NEVER DID WE HAVE IT SO BAD: Nigerians never had a worse first 100 days; and that’s not an exaggeration. We thought immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari was our lowest limit but upon a cursory review, 100 days of PMB turns out far more salutary to Nigeria and her people.
The reasons are simple. It’s those little things about capacity, vision and presidential mind-set. While both Tinubu and Buhari lack capacity to run Nigeria almost in equal measure, Buhari has a better vision and mindset than Tinubu.
Buhari is singlemindedly nationalistic (read: patriotic and empathetic) in his economic outlook, insisting on maintaining some level of subsidy as well as not tossing the naira out the window to Western speculators. Tinubu is of different mindset.
President Tinubu unthinkingly yanked off fuel subsidy and threw hapless naira to the sharks. Let’s put some of it down to the fact that Tinubu desperately seeks legitimacy abroad; he violently shoves the mass of Nigerians under the bus to seek the face of the US, Britain, France and Germany.
Tinubu was gungho about immiserating Nigerians en masse. Our president would do anything for the now wanton Western world. At their behest, our president was ready to lead Nigeria into war with a brother country, Republic of Niger. Without wasting words, a war with Niger, would have amounted to Armageddon arriving early upon Africa.
Never has any president in our history exhibited such crass lack of empathy and soullessness. Indeed, it has been 100 days of self-preservation and zero leadership.
100 DAYS OF ZERO LEADERSHIP: This column would be the first to report it if there be anything worthy to be lauded in this administration. Those who seek informed, unbeffuddled perspectives about the Tinubu presidency, this is the homepage.
And dare we say that it has been 100 days of abysmal leadership so far. From this column’s point of view, it may be safe to say that the engine of this administration hasn’t been cranked yet. Though the honeymoon is over, the bride is left downcast and pucker-faced because she can’t ‘feel’ the groom yet. In a manner of speaking, he couldn’t start her car. It is this hollow feeling of a disappointed bride that Nigerians have now.
Let’s take a few examples to show that Tinubu hasn’t lifted a finger yet.
No Palliative: He rushed to remove so-called fuel subsidy and cut the naira loose. But no thought was given about palliative measures. As 100 days of is marked tomorrow, September 5th, 2023, Labour plans to embark on nationwide protests; the third attempt in 100 days. Series of negotiations has yielded no worthwhile palliative for the workers or Nigerian people.
Poor Cabinet: Though the presidency promised to hit the ground running. The truth is that he crash-landed. He virtually didn’t meet the stipulated 60-day deadline to form cabinet. When it was announced, it was a bloated assemblage of no-gooders. Among them are nine former governors most of whom failed woefully as governors. The President expanded the cabinet as never before to 48 ministers as if the economy was on boom, meanwhile the populace is being strangulated with its own belt in a vicious austerity campaign.
CRONYISM: LIKE TINUBU, LIKE BUHARI: It’s difficult to tell which among them is more narrow-minded, tribalistic and anti-merit in outlook in picking the Executive Council. Just as Buhari shunned merit and preferred his family, cronies and Hausa-Fulani kin, Tinubu has arrayed in his Exco, his co-travellers and members of his ethnic group as first pick for the most important jobs. Obviously, merit is not his priority.
Here’s a checklist: The president has also made the Buhari error of keeping the Petroleum Ministry. The oil and gas sector collapsed under eight years of Buhari’s watch. It has fallen lower in just 100 days of Tinubu. There’s cabinet and there’s the Kitchen Cabinet: The Presidency is controlled by the trio of Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Finance Minister, Olawale Edun and Solid Minerals Minister, Tunji Bello. They are the core allies of the president and they manage presidential power and appurtenances therefrom.
Apart from the Presidency and the Oil and Gas industry afore-noted, Tinubu’s cronies and his Yoruba clan has systematically captured the country thus: Economy and revenues (Finance Ministry, CBN, FIRS, Customs, Immigration, etc); Digital space and economy (Ministry of Communications); Maritime and Blue Economy ( NPA, NIMASA, Shipping, etc.); Solid Minerals and mining (gold, iron ore, bitumen, coal, etc); Ministry of Power; Security apparatus (Army and Police); Judiciary (CJN and Minister for Justice).
