THE YEAR OF RENEWED HOPE

 Fredrick Nwabufo reckons that 2024 will be a year of manifest hope

It has been months of bold decisions, strategic re-engineering, and studied statecraftship. The expectations effusive, the yearnings harkened, the promises certain, and the hope ever so sure. Nigeria is in planned drive under an ambidextrous and masterful pilot, President Bola Tinubu, and destined for majesty.

The road has not been without a few bumps, but the journey is as exhilarating as the promise of a propitious destination. We are soldiering through and through, and soon, we will glide into a cruise. Nigeria is in very safe hands.

In just six months, Nigeria’s economy is on a rebound; insurgency and terrorism retreating, and our contracted global reputation resurging. The job is not yet done. A lot more will be done. But the process that will lead to a concatenation of auspicious outcomes has begun.

2023 has been the year of Renewed Hope. 2024 will even be a greater year of Renewed Hope, with some of the plans and programmes of the administration coming to fruition. Already, initiatives and polices such as the Renewed Hope Grants for Poor and Vulnerable Persons; the Presidential Conditional Grant Programme; the Presidential Palliative Loan Programme; The 3MTT programme and other digital economy programmes; the food security scheme, tax reforms, CBN reforms, and many others have come on stream – and still maturing. But 2024 will be a greater year of renewed and manifest hope.

In this year of Renewed Hope, Nigeria decoupled from the ponderous yoke of petrol subsidy.

In this year of Renewed Hope, Nigeria’s credit rating improved, with global financial services firms forecasting a reinvigorated economy in the coming months.

In this year of Renewed Hope, insurgency and terrorism in the south-east and in the north-east receded.

In this year of Renewed Hope, Nigeria received pledges of investments worth over $14 billion from a single event – the G20 Summit in India.

In this year of Renewed Hope, Nigeria saved over N1 trillion in just two months of removing petrol subsidy.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the federal government approved 50 percent input subsidy for wheat farmers for dry-season farming to boost productivity.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the Tinubu administration launched the food security plan to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmland across the country to produce essential grains such as rice, maize, wheat, as well as other crops.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the Tinubu administration embarked on a diligent reform of Nigeria’s tax system, setting up the Tax and Fiscal Reforms Committee to drive reforms, streamline tax administration, improve and expand collection, and revitalise the economy.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the CBN introduced effective monetary policies, clearing a significant amount of foreign exchange forwards backlog, and initiating the ongoing unification of foreign exchange rates.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the federal government addressed some of the critical concerns of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

In this year of Renewed Hope, Nigeria launched a well-defined and articulate foreign policy, anchored on Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora (4Ds).

In this year of Renewed Hope, the Tinubu administration charted a clear direction and a palpable path to the promised land for Nigeria.

In this year of Renewed Hope, the foundation upon which the triumph of subsequent years rests stands firmly ensconced.

2024 comes with great expectations and promises, especially as the Budget of Renewed Hope will begin running its course in the New Year. An understated element of the proposed budget is the allocation to health and social welfare — N1.33 trillion. A clear prioritisation of the nation’s engine.

The administration is strengthening Nigeria’s health sector through targeted and robust investments. To mitigate the cost of healthcare, the ministry of health and social welfare is redesigning the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to boost access to essential healthcare services as outlined in the National Health Act (2014). Also, a constituent of a more muscular health agenda is to increase the number of functional primary healthcare centres (PHCs) from 8,809 to 17,618 by 2027 across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The prices of some pharmaceuticals are spiralling, and the government is raptly attentive to the concerns of Nigerians. Professor Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, recently announced that the government would establish a mechanism for the pooled procurement of critical pharmaceuticals in 2024. This initiative, he said, aims to mitigate costs and guarantee quality, making essential medications more affordable for Nigerians.

 ”In the medium term, Mr. President’s initiative to unlock the healthcare value chain will see Nigeria manufacturing increasing share of its generic drugs, medical devices, and associated content, such as vaccines over time. This will reduce our dependency on those only keen to exploit our markets,” he said.

2023 is the year of Renewed Hope. 2024 will be a greater year of manifest hope.

 Nwabufo is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement