Hundred Ways Tinubu Has Hurt Nigerians In His 100 Days In Office (OPINION)

By Isaac Asabor

Without resorting to a campaign of calumny in this context, there is no denying the fact that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policies, programmes, and actions since he became Nigerian President on May 29, 2023, have hurt not a few Nigerians, particularly the category of Nigerians the officials manning the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development have dubbed “The poorest of the poor.”

For the sake of clarity, it is expedient to say that as Tinubu’s administration clocks 100 days that not a few praise singers have been commending him on his efforts to revive Nigeria’s economy, and telling him what he wants to hear, ostensibly to be in his good books, to show loyalty and support to their interests, and apparently not to fall out from political favour.

Given the foregoing, it is not a misnomer to say that despite President Tinubu’s vow to revamp the economy with his renewed hope slogan that the biting effects of his economic policies since he “grabbed power and ran away with it”, as he once swanked, have left virtually every Nigerians with a sour taste in their mouths.

Unfortunately, his efforts toward good governance have time and again been benefiting only those that are close, or recommended to him contrary to the promises made to all Nigerians as enshrined in his party’s manifestoes.

Still, in the same vein, he promised to train and give economic opportunity to the poorest and most vulnerable among Nigerians, and also seek a Nigeria where no parent is compelled to send a child to bed hungry, worried whether tomorrow shall bring food.

The president, during his campaign, also promised to generate, transmit, and distribute sufficient, affordable electricity to give the people the requisite power to enlighten their lives, their homes, and their very dreams, make basic healthcare, education, and housing accessible and affordable for all,  and most importantly, establish a bold and assertive policy that will create a strong and adaptive national security architecture and action to obliterate terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, and all other forms of violent extremism from Nigeria’s landscape.

Given the foregoing, it is sad to recall that despite months of campaign promises to help ordinary Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu’s first 100 days in office have revealed that his true policy priorities are benefitting his political acolytes, friends, and kinsmen at the expense of everyone else. His actions and those of his administration have been characterized by broken promises, gross conflicts of interest, and a stark erosion of transparency, ethics, and other democratic norms.

As a candidate, Tinubu and his campaign team in October 2022 released an 80-page policy document that highlights an eight-point agenda that cuts across national security, economy, agriculture, power, oil and gas, transportation, and education. On how he would drive the economy and alleviate the pains of Nigerians, he said his objective was to foster a new society based on shared prosperity, tolerance, compassion, and the unwavering commitment to treating each citizen with equal respect and due regard. As contained in the manifestos, he promised to build a Nigeria, especially for the youth, where sufficient jobs with decent wages would create a better life, manufacture, create, and invent more of the goods and services Nigerians require, and thus “Nigeria shall be known as a nation of creators, not just of consumers”.

In the same vein, he said under his administration Nigeria would export more and import less, strengthening both the naira to ease people’s way of life and continue assisting the ever-toiling farmers, through enlightened agricultural policy that promotes productivity and assures decent incomes, so that they can support their families and feed the nation.

The president, at the time under reference, promised to modernize and expand public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy could grow at an optimal rate, even as he also promised, in line with the manifestos to embolden and support young people and women by harnessing emerging sectors such as the digital economy, entertainment and culture, tourism and others to build the Nigeria of tomorrow, and today.

An Observation of the level of suffering and deprivations Nigerians have been passing through since he became the president of Nigeria shows that one does not need to conduct a Gallup poll to find out that a majority of Nigerians now believe that President Tinubu does not keep his promises, and is likely to be unable to effectively manage the government. After all, an African proverb says, “It is the smell of the fart that determines how offensive the smell of the faeces will be”.

At this juncture, it is expedient to conclude from observations that since May 29, 2023, Nigerians have been hurt in hundreds of ways in the president’s 100 Days in Office.

Given the depth of poverty on the ground, it is no longer logical for Nigerians, particularly those who are sentimentally attached to the president, and those who are currying him for a favor to continue skirting the stark realities. They should be told that we are no more in an era of “Rankadede” or “Sai Baba”. The reason for the foregoing view cannot be farfetched as the reality of the biting hardships exacerbated by Tinubu’s administration has dawned on us. People should begin to say it as it is to the president. The president may not know how Nigerians are suffering because he has for decades been swashbuckling in wealth that he may not understand how biting the hardship all of us are passing true is.

In fact, the hardships under which Nigerians are groaning in hundreds of ways have been so pervasive and obvious that the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had to take her time off from her tight schedule early last month to plead with Nigerians that they should be patient with the president as she assured them that Tinubu is aware of the hardship being experienced by Nigerians since the removal of fuel subsidy.

She said that the reason for her visit to Tinubu was to discuss how to help reduce the level of poverty in Nigeria, and that “That is what is needed now, helping Nigerians to alleviate the difficult conditions that they are in. She added, “Our conversation with the president centered on formulating approaches aimed at job creation, fostering women’s empowerment, and bolstering digital trade within Nigeria’s economy.

It can also be recalled in this context that in July that the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh, in a statement, commended the President for some of his policies, including national appointments meant to foster unity in the nation, but noted that “It is therefore imperative that economic policies are formulated and implemented with utmost care and consideration for the prevailing hardships experienced by Nigerians”.  Without a doubt, the theme of his statement which was delivered on behalf of  CAN was no doubt an expression of concern over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration policies “inflicting hardship” on Nigerians, calling for immediate measures that would alleviate the sufferings.

Still, in a similar vein, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) critically reacted to the president’s Democracy Day address to the nation, stating that he completely disregarded the harsh realities faced by the majority of Nigerians and failed to acknowledge the profound hardships and suffering they have endured.

The President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, in a release said the President’s promises and assurances during the national broadcast were not the “silver bullet” that Nigerians expected.

“The speech indeed appears to be out of touch with reality and anomalous with the hardship and suffering that most Nigerians are going through now,” Ajaero said.

According to him at the time under reference in this context, the NLC expected that the next line of statement would be how the present government plans to resuscitate public refineries, which have been lying comatose for so many years.

Given the foregoing, it is expedient that as the president has stayed 100 days in office with little or no achievements; depending on the standpoint the assessment is being made from, and who is making it, it would be patriotic and humane to tell the president about the difficulties Nigerians have been facing since he assumed office in May instead of telling him the pleasant things he wants to hear. In fact, he should be told that since he became Nigeria’s president that not a few Nigerians have been suffering in hundreds of ways and that his policies and actions have hurt them in his 100 Days in office. In fact, it is high time some of us are told that the present state of Nigeria is beyond “Emilokan” or “Awalokan” as the economy and the collective well-being of the people have to be bettered.