Most strategic presidential aides are also from the southwest. The same malaise for which we criticised Buhari for eight years is playing out even more horrifically under Tinubu. If only merit was a key consideration…
EDUN NOT FIT FOR COORDINATING MINISTER OF THE ECONOMY: Just as Buhari obstinately installed his kinswoman, Zainab Ahmed as Finance Minister even though the job was beyond her ken, so has Tinubu elevated Olawale Edun to a position he is ill-suited for. Yes, Edun studied Economics and Finance and has been in the financial system for a long while, he’s still not the best to manage and coordinate Nigeria’s economy. Not at this troublous times.
Edun is essentially an elevated treasury officer and at best, an asset manager. Though he was Commissioner of Finance in Lagos State from 1999 to 2004, under then Governor Tinubu, but we can tell you Edun was nothing spectacular in spite of the propaganda fibs they feed us with.
Thereabouts 1993 (30 years ago), as Assistant Editor of The African Guardian magazine, I had reviewed the fledgling Investment Banking and Trust Company (IBTC Merchant Bank) floated by the plucky young duo of Atedo Peterside and Olawale Edun. In the essay, I had stated that while Atedo was the face and driving force of IBTC, Edun was the engine room.
This characterisation has remained a truism over these years. Edun has remained largely a bean counter managing huge private assets and shadow businesses for Tinubu and his ilk. Atedo on the other hand, has grown into a colossus, the statesman of his age, leaving huge footprints on Nigeria’s economy, politics and social consciousness.
If he could have been convinced for the job, if merit be the main consideration in presidential appointments, this column thinks Atedo is the best Coordinating Minister of the Economy Nigeria needs now. Nonetheless, it is our fervent wish that Edun would rise above his limited scope and shortcomings to succeed in this crucial and onerous task. He must quickly step out of the shadows and drive the economy.
Expresso would be happy to eat his words on this no matter how unpalatable!
THIS RUDDERLESS PRESIDENCY IS ALSO BULL IN CHINA SHOP: It’s bad enough that the Tinubu administration seems rudderless and hasn’t quite taken off, it also continues to shoot itself in the crotch. Tinubu seems to be on a mission to exterminate the Nigerian masses once and for all. Apart from fuel subsidy and naira devaluation, the only ‘success’ Tinubu seems to have recorded is surreptitious jerking up of harsh taxes, rates, fees dues and tariffs.
School fees in federal schools have hit the roof, import tariffs, energy tariffs, motor licences and sundry fees, have been stealthily reviewed upwards. The president seems unable to discern the impact of his rash tax policies on the population he rules. He cannot seem to fathom that the mass of Nigerians have become living dead people in just 100 days of his rule. Tinubu’s empathy quotient is zero.
Some not too knowledgeable analysts call this debacle we have here ‘reform’ but it’s pure negative disruption of Nigeria’s economy and the already chequered lives of our people. We see no light in the horizon…
FINALLY, A VINDICTIVE PRESIDENCY: To cap everything, President Tinubu’s first 100 days has defined him and his presidency as quite vindictive, undemocratic and abhorrent of the rule of law. Instance: Instead of initiating a holistic review of Buhari’s highly corrupt era, this administration has embarked on a selective witch-hunt of one or two perceived enemies of the President.
This explains why the former governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele and Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrashid Bawa have been incarcerated and hounded since May 29th for no justiceable reason. Several court rulings were granted freeing the numerous detainees of Tinubu or granting them bail were blatantly ignored.
But the graver effect of this is that our core institutions of state are being damaged by the presidency. Two quick examples are the Directorate of State Services, DSS. This once very professional intelligence agency has been reduced to a counterintuitive and anti-intellectual agency. Tinubu unbeknown to him, is debasing the DSS to a mere iron fisted agency. In chasing Emefiele, they have usurped the duties of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Nigeria’s judiciary is worst hit in these 100 days. Never a time in our history has this arm of the government been so utterly abused. Dozens of rulings and judgments are simply ignored by the police and the DSS so far in this Tinubu’s era. So much for democracy, and so much for Renewed Hope.
Finally, as Tinubu marks its 100 days in office tomorrow, Tuesday September 5, 2023, it seems divine intervention would be required in the days ahead.
voiceofreason
Feedback: steve.osuji@gmail.com /04.09.2023