Is He Winning Nigerians Over?

Many believe that the steps taken so far by President Bola Tinubu within 30 days of his assumption of power are deliberate attempts to warm his way into the hearts of Nigerians, Adedayo Akinwale reports

When President Bola Tinubu indicated an interest in running for the presidency ahead of the 2023 general election, not many gave him a chance, as they believed that his age and alleged failing health would hinder his performance.

Based on this, there was a sustained bitter campaign against his person, which in most cases centred around his age, alleged ill health and gaffes he made during the campaigns.

Besides, the country’s experience in the hands of the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, especially with his ill health and presumed inertia, was a harrowing nightmare Nigerians were determined to avoid at all costs.

To many, voting against Tinubu and APC was seen as the only way not to set the country backwards for another decade like many believed Buhari had done.

It was in the light of this that Nigerians, especially the youth population, decided that voting for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, was the most certain way of avoiding another pitfall.

Obi was seen as the bridge and the most competent candidate to set the country on the right path of progress and prosperity.

Though many did not have an atom of trust in his competence to revitalise the country, Tinubu never lost confidence in himself. He campaigned vigorously, exuding confidence to emerge victorious.

After his eventual emergence as the 16th president of Nigeria, though the aggrieved candidates are still challenging his legitimacy in court, Tinubu’s presidency started on a stormy sail when he declared during the May 29 inauguration that “subsidy is gone.”

His first declaration as president sent shockwaves across the country. While there is a consensus that the petrol subsidy must go, no one anticipated that the government would remove the subsidy without first emplacing some form of palliative to cushion the effects on the masses.

A few days after the declaration, the new pricing template was adjusted while negotiations were ongoing between the Tinubu government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). During that period, petrol was sold between N194 and N200, but the pump price suddenly jumped to between N500 and N550 per litre.

The NLC saw the decision as an ambush, pulled out of the negotiation, and decided to mobilise for a nationwide strike while the TUC continued the negotiation.

While NLC was busy mobilising affiliate bodies for the strike, the federal government secured a court injunction from the National Industrial Court restraining the NLC from embarking on strike.

Consequently, the government was able to get the NLC to return to the negotiating table and the planned strike was eventually called off. Subsequently, a joint committee to review the proposal for a wage increase and a framework and timeline for implementation were set up. Despite Tinubu’s presidency running into troubled waters with the removal of the subsidy, he waded through.

Tinubu had, at a recent interactive session with select Nigerian traditional rulers, on the platform of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN), at the State House, Abuja, described the subsidy as an elephant that could have brought the country to its knees. After demolishing the wall of Jericho, which was the petrol subsidy, Tinubu has soldiered on, especially with the signing of important bills expected to bring positive reforms in the country.

For instance, the president recently assented to the electricity bill passed in July 2022 seeking to repeal the Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act, 2005, which makes it become the Electricity Act.

The Electricity Act will henceforth solidify all legislations that handle the electricity supply industry to provide an inclusive and ideal institutional framework to control the post-privatisation phase of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry and encourage private sector investments.

Based on the objectives of the Electricity Act, there will be de-monopolisation of Nigeria’s electricity generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity at the national level, to empower states, companies, and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.

In addition, the president has also assented to a fresh amendment to the Constitution, unifying the retirement age of judicial officers in the country. It was the first bill he signed into law upon his inauguration.

With the signing of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, judicial officers’ retirement age and pension rights have been effectively brought into uniformity and other related matters.

Also, the president recently signed the Students Loan Bill into law to fulfil one of his campaign promises to liberalise education funding in the country.

The law recommends two years’ imprisonment or N500,000 or both for students who default in repayment, or anyone found aiding defaulters. Tinubu also last Monday approved the immediate retirement of all service chiefs and the inspector general of police, advisers, and the comptroller-general of customs and appointed their replacements with immediate effect. The service chiefs sent on immediate retirement were the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen General Farouk Yahaya, Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo.

A statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, announced the retirement of the affected officers.

The statement signed by the Director, Information Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, on behalf of the SGF, also stated that the president appointed Maj. Gen. C.G. Musa as the new Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. T. A Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral E.A. Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff and AVM H.B. Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.

Also appointed were Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the National Security Adviser, DIG Kayode Egbetokun as the Acting Inspector General of Police and Maj.-Gen. EPA Undiandeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence. Other appointments approved by the president, according to the statement, included Col. Adebisi Onasanya as commander, Brigade of Guards; Lt. Col. Moshood Abiodun Yusuf, 7 Guards Battalion, Asokoro, Abuja; Lt. Col. Auwalu Baba Inuwa 177, Guards Battalion, Keffi, Nasarawa State; Lt. Col. Mohammed J. Abdulkarim, 102 Guards Battalion, Suleja, Niger and Lt. Col. Olumide A. Akingbesote, 176 Guards Battalion, Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The president also approved the appointments of other military officers for the Presidential Villa. They are Maj. Isa Farouk Audu, (N/14695) Commanding Officer State House Artillery; Capt. Kazeem Olalekan Sunmonu, (N/16183) Second-in-Command, State House Artillery; Maj. Kamaru Koyejo Hamzat, (N/14656) Commanding Officer, State House Military Intelligence; Maj. TS Adeola (N/12860), Commanding Officer, State House Armament and Lt. A. Aminu (N/18578), second-in-command of the State House Armament.

The president appointed special advisers in different capacities and approved the immediate dissolution of the governing boards of all federal government parastatals, agencies, institutions, and government-owned companies.

Tinubu approved the appointments of two additional special advisers and two senior assistants. They are Hadiza Bala-Usman as a special adviser (Policy Coordination); Hannatu Musa Musawa as a special adviser (Culture and Entertainment Economy); Senator Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel as a senior special assistant (National Assembly Matters — Senate) and Hon. Olarewaju Kunle Ibrahim, as a senior special assistant (National Assembly Matters — House of Representatives).

The president also approved the appointment of Adeniyi Bashir Adewale as the acting comptroller general of customs.

The new appointments were widely applauded.

However, many analysts believe that Tinubu should have waited for a new attorney general of the federation and minister of justice to advise him on the status of the bills and the possible reasons Buhari did not sign them.

According to analysts, Tinubu should have waited until after the appointment of ministers before signing the bills. They wondered why he quickly signed, suggesting he was driven by sheer populism.

This school of thought believed that a new justice minister would have scrutinised the bills before advising him to sign or decline assent. But others, especially his supporters, argued that with the president’s actions in the last 20 days, even his critics would appreciate that he was ready for the job.

While the expectations of Nigerians have not really been met by his performance in the last 20 days, his supporters believe that he has been able to silence some of his critics within his first few days in office.