On the Scale: One Month After

A month on the saddle, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has recorded several governance landmarks. Louis Achi sifts the mundane from the substantial

Former French president, Giscard D’Estaing who was born in World War 1 and fought in WW2 counselled statesmen and world leaders: “There can be no response to history without effort.” The Frenchman’s counsel was clearly inspired by the human crises that defined his era.

In his presidential inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu fundamentally promised to make the imperative effort to respond to Nigeria’s peculiar history. While a 30-day timeline is too short to meaningfully gauge a sustainable governance impact, it could serve as an important indicator of where a leader is headed. It would also serve to separate political hot air from substance.

In The Beginning:

Setting sail, President Tinubu took about eleven engagement steps that should properly be seen  both in context and content:

1.    Shortly after his May 29 inauguration, President Tinubu met with the Service Chiefs and National Security Adviser, erstwhile appointees of former President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss security, mindful that national security is key to other governance issues.

2.    Later he sacked and replaced all the service chiefs, heads of security agencies and para-military organisations.

3.    In what some have seen as his most striking move, the president suspended Godwin Emefiele as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor. According to the presidency this was sequel to the ongoing investigation of Emefiele’s office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy. A president appoints and fires the CBN governor in sync with the legislature the confirming authority.

4.    The president held a forum with governors of the 36 states and pitched that differences must be shelved, noting that all must jointly focus on alleviating the sufferings and pains of the people.

5.    He subsequently appointed Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, former Reps Speaker as Chief of Staff and Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, as Deputy Chief of Staff.

6.    In a similar fashion, the president appointed Senator George Akume to serve as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

7.    Within this period of review, the president has also met with traditional rulers and tasked them with supporting the administration’s efforts at ensuring lasting peace and unity by promoting responsible behaviour and patriotism within their jurisdictions. He also assured them of government’s support as they continue in their role as custodians of the nation’s unique cultural values.

8.    He selected and got senate’s approval for 20 special advisers

9.    Tinubu negotiated with JOHESU. For days, Health workers’ union under the umbrella of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) had been on strike, however, the body suspended its 12-day-old strike following a meeting with the president. National vice-president of JOHESU, Obinna Ogbonna, told newsmen that the strike was suspended due to the progress made during an engagement with President Bola Tinubu. He said the health workers called a meeting shortly after meeting with the president and decided to call off the strike, and gave a 21-day timeline to the government.

10.   In a similar fashion, the president was able to broker a deal with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), causing them to also suspend plans to hold a strike and protests over the subsidy removal issue. According to the authorities the president was able to reach 7 key agreements with the NLC and other labour unions in a bid to abort the strike.

Impactful Initiatives:

President Tinubu within this review period confronted several key issues that should properly be recognized as non-routine and assessed for their policy impact:

President Tinubu boldly tackled some of the most challenging issues facing the country. On his inauguration day, he controversially announced the ending of petroleum subsidies although budgetary provisions for the subsidy was deliberately tailored to lapse with the past Buhari administration.

In confronting the inescapable challenges of the abrupt fuel subsidy removal, the president met with representatives of major oil marketers in Nigeria, charging them to work with his government to be able to meet the needs and demands of Nigerians.

He also met with Exxon Mobil Executives, marking the continuation of his administration’s efforts to secure the collaborations of critical players in the oil sector towards ensuring stability and transparency and fair competition in the sector.

Following his meeting with the oil marketers, the president directed the National Economic Council (NEC) led by Vice President Kashim Shettima to device an approach and begin the process of working on interventions to mitigate the impact of subsidy removal on Nigerians. The NEC is to come up with palliative measures to aid Nigerians even as the nation transitions and adjusts to being without subsidy.

Within this period of review, besides ordering unification of Naira exchange rates, Tinubu assented to four bills:

Judicial Officers Law:

The bill titled ‘Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (fifth altercation) (No.37), 2023’ was the first to be signed into law by the president on June 8. The law harmonises the retirement age for judges and pegs it at 70 years.

The legislation also ensured uniformity in the pension rights of judicial officers of “superior courts of record” specified in section 6(5) of the 1999 constitution (as amended). The courts listed in section 6(5) are the supreme court, court of appeal, federal high court, high court of Abuja, high courts of states, sharia court of appeal, national industrial court, and customary courts of appeal, among others.

Electricity Act:

He also signed the bill which empowers states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity. The new electricity law repeals the Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 and consolidates the laws relating to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The legislation provides an omnibus and institutional framework for the post-privatisation phase of Nigeria’s power sector in the areas of generation, transmission, distribution, supply, trading, and general use of electricity. The primary objective is to create a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to guide the operation of a privatised, contract, and rule-based competitive electricity market in Nigeria.

Under the law, states would be able to issue licences to private investors who have the ability to operate mini-grids and power plants, but such licences would not apply to the distribution of electricity between states or internationally.

Student Loan Act

President Tinubu also assented to a law that will facilitate the provision of financial assistance to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions. The legislation allows students to access interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

The federal government said it was working out modalities to begin the disbursement of the loans from September. According to the act, all students who have secured admission into any public Nigerian university, polytechnic, college of education, or any technical and vocational education and training (TVET) school can apply for the loan.

The act stipulates that the student’s income or family’s income must be less than N500,000 per annum to be qualified for the loan. This dimension has infused some controversy to the new law.

According to the legislation, employers of successful applicants must deduct the loan from their salaries after they must have completed their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

Data Protection Law

Tinubu also signed the data protection bill into law within this review period. The act of parliament allows for the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). The legislation empowers Nigerians to seek redress in the event of a data breach.

The law stipulates that citizens’ personal data should be “processed in a fair, lawful and accountable manner”.

After 24 years of unbroken democratic rule in Nigeria, the challenges of forging a genuine nation state and constructing a democracy worthy of the name still appear overwhelming. Will Tinubu make the difference? Big question.