and pressure from the NLC drawing the battleline with the government and ofcourse, the powerful cabals who have benefitted immensely from the subsidy also fuelling crisis behind the scenes. But give it to Mr. President, he has gone to toe with the attendant pressure that came with the subsidy removal and has continued to exhude confidence that, with the economic policies he has put in place, we will be out of the woods in no time.

The President knew, more than anyone else, that he had to hit the groubd running. He knew the first task major task is rebuilding our battered economy. It is common knowledge that our country was in a difficult situation with our public debts – both local and foreign – coupled with an unsustainable fuel subsidy regime that created, for several decades, a galling hole in our public finance, rendering the three tiers of governments insolvent and incapable of meeting the needs of the citizens.

Inevitably, the President had to take a decision that would hurt Nigerians, but on the long run, bring us the economic liberation we have been yearning for. He courageously removed the fuel subsidy to avert a national economic catastrophe of epic proportions. Fuel subsidy was a Sword of Damocles that hung over Nigeria for decades. It stunted growth and set the country a-borrowing. In addition to subsidy removal, President Tinubu took further steps to unify the multiple foreign exchange markets.

Expectedly, these two vital steps taken to save the country from hitting the rocks brought excruciating pains to Nigerians, but in fairness to President Tinubu, he has contnued to plead with Nigerians over and over again to endure the momentary discomfort we are all facing now, it is the price we must all pay to save our country from total disintegration.

Being a proactive leader and one who feels the pains of his people, the government rolled out intervention programmes to help cushion the unintended negative impacts of the reforms. These interventions include working out a minimum wage and salary increase, supporting states and local governments to enable them to cater for the most vulnerable Nigerians, providing fertilisers to farmers, grains to households, cash transfers to people with low incomes. In addition to these, there are plans to roll out over 11,000 CNG buses for affordable public transportation among others.

One of the things the President has done that has received loud applause and commendation from economic experts is the effort Mr. President has put in to reduce the impact of the high cost of living on the citizens by redirecting our economy and removing the impediments to productivity and competitiveness so that the real sector can grow and create millions of decent jobs that are essential for long term economic growth.

Not one to rest on his oars, the government has also set up a Tax and Fiscal Reforms Committee that is fully at work to deepen the ongoing reforms and reposition the national economy for long-term sustainability. A renowned Tax and Fiscal Policy expert is leading this committee. Part of the committee’s mandate, working with the state governments, is to simplify our complicated tax system, eliminate multiple taxes, streamline regulations that negate the ease of doing business, and close the over 20 trillion annual tax gap.

We must give it to the Jagaban, he has surpassed all expectations in just 100 days. Religious and ethnic agitations have been better managed and, more than anything else, the country now enjoys some semlance of political stability. President Tinubu has shown purposeful leadership and has left no one in doubt of the fact he means well for the country and for Nigerians. This is also evident in his choice of ministers. Apart from the mischievous members of the opposition camps who hold a different opinion, most Nigerians have agreed that the President’s choice of ministers is an assemblage of some of the most brilliant Nigerians available at this time. Every single one of them is absolute quality. And they have all hit the ground running.

Long before the elections came, Asiwaju often repeatedly told anyone who cared to listen that he was the most prepared presidential candidate and this he has reflected very clearly in his leadership style and decisive steps taken to revive the econmy. Just a few days ago, he embarked on a journey to India accompanied by a select powerful delegation of cabinet ministers and over 30 phenominally successful entrepreneurs across various sectors of the economy for the G20 summit. This initiative showcases Nigeria’s readiness to collaborate meaningfully for sustainable economic development and it has drawn lots of positive feedbacks from the business community within and outside Nigeria.

But there is still a long way to go before we see El dorado and the President and his team know this. There is still plenty of work to be done. The average man on the streets probably lacks the either the patience, the wisdom or the intellectual capacity to understand that the government is on the right path to turning around completely our economic woes. For the average man on the streets, the market men and women, the economy can only be as good when they can conveniently afford to put atleast two decent meals a day on their tables. Anything short of this, they scream blue murder.

FINANCIAL EXPERTS SPEAK, SUPPORT TINUBU’S POLICIES

Clearly, the financial and economic experts see things differently. They have at different times applauded President Tinubu for his very tough economic policies which they believe would definitely yield dividends on the long run. City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) captures some of the comments made by some notable financial and economic experts about the economic policies of the Tinubu administration.

