The just concluded 2023 presidential election, with some Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s sorcery has produced Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The election President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rode on to power is one of the many controversial elections Nigeria has ever witnessed on the account of some obvious irregularities, disenfranchisement and sheer violence that characterised the election. The emergence of President Tinubu has dashed the hope of many Nigerian citizens, not so many believe in his capacity largely because of his poor health and shady track record. He who much is given, much is expected. It doesn’t look like much is expected from the Tinubu presidency, but Nigeria is comatose, needs amazing creativity to rise again.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who went from being fingered in drug deals in the United States to becoming a President has a heavy price to pay to individuals who at different points saved him from his different weighty crimes. His appointment template has shown that he is in a hurry to feed his stooges, enemies and those who know him too well to call him what he is. A good case is that of Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser to Mr. President who was the then head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and was after the prosecution of Sen. Ahmed Tinubu who was at that time the Lagos State governor for corruption related activities has been forever shut with an appointment. Aside dearth knowledge of policy formulation and implementation that the Tinubu-led-administration has shown, another thing to bear in mind is that his government will promote nepotism and corruption to the point it becomes unbearable for Nigerians.
President Tinubu’s inaugural speech, far from the expected promise of relief from a true leader was a bombshell and it was the beginning of worries for poor Nigerians as the Commander in Chief of Armed Forces went on to reaffirm the removal of fuel subsidy completely, without stating planned palliative to cushion the effects of the policy. The speech which propelled people in the petroleum business to hoard petrol, leading the country into another scarcity few months after naira scarcity that the country is yet to fully recover from. But it doesn’t look like Mr. The President gives a toss about how the governed react to his policy. He meant it when he said nothing will change about his policy on subsidy removal no matter how long the masses protest. That’s audacious of him! He has the option of resuscitating one of the dead refineries in the country, regulate subsidy and mitigate subsidy fraud, but Tinubu would rather chop off an aching head instead of offering a Panadol.
Before Nigerians could figure out how to acclimatize with the surge in fuel price, affecting prices of every commodity, Sen. Ahmed Tinubu had signed the mischievous student loan. This was funnily celebrated by most Nigerians, including over fed student leaders before going through the conditions attached to getting the loan and what the payment plan would be like. Nigeria is currently faced with 80million unemployed youths, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, if student loans are given to the students, where is the job to pay back the loan? Obviously, we don’t have the living conditions to adopt and adapt to capitalism that the President is working so hard to achieve, we still have Nigerians in millions crying over basic life supporting needs like food and shelter. President Ahmed Tinubu has insisted on removing fuel subsidy, he is also taking a step to withdraw funding education. The funding for health and education, the basis for production and welfare is abysmal.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policies are hitting hard on the people, it’s high time he considered small and medium enterprises, low-income earners, people who live on N30,000 minimum wage, the poor he begged not to suffocate are suffocating and may die in great number if something urgent is not done. Beyond the suspension of top government officials, which in my opinion is just a political drama, an evacuation process to make spaces for his people who had stolen to support his campaign and a periodic distraction from the biting economy, what is the presidency doing or has to do to make the country habitable for an average Nigerian? We can’t struggle the entire four years trying to understand the updated version of the presidency’s lying machine, Dele Alake who is exactly the pattern of Lai Muhammed. We may not expect so much from him, but the office he currently occupies requires so much from him.
Written by: Oluwaseyi Oyetunbi