When the kingmaker wears the crown

 

The feeling of success is a special one and this feeling becomes magical when someone achieved his lifetime ambition against all odds in life. For president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu becoming the President of the largest democracy in Africa is a rare case of a lifetime ambition.

In the 2003 election as a dogged politician, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu refused to support the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) an alliance with then President  Obasanjo PDP,  for re-election in return for the AD holding on to its six South-West states. The AD governor’s actions cost them their gubernatorial seats. Tinubu’s refusal to be part of the deal turned out to be his saving grace as he remained a  lone re-elected Governor of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) due to the incursion of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the South West.

As the lone AD governor Tinubu was in a regular collision with the PDP-controlled Federal Government, especially on his creation of additional 37 Local Council Development Areas for Lagos States. Despite Obasanjo’s administration’s deliberate withholding of statutory allocation of the Lagos State Local Government funds for almost three years Lagos state survived until the Supreme Court ruled that Obasanjo’s administration should release the seized statutory allocation of the Lagos State Local Government funds.

As recourse to the decimated Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the southwest Jagaban was actively involved in the creation of the Action Congress (AC) political party and was able to win back four of the states to AC control. Despite leaving office in 2007, Ahmad Bola Tinubu did not give up the struggle for forming a formidable opposition party in the country, especially during the 2011 general elections. After the parliamentary elections in 2011 showed that the People’s Democratic Party would retain the presidency, members of the two parties met to discuss the prospect of forging an alliance that would have a realistic chance of defeating the PDP’s candidate, Goodluck Jonathan.

I’m the same year,  the president-elect looked for alliance talks between the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which failed as the alliance talks failure has been blamed on Tunde Bakare, the CPC’s candidate for Vice-President for refusal to sign a predated resignation letter irked the leaders of the ACN who decided to opt out of a planned “grand coalition” and go it alone.

After the collapse of the 2007 alliance unrelentingly with his immense political influence led to the merger of opposition parties in 2013 three major parties the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have floated a mega platform All Progressive Congress (APC).  This grand merger led to the wrestling of power from the then-ruling PDP in 2015 – a rarity in Nigeria where incumbents are not often defeated.

Without the self-sacrifice and leadership of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, there would not be the All Progressive Congress at the centre in 2015 and 2019. He abandoned his desire to seek the country’s top job and instead choose to support and contributed significantly toward the emergence of then  General Muhammadu Buhari as APC Presidential candidate.

Toward the ruling governing party’s presidential primary election, President Buhari’s associates have tried to downplay the former governor’s influence in the 2015 election,  aspirations were flagging, and he reminded Nigerians that he was largely responsible for installing President Muhammadu Buhari.

Even though there is seemed to gang up against him before the APC  convention, the president-elect stood his ground, poured out his mind, and fought to win the presidential ticket. On Picking a  running-mate Tinubu, picked former Borno state governor Kashim Shettima. The action also generated a lot of controversies. This decision drew the ire of many Christians who say it went against the tradition of mixed-faith tickets for the presidency. Going by his antecedents and political sagacity, Tinubu is not just the Jagaban of Borgu, but the Jagaban of contemporary Nigerian democracy and politics and he is an “outstanding politician who has contributed immensely to Nigeria’s democracy.

The incoming President won the election at a critical stage in our nation’s history. As  Buhari administration poorly implemented economic policies have borough bout unbearable hardship to millions of families, difficulty to businesses, a huge debt profile, widespread insecurity, unemployment, and inflation.

The job of the president-elect ran the easy job, due to daunting challenges. on nation’s debt burden at the last count, Nigeria is neck-deep in debts hovering around N44.06 trillion in September 2022. However, if the N23.7 trillion CBN loan is securitized, our debt stock could amount to about N77 trillion in June 2023 just some days after the swearing of President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The incoming administration needs to put all necessary policies to bar federal and states government from borrowing and in the case where the borrowing needs borrowing will be used to fund projects that generate revenue from which debt can be repaid. Another area of great concern budget underscores fiscal deficit expansion and the upward trajectory in public debt. Fiscal sustainability will remain a concern as government revenue will be eroded by personnel costs and high-interest payments on debt.

The incoming administration is to take over on the heels of unemployment which has been projected the country’s unemployment rate will hit 37 per cent in 2023. Nigeria’s inflation rate reached its unprecedented in January 2023, hitting a record high of 21.82%. This represents a 0.47% increase when compared to the 21.34% recorded in the previous month, Nigerians are languishing in extreme hardship; daily survival has become an uphill challenge and what people are going through now in the country is reaching the highest apogee since the late 80s.

All these happened under the All Progressive Congress corrective administration.  Because those in power do not feel for Nigerians in this kind of abject unfold hardship. Why in the 21st Century  Nigerians are still talking about daily survival in normal circumstances there is no reason for Nigerians talks or cry about food prices beyond their affordability. In October,  a report by Global Hunger Index was jointly published by the German-based Welthungerhilfe and Dublin-based Concern Worldwide. Nigeria ranked 103 out of 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index, a position that signifies the nation “has a level of hunger-stricken country which is serious. inflation reached unprecedented heights; workers purchasing power declined precipitously.

Nigerians expect the new president-elect to have a team of competent people by ensuring that round pegs are put in round holes and that he should immediately roll out his economic blueprint, which should be in line with the National Development Plan. Urgent needs to tackle issues surrounding the fiscal and monetary policies to quickly arrest the dwindling economy of the country.

Another urgent matter for the incoming government should give accelerated attention to is the currency redesign policy notes because it has disrupted both consumption and production, particularly in the informal sector, the disruption has to be addressed quickly to halt the economic decline and hardship on the nation. This economic situation, in itself, requires not just tinkering but massive reengineering.

President-elect Ahmad Bola Tinubu should critically review agricultural policies because the current policy has not achieved much success that can boost the economy and reduce poverty in the land. Let you and your team remain focused on the objective of birthing the Nigeria of our dreams. Nigerians pray that Almighty God will help you to fulfill the progressive mandate mandated to you by the  Nigerians, as well as you and your Vice President-elect’s plans to improve security.

Finally, May Allah,  guide you to what is good for the country and good for us.  make them a means for our safety, and make them a means for our wellbeing. Safeguard our country and bring ease to the Nigerians from that which they face from suffering.

 

Abba Dukawa, a Public Affairs commentator, wrote in from Kano State.