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

When the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, visited the president, she did express confidence in the economic policies of Mr. President, which was the reason why she came forward to support the government in its bid to alleviate poverty in the country. “That is what is needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

“Our conversation with the president centred on formulating approaches aimed at job creation, foster women’s empowerment and bolster digital trade within Nigeria’s economy.

“This was not really an official WTO mission, but we were able to engage with Mr. President to talk about what are the kinds of programmes that could be put in place to make sure that Nigerians are okay.

“We had a conversation on trying to look at community and grassroots programmes that can be put in place to create jobs for young people trying to sup­port women and children who are bearing the brunt of some of the suffering in the country.” In a video that went viral after the meeting was over, Okonjo-Iweala could be seen in the video shaking the president and commending him for a great conversation.

TONU ELUMELU

Also, the chairman of Heirs Holdings and Transcorp Plc, Tony Elumelu, visited the president few weeks back and he had great things to say about the government.

He acknowledged that the President had made good decisions in the interest of the country, saying the private sector had been encouraged by the steps taken so far. He contended that everything done by Tinubu so far had been in the interest of all Nigerians, especially women and the youths, assuring that in the long run, Nigeria will benefit from it all, imploring citizens to be patient with the President.

According to him, “The private sector is encouraged by the bold decisions President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken and we hope that in the fullness of time, Nigerians will benefit from it because it’s all about the Nigerian people, it’s all about our youths, it’s all about making sure our women are involved and empowered.

“It’s all about making sure our youths get jobs and I think Mr. President has this at the back of his mind and I believe, as a private sector person, that the actions and the decisions the President is taking now will help our people in the long run.” He appealed to Nigerians to be more patient with the President and the ongoing process, saying “a bit of patience, you know Rome was not built in a day”.

PROFESSOR SEGUN AJIBOLA

Popular economist and former President and Chairman of the Council of Chartered Institute of Bankers, Prof Segun Ajibola, said Tinubu, in the last three months has taken so many bold steps and touched those grounds where for decades’ angels fear to tread’.

“The 8-point Agenda, which is bending radical policies and pronouncements on many critical sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, tourism, etc., have added to the growing trust in the President’s ability to turn around the fortunes of the economy of Nigeria.

“The will to fight corruption and eliminate underhand dealings in the critical sectors of the economy in the first 60 days of this administration is worthy of mention.

“The President works using the hands of his aides, ministers and others. The quality of these hands will surely impact the delivery of the President. One can see a promising future for Nigeria’s economy with the engagement and hopefully continued employment of the right calibre of technocrats, bureaucrats and professionals into the President’s cabinet and other layers of governance. “But Nigerians must appreciate that the complete turnaround of the fortunes of a traumatised economy like that of Nigeria cannot be achieved overnight. The task is, therefore, deserving of the understanding and cooperation of all and sundry. “And I believe the government is fully on the right course towards achieving the greater good for the greater number of Nigerians going forward,” he stated.

IDAKOLO GBOLADE

Also, Idakolo Gbolade, Chief Executive Officer of SD & D Capital Management, said the first three months of Tinubu’s administration had been tough for the masses. However, he said the policies had breathed a new life into the economy. “The Bola Tinubu administration took over governance at a critical period in the country’s life when the economy was almost bankrupt.

“The bold measures taken to remove the fuel subsidy and float the Naira were geared towards stabilising the economy. The suspension and probe of the former CBN Governor was expected because of his dangerous activities against the people and economy of Nigeria. “The first 100 days of the Tinubu administration have been tough for the people, but it has breathed a new life into our economy.

“In the short term, the government should use the quick wins of the subsidy removal and floating of the Naira to provide impactful subsidy palliative to the people and implement its policies on agriculture, manufacturing and SMEs sectors by disbursing the various loan facilities to these sectors to jumpstart the economy.

“The long-term plan of the government should be to ramp up revenue by investing in critical sectors of the economy like oil and gas, mining, energy and agriculture with special interest in SMEs to encourage more homegrown businesses in technology and services.

“The government should also speed up its plans to provide alternatives to petrol in our transportation network by ensuring the aggressive implementation of the petrol to gas conversion and the use of the Compressed Natural Gas, CNG to provide cheaper fuel for transportation and provision of additional avenues for youth employment. “The government should also desist from the borrowing model of the previous administration that brought us to our present situation,” he concluded.

-WALE LAWAL

(08037209290)