EXCLUSIVE:One year on, Nigerians eagerly awaiting dividends of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda
With the inaugural anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s administration coming up in a few days, IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI examines how far it has gone in fulfilling 25 per cent of its Renewed Hope Agenda to the Nigerian people
In a few days, President Bola Tinubu will be celebrating his first anniversary as the 16th President of Nigeria. For many political observers, the inaugural anniversary aptly presents an opportunity to assess how far the much promising Tinubu’s government has gone in inspiring hope for millions of Nigerians since May 2023 when it came into power amid sheer hopelessness that almost sank the country under his predecessor.
Worried by the prevailing despondency and misery that plagued the country under the Muhammadu Buhari regime, President Bola Tinubu, upon his assumption of office, vowed to rescue the supposed Africa’s giant from the claws of economic retrogression, deep-seated hardship, and worsening insecurity.
Premising its roadmap on key national issues such as security, economy, agriculture, power, oil and gas, transportation, and education, Tinubu’s campaign train, in the build-up to the 2023 election, issued an 80-page policy document, which highlighted an eight-point blueprint for its Renewed Hope Agenda.
Tinubu and wife, Oluremi waving
In the manifesto published in October 2022, President Tinubu said his objective would foster a new society based on shared prosperity, tolerance, compassion, and the unwavering commitment to treating each citizen with equal respect and due regard. Among his glowing pledges contained in the campaign document, the President, if given the mandate, promised to “build a Nigeria, especially for our youth, where sufficient jobs with decent wages create a better life.”
He also said his government would “manufacture, create, and invent more of the goods and services we require. Nigeria shall be known as a nation of creators, not just of consumers.” Under his watch, President Tinubu said Nigeria would “export more and import less, strengthening both the naira and our way of life.”
He also promised to continue assisting the country’s ever-toiling farmers through enlightened agricultural policy that would promote productivity and assure decent incomes, so that farmers could support their families and feed the nation. The President said his government would “modernise and expand public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy can grow at an optimal rate, embolden and support our young people and women by harnessing emerging sectors such as the digital economy, entertainment and culture, tourism and others to build the Nigeria of tomorrow, today.”
Tinubu waving
His campaign promises also include “training and giving economic opportunity to the poorest and most vulnerable among us. We seek a Nigeria where no parent is compelled to send a child to bed hungry, worried whether tomorrow shall bring food.”
More importantly on the economic front, Tinubu said his administration would “generate, transmit and distribute sufficient, affordable electricity to give our people the requisite power to enlighten their lives, their homes, and their very dreams.”
He also promised to “make basic healthcare, education, and housing accessible and affordable for all and most importantly, establish a bold and assertive policy that will create a strong yet adaptive national security architecture and action to obliterate terror, kidnapping, banditry, and all other forms of violent extremism from the face of our nation.”
During his inauguration which came in May, a few months after his victory in the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu also harped on his messianic policy to replace the despair on the faces of many Nigerians with joy and revive their fading hope in the ever-failing governance of the country.
While delivering his inaugural speech with striking gallantry at the Eagles Square, Abuja on that sunny Monday afternoon, the President said, “Our administration shall govern on your behalf but never rule over you. We shall consult and dialogue but never dictate. We shall reach out to all but never put down a single person for holding views contrary to our own. We are here to further mend and heal this nation, not tear and injure it.”
Given the numerous promises to Nigerians, observers have said it is expedient to examine how far the Tinubu’s administration has gone in delivering the expected 25 per cent of its Renewed Hope Agenda having been in the saddle for nearly 12 months.
In their assessments, some of the analysts said the current government has so far fulfilled his ‘hit-the-ground-running’ pledge by implementing tough economic policies and rejigging Nigeria’s security apparatus, which they said, has tamed the rampaging monster of insecurity in the country even though there are still flashes of banditry as 40 people were massacred in Plateau State recently.
Others opined that the timing and manner in which the government has initiated and implemented some of its policies had not been very strategic and mass-appealing, culminating in more hardship for Nigerians and severe battery for the economy.
Reacting to the criticisms, Vice President Kashim Shettima, however, defended the bold reforms of the Tinubu’s administration, saying the government came in at a critical period when there was a strong need to take some unpalatable and drastic measures in other to rescue the country’s dwindling economic situation from total collapse.
Speaking at the first edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series organised by the All Progressives Congress Professionals Forum in Abuja on Tuesday, Shettima said the ongoing reforms were becoming seemingly problematic for Nigerians because the Tinubu’s administration was not seeking shortcuts in its determination to revive the country’s ailing economy.
He said, “In our quest for economic recovery, we must recognise that we are not here to cut corners. The path we have chosen is necessary. Indeed, His Excellency, President Boal Tinubu, has made the difficult but necessary choices to ensure Nigeria’s long-term stability and prosperity are never in doubt. He has chosen a path that, although demanding, promises to save our nation from economic downfall.”
Recall that Tinubu’s administration began its flurry of policies with the pronounced removal of fuel subsidies. Though its predecessor did not make provision for a six-month subsidy payment in the 2023 national budget, many people had argued that President Tinubu ought to have made wide consultations across the board and devised workable strategies to cushion the harsh economic effects of the fuel subsidy removal before pronouncing it during his inaugural speech.
The present government also floated the Nigerian currency twice which resulted in severe disruption in the country’s forex market, raising a nationwide outcry. However, the government has since stuck to its guns and resisted all pressures mounted by the CSOs and labour unions to force a reversal of the decision.
Even though the CBN in tandem with other agencies of the government like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was able to launch and implement aggressive policies that appreciated the value of the naira in the interim, the country has not been able to fully get over the economic turmoil caused by the fuel subsidy removal and the deregulation of the FX market.
