The love for the BAT-Ideological Group (BAT-IG) among the people is blooming like a healthy crop sown on fertile land. Our group has earned a reputation as a team of “walking solutionists,” and across Nigeria, our impact is deeply felt and widely appreciated. This is evident in our success in restoring electricity to Rigasa, our dedicated advocacy for power restoration in Isoko South and Isoko North, and our current ongoing advocacy project in Aguata, Anambra State. Our successful interventions also stretch to Afon, the facilitation of major road projects like the Ajase Ipo-Okeode road, the Osogbo-Offa Road, and the Ijabo-Ajase Eko Road, alongside the restoration of electricity in Shendam and our welfare interventions for the children of paramilitary officers up to the age of 18.

The only irony in this success is that people want to reap the fruits of the effort without acknowledging the hen laying the golden egg. The man who inspired this entire vision is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In my previous intervention, I shared how this man inspired me to return to school and study a course specifically chosen to help me support his administration. In traditional politics, an opposition is always waiting in the wings to find frictional flaws in a leader’s finest moves. The same dynamic is playing out with this government, even as Nigeria moves forward in a clear, compassed direction.

The situation in Nigeria resembles a tree heavy with fruit, but many Nigerians simply do not know how to harvest them. Abundant opportunities exist, but citizens need to be educated on how to leverage on them. That is exactly why BAT-IG exists: we train and empower you to advocate for yourself, your community, and the country at large. Everyone is a leader in their own capacity, and everyone possesses the potential to solve a problem. In fact, it is almost impossible for you to bring a power or electricity issue to my attention that I cannot find a solution to.

We must not be carried away by the noise. Just as some South Africans were distracted from capitalizing on economic opportunities after the apartheid regime and now blame foreigners, or just as the children of Israel were tested during hard times, Nigerians must remain focused. Challenges like poverty, insecurity, and unemployment didn’t start yesterday; they are the cumulative result of actions or inactions of leaders and citizens decades ago. Nigerians should stop relying on social media trends to acquire knowledge, as knowledge gained through temporary trends fades when the trend dies. Instead, Nigerians must dive into history.

The Yorubas have a saying: “Bí a bá rẹ́gi nínú igbó, ká rẹ́ gbòǹgbò rẹ̀ pẹ̀lú, nítorí kí á má baà tún hu pẹ̀lú agbára” (If we chop down a tree in the forest, let us uproot its stump and roots as well, so that it does not grow back with even greater strength). This is exactly what President Tinubu is doing he is tackling Nigeria’s problems right from their roots. Of course, the President cannot solve everything alone. If you notice any missing program or gap in his manifesto, forward it to us at BAT-IG. We will push it forward and get it done, which is how we can meaningfully contribute to solving Nigeria’s challenges.

This is a direct call to the youth to join us so we can solve these small problems together. Every single one of us has the potential to make a difference. Let us stop being keyboard warriors who do nothing but complain, and let us refuse to give in to feeding-bottle politicians who are only trying to spoil Nigeria. Just three years into his administration, Tinubu is ticking almost every single box in his manifesto.

In the aspect of security, he has checked all the boxes, from the establishment of forest guards and improving the welfare of security officers, to state police reforms and the deployment of anti-banditry battalions. Even in the economy, his manifesto boldly committed to removing the fuel subsidy, floating the Naira, implementing tax reforms, and balancing import-export dynamics. All of these have been set in motion, change is visible everywhere, and foreign investors are flowing in from all angles.

This is the time to plug into the system and tap into these emerging opportunities.

Recently, Peter Obi mentioned that Tinubu has failed to implement his manifesto, which is a critique coming from a man who ran for the presidential election in 2023 without any manifesto at all. Is it possible to steer a sheep without a wheel? In contrast, Tinubu has checked and is continuing to check the boxes of his governance blueprint.

Today, state governments are no longer owing salaries, and electricity has been successfully decentralized. If there are irregularities remaining in the states, the state governors must be held responsible. Enough money is being pumped directly into their pockets, and I call them the “money bags.” But the citizens also have a vital role to play by holding their local government chairmen strictly accountable. Stop listening to the state governors. If your local leaders do not comply, sleep on their doorsteps and block their driveways until they do. President Tinubu has already implemented local government autonomy, and now it is up to the citizens to enforce that accountability.

Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting and political social worker