Demure Policies, Justifications That Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda is Working

It is no brainer that most Nigerians never gave a chance to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make any mark on what was termed the Nigerian mess, moreso when he came with the Emilokan Sobriquet. Now people know better in real terms.

A peek into what he has done since he was sworn in on May 27 shows grit, determination and resolve to not only make a difference but fix things in a manner that all lost hopes will be renewed.

In the gamut of events where no sector was left in the pervading decay, it was even suicidal, unless with good escape plans for anyone to voluntarily step forward to take the bag of blames which the Nigerian situation literarily was.

But like he publicly announced, “I applied for this job and I will deliver, do not pity me, I know my plans to turn things around and renew your hopes”. That was not a mere political rhetoric as many have seen though people complain of the pains brought by policies as if we can make an omelette without breaking eggs. However, before our very eyes, things are turning out for the better and still improving.

Before Asiwaju was sworn in, Southern Kaduna was a killing field, Borno was an unofficial headquarters of terrorists, Benue state spoke of killings as statistics while Zamfara and Katsina always count days as they survived each. The security situations may not have turned totally 360 degrees but those who felt it now knows that there is a Commander in Chief who is unwilling to leave any space under his sovereignty ungoverned. From the East to the West, North to the South, security of lives and properties have improved. Without this stepping stones, development would be a mirage.

When most people were contesting that it was a mistake to announce the removal of fuel subsidy and carpeted him for creating hardship, little did they know that if a wound festers, you don’t don’t handle it with kid gloves but you apply the plaster style by pulling it because if you do it gently the pain won’t let you. So at the long run, people have seen he adopted the right approach. Market forces are daily bringing down prices of petroleum products.

Again, the budget of the country couldn’t have sustained the payment of subsidy which was based on fraud, so he used one stone to kill two birds. The subsidy was operated by a cabal which spanned the highest echelon of the nuveou rich and very difficult to handle, but Asiwaju has the strength of character to take the bull by the horn and saved the country from collapse.

When he took power, the exchange rate regime had no particular shape and the Naira value was in the hands of speculators who daily determined the value at which it exchanges with other world currencies. Tinubu went into the mess and streamlined it; now water as they say, is finding its level. He has unified the exchange rates and brought stability into the system.

Another bullet point of what has turned around within a short period is the introduction of the Nigeria Students Loans scheme which liberated every person who has intention of pursuing education but without the financial wherewithal. Parents heaved a sigh of relief that the burden of providing the rising cost of education for their children had been taken off them. It also leveled the field of educational pursuit to all Nigerians thereby restoring the opportunity for all to get lettered. An educated population they say is a ladder to development.

Before now post harvest loses wasted over 70 per cent of farmer’s harvests but within a short period, Tinubu launches commodity boards that served as off takers for any farm produce. It did the dual magic of saving post harvest loses as well as ensured availability of goods and food items for the teeming population. it tamed food inflation and in general, contributed to stabilising the economy.

The voting of huge sums to support tech companies and opening more windows for online jobs through concentration on information technology and tech hubs within a short period was able to engage our youths and provide them a lee way to content creation which has since boomed.

Before now, food baskets of the nation had all but shuttered by a number of factors. Land pressure, clashes between herdsmen and farmers, lack of seedlings and fertiliser as well as failure of irrigation programmes for all season farming but Asiwaju through his lieutenants who he constantly holds their feet to the fire were made to turn in results within a short period.

Now farmers are back to their farms and grains are available both for local consumption and for for.export. There have been structures in place.like the ministry of livestock which is fashioning out permanent solutions to herding and saving farmer’s harvests. All these are within a space of less than a tenure.

On the democratic front he realised that without grassroots development, most people would not feel the impact of democratic governance so he approached the Supreme Court which ruled in his favour and the issue of local government autonomy was fortified. However, till date, entrenched interests are still fighting to frustrate the scheme as governors see local government funds as free funds with which to play around. They are still gallivanting, looking for another means of seizing those funds.

Asiwaju has been on strong footings on economic policies as well as plugging revenue loopholes. He declared war on oil thieves and the output of the country which in years always fell below the Organisation of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) has now not only been met but surpassed.

Also, local refining which had defied all measures was realised and for the first time, the country is not only meeting its internal consumption supply but is also earning foreign currencies by exporting to other countries. Last week, Reuters reports confirmed that Dangote Refinery was exporting aviation fuel to United States of America while the Port Harcourt refinery also exported scertain component to Aramco. All these were within the tenure of Asiwaju.

He has plugged revenue leakages that revenue allocation has been highest since he took over power. Asiwaju has pushed for diversification of the economy to the extent that oil revenue is no longer making the country look like a mono economy while exports have also increased across board.

The rebirth of credit loan scheme whereby people could rebuild confidence to buy goods and pay later which was dead has become a means of cushioning hardship since mobilisation of finances to do one time purchase as has been the practice for long is no longer sustainable given the economic realities. He brought back the good old time that enable people to buy goods and pay without pressure.

Space will infact fail me to touch most of the areas where there have been turnarounds but the sure thing is that Nigerians are feeling the relief.

Comrade Atoyebi Bamidele, a philanthropist, public commentator and political activist is of the BAT Ideological Movement and Accountability Group wrote in from Abuja