Tinubu: The First Nigerian Leader to Truly Take from the Rich and Give to the Poor

In a country where the rich have historically grown fatter off the back of the poor, Nigeria is witnessing a silent revolution, one that has begun to tip the scales in favour of the vulnerable. At the centre of this turning point stands President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. For the first time in Nigeria’s political history, a president is not only talking about the poor he is deliberately shifting national resources to uplift them. That man is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In a system long rigged in favor of the rich, Tinubu stands out as the first leader to genuinely take from the rich and give to the poor, reversing decades of elitist governance that kept the masses impoverished. Many leaders in Nigeria followed this exact pattern enriching the rich while the poor lost even the little they had. But Tinubu has done the opposite: he is taking from those who have captured the system for decades and using it to build up those at the bottom. Since the assuming office, Tinubu has made bold decisions unpopular with the cabal, but in favour of the common people. The removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira were not just economic measures; they were strategic acts of liberation. For too long, these policies served as pipelines enriching a few while bleeding the masses. By breaking these pipes, Tinubu redirected resources into the hands of those who need it most. This is the first time since Nigeria’s civil war that such comprehensive and deliberate pro-poor reforms are being implemented not only in theory, but in action. Under the Renewed Hope Social Investment Programme (RHSIP), Tinubu’s government launched the ₦75,000 Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) to support Nigeria’s poorest families. As of May 2025, over 5.6 million households have received one or more tranches of the ₦75,000, with funds disbursed in three phases of ₦25,000 each. This money is not thrown around loosely. Beneficiaries are carefully selected from the National Social Register, using verified data from NIN and AI-powered poverty mapping. Payments are made via bank transfers, mobile wallets, and even cash-in-hand for the most rural communities. This is real money, reaching real people not PR stunts. While some sit on social media hurling insults, Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens are quietly receiving financial relief for the first time in their lives. Tinubu’s vision for the poor is most evident in how he treats education as a right, not a privilege. Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) and the revival of technical and vocational education, Tinubu is not just sending poor children to school he’s paying them to stay there. For the first time, 38 federal and state technical colleges have been upgraded across the country. Students in these institutions are now receiving full tuition coverage and monthly stipends of ₦45,000, totalling over ₦540,000 annually in direct support. Add the NELFund’s ₦20,000 disbursement, making 120,000 per academic session and each student has enough for basic upkeep while learning practical skills. This is after the tuition fees has been fully paid. This is transformational. With NELFund in place, parents no longer need to worry about paying school fees for their children, whether rich or poor. Every Nigerian child now has the opportunity to access quality education without financial pressure. Students can focus entirely on learning rather than hustling to survive. This will produce a new generation of focused, skillful, and self-reliant Nigerians. These students will not just graduate; they will become employers of labor, building Nigeria from the grassroots. One of Tinubu’s most transformational reforms has been the increase in monthly federal allocations to states and local governments made possible by the removal of the fuel subsidy. With more money now flowing directly to the grassroots, local governments have the resources to fix roads, fund primary health care, support farmers, and improve rural schools. Monthly allocations have tripled compared to previous years. Tinubu didn’t stop there; his administration is also pushing for true local government autonomy, ensuring these funds actually reach the people and are not hijacked at the state level. This is what it means to govern with a human heart to build a system where the poor can breathe, as Tinubu famously declared. That statement was not empty. It was a direct challenge to those who have suffocated the people for decades. And they hated him for it. But the poor? The poor finally have a friend in power. In another historic first, President Tinubu signed an Executive Order removing tariffs and import duties on essential goods and critical materials including food, energy equipment, and manufacturing inputs. This no-tariff policy is a direct effort to ease the cost of living and bring down inflation for everyday Nigerians. Even more significantly, Tinubu signed the first-ever pharmaceutical tariff removal order in Nigeria’s history. This policy slashes the cost of medicines and expands access to life-saving drugs across hospitals and local health centers. This is not just economic reform it is economic justice. President Tinubu is not running a charity. He is building a strategic economic base from the bottom up. By investing in the poor through cash support, education, zero tariffs, and local empowerment he is creating a more stable, more employable, and more productive population. In a country where the poor were once used, abused, and abandoned, we now see a government that says: “Go and give birth, and we will help you raise them with dignity.” No more empty slogans. This is impact. Every other leader promised to help the poor. Tinubu is the first to break the old order where the rich stole from the poor and build a new one where the wealth of the nation serves its most vulnerable. He has shown that politics is not just about power but about purpose. In the words of scripture, “He raises the poor from the dust.” Indeed, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fulfilling that promise not with miracles but with policy, courage, and compassion. Let history record that in a time when others enriched themselves, Tinubu chose to enrich the people.