Decades of despotic military rule and corrupt political leadership have ruined our country’s economy and stagnated her technological development. So as Nigeria’s economy is in a tailspin, millions of Nigerians have been reduced to sub-humans and they live below the breadline.
And owing to our country’s technological backwardness, we import basic house-hold items. That is the chief reason President Bola Tinubu, whose presidential mandate is being challenged in court, should get his acts together and pull Nigeria out of the rut of national underdevelopment.
But President Tinubu didn’t cause our problem of underdevelopment; he inherited our current economic malaise and technological backwardness. Over the years, especially since 1999, our successive political leaders had squandered great opportunities given to them to leapfrog Nigeria to the acme of political, economic, and technological development.
But they failed to transform Nigeria, positively, because they are destitute of moral scruples, political sagacity, leadership qualities, patriotism, and political cum economic ideologies.And to make matters worse, those political leaders, who piloted our affairs in the past are ethnic chauvinists and religious bigots.
Their doings while in office deepened our religious and ethnic fault lines, thereby exacerbating our national disunity. And we all know that unity is a force for national development.
So now that President Tinubu is holding the levers of power at the centre, it behoves him to use the immense political power at his disposal for the enthronement of unity among us. And he should use his political power to work for the betterment of Nigeria.
As millions of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor, he should execute economic policies and measures to pull them out of poverty. And he should embark on the infrastructural development of Nigeria to expedite our country’s industrialization.
President Tinubu plunged headlong into solving our country’s vexatious problem of fuel subsidy when he removed fuel subsidy vía extempore speech during his swearing-in ceremony.
But questions have trailed his removal of the fuel subsidy. Did he give much thought to the consequences of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria? Did he put measures in place to ameliorate the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy on the people?
Not a few people are of the opinion that his removal of fuel subsidy was a knee-jerk action aimed at creating the impression that he is keen on rooting out corruption in the petroleum sector.
However, the fuel subsidy regime was a tool used by some powerful Nigerians to siphon money from our national treasury. There is no disputation about the fact that its removal was long overdue; and that it would have a salutary effect on our economy.
Again, his swiftness in relieving Abdurasheed Bawa, the former EFCC boss of his job; and suspending of Godwin Emefiele from his post as the CBN governor seems to be an act of political vengeance rather than a manifestation of his distaste for and dislike of official misconduct.
Nigerians would like the duo to be duly prosecuted in the court of law in accordance with the rule of law instead of persecuting them for their past deeds, which disfavoured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. President Tinubu should break with former President Buhari’s precedent of persecuting his political foes and disobeying courts’ judgements.
More so, now, President Bola Tinubu is leading the charge for the ousting of the military junta in Niger republic. Though the resolution for the use of military option or force in Niger republic was reached by member-states of the ECOWAS, President Tinubu should tread carefully regarding the delicate matter.
He should take cognizance of the fact that Nigeria’s northern Muslims share religious and ethnic bonds with the people of Niger republic. Therefore, it is likely that northern Muslims will back their kith and kin in Niger republic in the event of the outbreak of hostilities between ECOWAS forces and the Nigerien soldiers.
And should member-states of ECOWAS use the military to oust the military junta in Niger republic, Nigeria will bear the burden of financing the military adventure in Niger republic and supplying the soldiers for the fight, there.
But at this juncture in our political odyssey when our economy is in a tailspin, using our scarce financial resources to prosecute the war in Niger republic will be an injudicious act.
President Bola Tinubu should concern himself with providing good political leadership in Nigeria rather than engaging in ego trip to bolster his image and boost his democratic credentials. The people of Niger republic for whom he is fighting have shown solidarity with the coupists.
They hold the belief that the ousted government of President Bazoum was a puppet of the French government. So the question that is agitating the minds of millions of people in the world is this: why should President Tinubu cry more than the bereaved, as to the existence of the military junta in Niger republic?
The answer to the question is not far-fetched. Against the background of the litigation he is facing regarding his political mandate, President Tinubu will engage in deeds that will burnish his image as a true democrat. And he knows that his fighting for the restoration of democratic rule in Niger republic will endear him to political leaders in Europe and America.
But I would like President Tinubu to know that Nigeria is faced with multifarious and hydra-headed problems such as epileptic electricity supply, bad roads, youth unemployment, insecurity of lives and property, corruption in all our tiers of government, and the excruciating poverty of the masses.
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He should diversify our mono-economy to create employment opportunities for teeming millions of unemployed Nigerian graduates. Those young Nigerians pound the pavement daily in search of non-existent blue and white collar jobs.
Being unemployed, they are being recruited into terrorist groups that cause our problem of insecurity of lives and property. And there is a nexus between the escalation of criminal activities in Nigeria and the youth unemployment in our country.
However, we have a proverb that says that an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. Our provision of employment opportunities for the unemployed youths will, certainly, stem the tide of the rising crime waves in Nigeria. And a secure and safe Nigeria will attract foreign investors to the shores of our country.
So I urge President Tinubu not to misplace his leadership priorities; rather he should concern himself with the provision of good political leadership for us.
