•President assures investors of policy consistency, improved business climate
In what has become an astonishing surprise to his opponents and non-supporters, but an evident vindication of those who voted for him and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu’s one month in office has not only begun to change old narratives and impressions about his government, it is also fast defining and setting a template for greater expectations.
At his inauguration on May 29, Tinubu promised to hit the ground running, and he did. He took bold decisions that many before him had dreaded and resisted. Despite his controversial mandate, he is proving naysayers wrong on many fronts.
From the inauguration stage at Eagle Square, Abuja, where he surprisingly removed fuel subsidy, Tinubu has taken steps that are pointing curiously, in the direction of his renewed hope agenda.
Not only has he made crucial appointments considered germane to the smooth take-off of his government, he has also been making rather hard choices in the overall interest of the country and its people, not minding the temporary discomfort they seem to be causing.
With the appointment of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume; Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu; Acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; and the Service Chiefs across the three branches of the armed forces, Tinubu has made no pretence about his pledge of hitting the ground running.
To further give a fillip to this disposition, the president recently sought approval for the nomination of 20 special advisers from the National Assembly. He has started fixing different people in different places, pending the appointment of ministers, just so nothing stalls the delivery of the dividends of democracy.
Though the total number of appointees is less than 30, we nonetheless identify some important and influential players helping to shape the direction of the government.
Some of the special advisers include Mr. Dele Alake (Special Duties, Communications and Strategy), Yau Darazo (Political and Intergovernmental Affairs), Wale Edun (Monetary Policies), Olu Verheijen (Energy), Zachaeus Adedeji (Revenue), John Uwajumogu (Industry, Trade and Investment), and Salma Anas (Health).
He also appointed former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, as Special Adviser on Policy Coordination; Hannatu Musa Musawa as Special Adviser, Culture and entertainment economy; Abdullahi Abubakar Gumel, Senior Special Assistant, National Assembly Matters (Senate), while Olarewaju Kunle Ibrahim is senior special assistant, National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives).
Talking about policy pronouncements and commensurate actions to boot, the president, apart from the fuel subsidy removal, also managed the fallout by preventing any untoward actions from labour through the engagement of the various trade unions.
In addition to further showing concern about certain areas of the economy, the president suspended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, over alleged abuse of offices.
Some of the other policy pronouncements that have made the Tinubu administration a darling of many, including the global business community, are the unification of the forex rates, the sacking of parastatals and agencies’ boards, and the abolishment of support for professional bodies, among others.
In a demonstration of his seriousness and commitment to the Nigerian Project, the president also signed some executive orders and bills into law, as soon as he assumed office. They included the student loan, electricity tariffs, and data protection laws, among others.
Although the president is not unmindful of the effects of some of his actions, which he has since described as the pains of baby steps, he is equally not oblivious of more challenges that seem to lie ahead of his government.
These challenges include looming inflation and poverty as a result of subsidy removal, anticipated job losses, reduced productivity; the need to provide palliatives to ameliorate these effects, insecurity, massive oil theft, fighting corruption, electoral reform, and weak health system.
The challenges also involve giving more incentives to farmers, addressing the cases of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and other separatist agitators, the rising debt profile, addressing the Oronsaye-Joda reports, constituting his cabinet, shoring up the revenue base, and encouraging national cohesion as a result of the divisive election that brought him to power.
Tinubu also needs to properly fund the education sector, strengthen the weak public service, fix the dilapidated refineries, solve the perennial challenge of inadequate power supply, sustain the economic reforms, undertake institutional reforms, sustain the infrastructure renewal, including road and railway, give more credits to the MSMEs, fix the challenge of multiple taxation and the exhausting Japa syndrome.