Sharing his viewpoint on the 25 per cent scorecard of the current administration, especially in economic development, the Lead Investment Advisor at AfriVest (West Africa) Limited, a Nigerian capital market holding company with specialised subsidiaries focusing on the unique but integrated wealth management needs of clients in West Africa, Omosuyi Temitope, told Saturday PUNCH that though the current administration lagged on major economic indicators that mattered to the average Nigerian, there were still hopes that its policies and reforms would deliver the needed impacts in the long term.
“I will look at the performance from two viewpoints for a balanced assessment. On the policy/reforms front, this administration has taken several bold and almost unprecedented steps across both fiscal and monetary policy to address Nigeria’s economic quagmire. We have seen courageous moves on subsidy removal, unification of the foreign exchange market, student loans, national credit schemes, fiscal prudence, and the electricity sector, just to mention a few, although many have not achieved their intended impact due to many setbacks in implementation.
“However, policy and reforms are means to an end. The end is to improve Nigerian welfare. This takes me to the second performance index: macroeconomic indicators. This administration has lagged on major economic indicators that matter to the average Nigerian. The inflation rate has reached its highest levels in decades. The exchange rate hit its highest level in history. Economic growth at barely 3% for a developing country like ours is less inclusive. Oil production has not improved massively. Our foreign reserves are still heavily encumbered, not to mention Nigeria’s rising fiscal vulnerability from mounting debt stock and its impact on government liquidity,” the AfriVest analyst explained.
He added, “There are a myriad of disturbing challenges that now keep the country on the verge of a social crisis, especially from food and energy insecurity. While the reform measures taken look laudable and have a potent positive sentiment for foreign investors, the actual performance of the economy is critical to the nation’s stability going forward.
“For this administration, it is not time to count gains yet if more Nigerians do not have access to or cannot afford adequate food and energy compared to previous years, irrespective of the cause. In short, people’s welfare is the most important scorecard, and that has fared poorly in the last year.”
Also speaking with Saturday PUNCH on the President’s first-year scorecard, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises, Dr Muda Yusuf, said, “One of the major commitments and achievements of the present administration was to correct some of the fundamental distortions in the economy, especially distortions in the micro-economic environment, those around fuel pricing and the subsidy issue as well as the unbelievable level of criminality that has pervaded the oil producing areas over the years and some other issues.
“One of the major tasks was to rescue the economy from the brink because it was already at the brink as of the time the administration took over. Although the consequences of the macroeconomic weaknesses did not manifest under the previous administration, if we had continued on that trajectory, the consequences could have been more devastating than the cost of current reforms. So, the steps that have been taken to correct the distortions in the foreign exchange market and the petroleum downstream sector are major foundational steps.
“This is because you cannot build something on nothing. You need to correct those distortions before you can begin to do some other more visible things. Unfortunately, the reforms have come with a lot of pains that have triggered inflationary pressures, which have affected businesses in many ways. But I believe that these are difficult choices that need to be made. If you don’t have a strong foundation, you cannot have a stable superstructure. So, I think we should acknowledge those steps and efforts that have been made to correct or to manage the outcomes of those corrective reforms.”
Yusuf further said, “From the revenue perspective, we have seen a remarkable increase, both to the Federal Government and state governments as well as the local governments. We now have revenue in the federation account at a level that has not been seen in many years. I think this is something we need to acknowledge. Whether these revenues have been spent properly is a different matter.
“However, from a fiscal consolidation point of view, some significant levels of improvements have been made. Some of the losses and corruption problems that characterised the Foreign Exchange market have been reduced. Though we are still contending with volatility in the FX market, because the exchange rate has depreciated significantly, it is still a work in progress.”
He noted, “We have also seen some other measures such as the electricity sector reform. The decentralisation of the power sector is something we need to also acknowledge because it implies opening up the space for private investors and both the state governments and local governments. In the long run, I expect this to attract a lot of capital in terms of investment, both domestic and foreign, into the power sector.”
Going forward, the economist said there was still a lot of work to be done by the current administration to moderate the level of inflation because the impact of the high inflationary pressure on peoples’ welfare had been enormous.
He said, “We need to see some measures taken to bring down the cost of living. We also need to see a lot more in the area of reviewing the strategy for tackling insecurity, because this is also a very big problem. Of course, we have seen some progress with regards to road infrastructure, structural issues affecting productivity in the economy, and some investments.”
Commenting on the inaugural anniversary of the Renewed Hope government, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement, Fredrick Nwabufo, in a recent statement, said there were still some notable wins recorded by the administration in nearly one year.
He said, “The intangibles of leadership are as potent and profound as the corporeal manifestations of governance. People must not only see the brick-and-mortar elements of leadership; they must also feel and sense leadership in its quantum of compassion, healing, solace, and capacity to inspire unity, as well as foster peace and progress.
“The ongoing epochal Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, with its attendant immense economic and social benefits to many states within and outside that corridor; the Sokoto-Badagry Road project, and the completed Port Harcourt to Aba stretch of the Port Harcourt to Maiduguri narrow-gauge rail, among other key developments across the nation, assert the all-encompassing and genuine intentionality of President Tinubu’s administration to nation building.
“Within the first year, the President also approved the upgrade of key health infrastructure and equipment across all six geo-political zones, in line with his administration’s vision of overhauling the health and social welfare sector for enhanced service delivery to all Nigerians.”
He added, “The take-off of the first phase of the Consumer Credit Scheme, which is essentially a mitochondrion enabling citizens to improve their quality of life by accessing goods and services upfront, paying responsibly over time, and by the same token bolstering local industry and stimulating job creation, is another social cohesion sealant – with all classes of working Nigerians as beneficiaries.”
However, the second year of the ‘Emilokan’ government begins on June 1 and only time will tell how far it will go in turning the country’s waning fortunes around.
