Tinubu’s Thirty Days In Office

BY NICK DAZANG

The idea of the first One Hundred Days in office became fashionable with the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) of the United States of America.

Roosevelt’s first One Hundred Days began on 4th March 1933. And in those eventful One Hundred Days, FDR prevailed on the American Congress to pass a record 77 laws which were aimed at reviving the United States economy from a comatose state, referred to in economic parlance as the Great Depression.

Before getting this raft of 77 bills passed by Congress, Roosevelt had informed his compatriots in his Inaugural Address that he intended to move with uncommon speed in confronting the headwinds which challenged America at the time. Said he: “I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require.”

Since Roosevelt’s first, epochal One Hundred Days in office, this three-month period after Inauguration has become a yardstick for measuring presidential performance around the globe.
It is correct to argue that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is encumbered by legitimacy issues, his election being challenged in court by two formidable opponents in the presidential election of Saturday, 25th February 2023 and the conduct of the election that brought him to power tainted by transparency issues. It is correct to assert that the first thirty days are insufficient for us to do a just and fair assessment of his performance and that it may be preposterous for us to embark on such a mission. But the challenges that confront us are so many and so daunting that to fail to do an assessment now will be tantamount to abdicating our duty to hold his government to account. Besides, those who have sought to do a sales/marketing pitch for the President had impressed us that he was one of the few candidates who were sufficiently prepared for the presidency.

If we were to subscribe to this well advertised position, namely that Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu has had sufficient preparation for the presidency by virtue of his pedigree as a former Governor of a cosmopolitan Lagos State, his first thirty days in office should provide us with an inkling. They should provide us with what to expect in the first One Hundred Days and indeed his first term in office.
The first thirty days of the President were hall marked by the following: 1) Withdrawal of fuel subsidy; 2) Appointment of the Chief of Staff (COS) and the Secretary to the Government (SGF); 3 Appointment of Special Advisers and Aides; 3) Suspension from office of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and that of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Bawa Abdulrasheed; 4) Attempts to unify the exchange rate by floating the Naira; 5) Appointment of new Service Chiefs; 6) Suspension of the boards of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), minus the thirteen Executive Bodies; and 7) Assenting to a Students Loan Bill.

There is no gain saying it that the aforementioned measures, and a slew of appointments, speak eloquently to the direction, substance and style of the nascent Tinubu administration. The withdrawal of fuel subsidy, coming at a time when only a cabal benefitted from it, and at a time when subsidy had been removed piece-meal over decades and for the umpteenth time by previous governments, met with no resistance. But its withdrawal, with presidential fiat and peremptoriness, speaks volumes. It was not preceded by any consultations with stakeholders or representatives of the Nigerian people. And it was not informed or preceded by any due consideration or forethought.

Our surmise or speculation is that proceeds from the withdrawal of fuel subsidy will be invested in capital projects. Assuming it is so, what are these projects? How can these projects impact immediately and positively on the economy and on the lives of Nigerians who are in dire straits at the moment?
The country is already awash with fantastic stories of impending palliatives for government workers. Pray, what becomes of those in the Organized Private Sector (OPS) or the embattled members of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN)? How does the government cater for those in the informal sector of the economy, the army of millions of unemployed youths and pensioners? How does the government tame inflation, currently at a stratospheric 22.04% and counting? How does it intend to address other impending increases in tariffs of electricity, education etc? How does the government intend to address other spiralling costs arising from withdrawal of fuel subsidy such as transportation, food, rent etc?
Even though the former Governor of the Central Bank and the former Chairman of the EFCC could be said to have gotten their just desserts or comeuppance on account of their controversial stewardships, were these suspensions justified? Emefiele is alleged to have embarked on his addle-brained currency re-design to frustrate the presidential ambition of Chief Tinubu. Bawa was reported to have initiated an investigation of Chief Tinubu even before he was elevated to the position of Chairman of EFCC. Could these have, directly or obliquely, informed their suspensions? This question is underscored by the fact that other officials who have either abused their offices or betrayed public trust are still sitting pretty on their official seats.

And though the appointment of new Service Chiefs accords with tradition, a tradition in which each President appoints his praetorian guard, it was nonetheless, a relief. It coincided with a time of heightened insecurity and genocidal killings especially across the North Central and North West geopolitical zones of the country. The former Service Chiefs, after doing well to check terrorism in the lead up to the 2023 General Elections, elected to relax in the aftermath of the elections and to look benignly away even as hundreds were being mowed down recklessly by the terrorists on a daily basis. The appointment of the new Service Chiefs should go beyond a change of baton, a game of musical chairs or regime protection. The Service Chiefs must make a huge difference in the lives of Nigerians by promptly seeking out and quickly neutralizing the terrorists and bandits who visit death and mayhem on innocents. They should pave way for an enduring peace in this country as well.
The Students Loan scheme is ludicrous and anti-people in its purport and conditions. Beneficiaries are supposed to be wards of those who earn below the country’s minimum wage. At the same time, they are supposed to be guaranteed by a Director or his/her equivalent in the Civil Service. Worse, in a country that boasts of more than 20 million unemployed youths, a beneficiary is expected to pay off the loan two years after graduation. The questions that arise from this are: Which Director will dare to surety such a loan? And how does a beneficiary pay off his loan without a job? Are beneficiaries entitled to automatic employment upon graduation?
The first thirty days of Chief Tinubu’s administration provide us with a foretaste of what to expect. They also speak eloquently of his governance style. Serious government business is done in helter skelter fashion. Statements are hastily issued only for clarifications to follow hot on their heels. This is a clear index and manifestation of slovenliness or lack of forethought. They also knock the bottom out of claims by the President’s handlers of his proficiency in and adeptness at statecraft.
Even as we expect frenetic actions that will pull us out of the mire, in which we are bogged, they should be pondered upon. They should not be serendipitous or haphazard. Otherwise, we will begin to have misgivings about the capacity of Chief Tinubu to deliver good governance and democracy’s dividends to Nigerians.