TINUBU: LAYING SOLID FOUNDATIONS IN THE AIR

AN ANALYSIS OF TWO OF PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU’S ACTS IN OFFICE

By Felix I.C. Igiebor

Before the 2023 Nigeria general elections, I had told family, friends and close associates that then candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and now President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be very audacious in his style of governance and would lead Nigeria aright if he ever wins. In fact, I went out of my way as a supposed objective journalist, to campaign for him and the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Olusola SanwoOlu due to the sorry state of affairs in the country as at then.

For the very first time in my life, I did a door to door campaign for the duo in my community because I believe so much in the ability of the two men to deliver and to get Nigeria out of the security, economic and social quagmire the Buhari administration especially, had plunged Nigeria into.

To be very honest, I consider myself a student of President Tinubu’s school of political thoughts, having studied his political moves and styles extensively over the years and having had a few close encounters/interactions with him in the past, which includes a phone conversation with him, interviewing him in company of colleagues, attending some of his yearly organized colloquial, visiting his Bourdillon, Ikoyi, residence after election victories etc. In fact, due to my belief in and love for the President, I did a special edition of our newspaper to commemorate the passing of his mother, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, in 2013, which I titled; “Life and Times of the Late Iconic Market Leader”. I personally handed a copy of that edition to the President himself at the Tafawa Balewa Square grounds where one of the memorial ceremonies was held. I also became a card carrying member of the APC some years back because of my love for Asiwaju.

As for me, I believe I have gathered enough information and facts about the President’s intellectual acuity to come to the ultimate conclusion that he will certainly do well as President of this country and take Nigeria to greater heights.

In just two short weeks after he took office as President of Nigeria, I believe my family, friends and associates and indeed most Nigerians will agree with me that surely, we do now really have the right man at the helm of affairs in our land at long last.

Now, there’s no gainsaying the fact that for the first time in Nigeria’s checkered democratic history, Nigeria has a true leader who does not seem to be relying wholly on the advice of so called “experts” to govern, unlike his immediate and past predecessors who governed mostly by proxy. Asiwaju, as his title connotes, has been leading from the front and not from behind. I say this because It is a well known fact that his immediate predecessor in office especially, led Nigeria from behind.

Former president Buhari, as far as I’m concerned, was a “ceremonial president” who was not really in charge. He was rather a president who signed documents he didn’t really understand or have any knowledge of what the content is or what the document may be all about at that, most of the times, and who sat and watched as things deteriorated and Nigeria took a plunge into the abyss.

That President Tinubu has started well is no longer a subject of controversy. The fuel subsidy removal, which many thought impossible, has not only been achieved, but has been achieved without any form of rancour or protests from any quarter whatsoever, contrary to popular expectations.

Although, there’s a school of thought led by those who claim to be in the know, who are saying that there was no fuel subsidy at all in the first place, this fiscal year 2023. They contend that since fuel subsidy was not appropriated for in this year’s annual budget, what subsidy is the government then talking about removing? These people also claim that the President is in the know and is a part and parcel of the plans by the NNPC to use the excuse of the fuel subsidy removal to jack up fuel pump prices so as to help Dangote and his refinery profiteer off the backs of Nigerians by selling at exorbitant prices to the NNPC when his refinery comes on stream later in the year. That of course will mean the end users will buy the product at out of this world prices.

The rumour going round on social media is that Dangote has entered into a deal with his investors (in and out of government) and that the NNPC will help him fix pump prices at an amount which will ensure fuel is made available to end user Nigerians at anywhere between N800 and N1,000 per litre, while selling the same product at lower rates to other West African nations, which will ensure their end users buy theirs at between N200 and N300, just like he has been doing with his Dangote cement.

But in his zeal to right the wrongs and maybe to let Nigerians see what he is capable of doing, President Tinubu, although seems to be taking the right steps in the right direction, also seems to be laying and building some very solid foundations for Nigeria from the air down, in my humble opinion.

Why do I say this? Nigeria and Nigerians (especially the low class) have experienced the worst form of governance in the past eight years which has ensured acute poverty and severe human indignity and degradation under the immediate past Buhari administration. Any new administration ought to take the state of affairs in the land, especially as it concerns the common man, into proper consideration before embarking on rigorous programs that may affect the general populace adversely economically. I believe the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ought to first put structures in place that will help alleviate the suffering of the masses before embarking on these stringent economic policies.

The signing of the Students’ loan bill 2023 into law, apart from the fuel subsidy removal, is yet another solid foundation being laid and built from the air down, in my humble opinion.

Without first ensuring that basic social provisions like stable electricity, a safe and secure environment, people friendly economic policies etc. which will help SMEs that are solely dependent on electricity and short term loans to survive and thrive, are in place and readily available, how will Nigerian parents and students alike, cope with the situation?

Granted that the loan scheme is a good idea, but the timing, in my personal view, is very wrong. I believe the reason the President signed the Students’ loan bill 2023 into law, is to put a stop to the incessant strikes by ASUU and other pressure groups within the education sector who are always demanding better funding from the government and going on long strikes to press home their demands. Granting autonomy to federal universities and other federal higher institutions of learning to charge whatever fees they believe will sustain them and their activities, thereby shifting the huge burden of funding higher education to parents and asking students to go get loans to pay if they cannot afford the fees, at this point in time, without doubt, will be a burden too huge to bear for parents and students alike.

Abrogating subsidy in all sectors, as the Tinubu administration seems to be hellbent on doing, will not improve the lives of common Nigerians but only impoverish them the more. We are all aware that America and other western nations still subsidize many sectors of their economies for the good of the common man.

Why, some federal universities may charge fees as high as between N500k and N1M at the initial stage, subject to periodic increments. How many parents can afford such? It will mean higher education will become the exclusive preserve of the rich and mighty in the society. That will also be an excuse for our teeming Nigerian youths who are already frustrated, overburdened with the challenges of unemployment and various stresses, to take to higher crimes since they may not have the capacity to access the loans or pay the fees.

If my memory serves me right, I remember former Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola nearly lost a shot at a second term in office for allowing the management of the Lagos state university (LASU) to jack up the school fees from N25,000 to N250,000, contending that university education was not for the poor. In fact, it was our current President who led leaders in the state that reprimanded Fashola for unilaterally taking that decision which could have cost the ruling party the state at the 2011 gubernatorial polls.

Countries that have adopted the Students’ loan scheme strategy to fund student education cannot be compared to Nigeria in any way in terms of the provision of social amenities and poverty alleviation policies. To me, the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages at this stage in the life of the present administration.

Universities, if left to themselves, will charge exorbitant fees beyond the reach or capability of parents and which will, in the long run, put students in perpetual indebtedness possibly throughout their lives, like is happening in America now. Many students will not be able to access the loans due to the conditions attached. Those who eventually get the loans may not get jobs after two years of graduation and will be deemed to have defaulted with possible arrest and prosecution. Those who are able to get jobs or do businesses will remain in debt for a long time.

Every wise builder knows it is impossible to lay the foundation of a building in the air. Foundations are laid on solid grounds and built up. First things must be done first and not the last things first.

I sincerely hope and pray that the President’s very good and laudable intentions will not be hijacked by his enemies to cause extra pain on Nigerians. I also hope the President and his team will revisit this students’ loan issue with a view of coming up with a better solution that will augur well for all and sundry.