Tinubu’s path to enduring legacy

THE first year of President Bola Tinubu’s four-year tenure has come and gone. There is no controversy about the fact that Nigerians were made to contend with the hard part of the administration’s economic policies for one calendar year. They are still contending with the harsh realities no doubt. This fact is not lost on the president himself, regardless of the bright sides his appointees may want to project to the public. With the first year over, there are heightened public expectations of a benign part of the administration’s economic policies. The part that will impact their lives in terms of lower cost of living and relatively reasonable living standards in the short and medium term. Now all eyes are on President Tinubu. In the front roll of the great expectations, are anxious Nigerians who invested so much trust in the president’s capacity rating during the electioneering. Not a few stuck out their necks and staked their all for the then-candidate Tinubu out of personal convictions. While some may feel disappointed with the administration’s performance in the last year, others are still hopeful of the president getting his groove early enough in the second year of his journey.

Despite the hardship, Tinubu’s first year in office, which ended on May 29, 2024, witnessed several policy breakforths nevertheless. The administration, among many other initiatives, announced wage awards of N35,000 to federal government workers to enable them to cope with the biting effects of inflation. The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) revolution is expected to cut dependency on fossil fuels, create more jobs and minimise toxic emissions significantly. The conditional grant programme for nano businesses with the disbursement of N50,000 each to the applicants has been on stream since April. The aid package of N1 billion each to about 75 big businesses is also on the card, just as $617 million has been approved through the relevant agencies to upscale youth entrepreneurship through digital skill acquisition. Registration for the student loan scheme, introduced by the administration, is already ongoing. The scheme is designed to ensure that indigent Nigerian families don’t withdraw their wards from higher institutions for lack of funds. Tinubu’s first year in office held out a mixed bag of hits and misses in policy choices. The drawbacks recorded in some of the policies corroded the domestic economy, public and private across the strata.

Purchasing power took a dizzying slam from high food inflation, triggered by the weakened value of the naira in the foreign exchange market.  There were a few accurate aims and inadvertent slips here and there. It’s not lost on anyone, not even on the president’s unforgiving critics, that the man inherited a lifeless national economy that his predecessor managed to prop up with mindless domestic and external borrowings. This has left Tinubu on slippery ground and giddy heights. But having traversed the length and breadth of the country begging for the job during the last electioneering, it is assumed Tinubu was fully aware of the challenges and so was adequately prepared for them. It’s a cross he must bear without a grudge.  Some of his fiercest critics still can’t forgive him for “inflicting” an unprepared Buhari on the nation for eight years. Thankfully, news emanating from the horizon hints at deep reflection and self-appraisal by President Tinubu. This, inside sources say, is coming with an assessment template being set by the president for himself. According to the report, the president has drawn a line between Tinubu the politician and Tinubu the president. We are being made to understand that the president has chosen to embrace will-testing challenges that confront every leader at different points in the process of nation-building.

Tinubu, they affirm, has readied himself for the testiest part, which demands the courage to apply the rule without fear or favour. A new vista that will define the relationship with his cabinet ministers and other appointees is in the offing. A policy of shape up or ship out will apply to his cabinet ministers and other appointees. It is expected that those in the president’s inner circle will be on the same page with their principal. It would be a big win for the country if Tinubu follows through with this solemn resolve to climb to the height he has set for himself, thorn, spike and all.   In his first year in office, Nigerians saw in their president a steely will to stick to his policy convictions. It’s to nobody’s shame that some of his policies had to be reversed after being subjected to the foundry. This goes to show that Tinubu isn’t holding out as a presumptuous, infallible leader who knows it all. It’s quite gratifying so far, to note that neither the president nor his appointees had adopted the “no going back” mantra. We recall the sheepish bleating of “no going back” that was the regnant slogan in past administrations. It’s a language of the fixated which the Tinubu administration has wisely avoided.

And the president, last Thursday, minced no words in sending a signal to state governors, some of who are in the habit of thronging the presidential villa to observe their siesta. While playing host to a delegation of an Arewa group, the president charged the visitors to impress on the governors to stay back and address the challenges of governance in their states. On the incessant bloody clashes between herders and farming communities in many parts of the country, Tinubu charged Nigerians to demand appropriate actions from their governors. His words, “Talk to the governors and tell them to make more land available.

Talk to herders to collaborate with the states. The lands are with the states. We are ready to put funds in place to help the herders. We can do it, and we will be able to do it. If the Brazilians and the Dutch are doing it, we can also do it.”

He regretted that animal husbandry, which is a gold mine for many countries, has been a huge problem for Nigeria and Nigerians. The president also sent a strong message to his appointees during that encounter. “I thank the cabinet members for their efforts. But I will relieve any of them of their duties anytime I feel that they are failing Nigerians,” he affirmed.

As a follow-up, Tinubu directed the establishment of a committee to follow up on the issues raised at the meeting with the visiting Arewa leaders, led by Bashir Dalhatu. There and then, he assigned the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, to lead the follow-up efforts. “We must tick the boxes on all that we must quickly do,” Tinubu had said.

The president is said to be fully aware of the urgent need to recalibrate the security architecture and refocus the economy. These are the top two priority items on his renewed hope agenda. The man has left no one in doubt that he is equipped with the will and determination to change the narrative. Tinubu is said to have drawn from time-tested truism; that politicians don’t build a nation, only statesmen do.

At the presidential level, nation-building begins with a leader building a legacy that will live well beyond his time. The president seems set to break the egg and forge ahead. The prevailing socio-economic challenges have stirred in him the rational anger and determination to face the daunting challenges headfirst.

May he find the grace and gumption to navigate the complex labyrinth that governance in multi-cultural societies like Nigeria presents.

Ogunwale, a journalist and public affairs commentator, writes from Abuja

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