Divergent Views Trail President Tinubu 1st Year in Office

 

 

 

 

 

By Taiwo Ogunniyi

Nigerians have expressed different views and opinions on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first year in office, while some citizens expressed delight in the first year in office, others called for improvement in the second year of office. Taiwo Ogunniyi reports

On May 29, 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks his first year in office as the 16th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He was sworn in on May 29, 2023, to pilot the affairs of the nation, given his victory in the 2023 presidential elections. Some concerned citizens, public affairs analysts, and religious leaders gave their submissions.

A public affairs analyst, Mr. Daniel Daniel, said, “Though it’ll be too early to assess his administration, however, should each administration be made constitutional a yearly event, he has not done well in the area of price control.

“Why? His administration has failed in terms of price control, to the point that the private sector appears to be in total control of the economy.

“For instance, in Nigeria, any attempt on the prize of Premium Motor Spirit (FUEL) either increases or decreases, drastically affecting the living standard of citizens.

“At the moment, most Nigerians are frustrated and cannot afford a three square meal because the economy is in disarray.

“The cost of living is high and unbearable. Is it the fuel hike or the electricity tariff hike?

“They’re not commensurate with the minimum wage or the salaries of individuals. So, where is the justice?

“The economic team members are not helping matters with taxation in almost all facets of livelihood. Taxes are good, but we are still developing and not yet ripe for them from all perspectives.

“In a nutshell, we are still living a life of promises in the country with no fulfillment in any quarter. We hope the second year will be remarkable and filled with the fulfillment of promises.”.

A clergyman, Rev. Felix Ajide, senior pastor of King Jesus Praise Land Assembly, Ilorin, was of the view that President Bola Tinubu is actually on course as far as good governance is concerned in Nigeria.

“He is addressing the numerous challenges facing this country, though gradually, which include infrastructure decay, poverty, food security, security of lives and property, inflation, corruption, and power, among others.

“We must understand one fact: the federal government alone cannot address all these problems. The state and local governments have their roles to play because they are closer to the people, but they have issues and have not been doing very well either.

“The local governments are not even in existence or visible today in Nigeria, but only exist in books. People are no longer feeling their impact because of the maladministration of most state governors.

“We need to exercise patience with the administration of President Tinubu because one year is too short to comprehensively assess the administration,” Ajide said.

He, however, advised the government to pay more attention to the economy, employment, power, education, and security of lives and property.

Ajide also implored the President to continue to listen to the voice of the people and the voice of reason toward moving the nation forward.

“The President should without further delay review the performance of his cabinet members and remove or change those who are not living up to expectations to hasten the delivery of democracy dividends to Nigerians,” Ajide added.

A concerned citizen, Daddy Kay, said, “I will simply say a container tin of Garri before he assumed the office was less than N1,000, but currently, it goes for N3,400.

“Baba has a lot of work to do; I didn’t expect much from him from the word go; becoming president was more of something he felt he was entitled to (Emi Lokan) as opposed to serving the people.

“The average Nigerian is going through a lot currently; his performance has not been impressive. Of course, his people will always say he has only done one year and Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Another concerned citizen, Biliqis Onaolapo Olajumoke, said, “President Tinubu is doing well, especially in Kwara State; it is a good beginning, and we hope for good things to come.”

Mr. Alfred Jones said, “Let us not deceive ourselves with sugar-coated words, massive migration, and brain drain, What is the future of the country when the youths are neglected?”

Miss Yetunde Olugbenga said, “The hardship gets worse daily. The administration is not favourable to the masses.”

In his view, Mr. Linus Imodiboh said that it has been an eventful year for the President and his difficult economic reforms.

“I will rather acknowledge the fact that the President has done his best trying to reorganize the already severely damaged economy of the nation than solely blame him for the current economic reality of the country.

“My assessment of the president is so far so good. But I want to appeal to the President to be very concerned about the plight of the citizens in the face of these economic reforms, which are the products of his renewed Hope Agenda.

“Efforts should be made to alleviate the suffering of the citizens while championing the course of his economic reforms. Nigerians are suffering.”

For Victoria Oluwafunmilayo, “It’s been unimpressive, and the suffering and hardship are very clear.”

Mr. Odunayo Ogunniyi said, “Tinubu’s one year in office, most Nigerians will agree, has been a period of grim economic hardship and security woes! Though he met the majority of the issues, his administration tends to make them worse with the removal of petrol subsidies without first addressing the root cause of the issue that brought the introduction of subsidies in the first place so as to cushion the effect on the masses.

In fact, it was a tactical error that is still having a profound negative effect on the majority of the people: sliding down the purchasing power of the common man, with lots of families struggling to feed themselves. As per my assessment, his performance so far has not been OK; people are not happy with his government at all! A good government is the one that takes hunger off the table of the common man, not the one that slides people into more poverty in a nation that already has the largest population of poor people in the world!

Enabor Loveth Ejemen said, “There is so much tension and hardship everywhere that the average person can no longer feed well. A tuber of yam is now sold for between N2,500 and N3,000. People are suffering.”.

A journalist, Mr. Abdulrazaq Adebayo, Daily Post correspondent, Kwara, described Tinubu’s first year as woeful.

According to him, the kick-off of Tinubu’s administration was faulty because it started without proper planning and took off due to poor homework.

“The president’s aides, to the best of my knowledge, are also in government to take care of themselves with all sincerity. Nobody has any answer to the present choking socio-economic challenges confronting the country,” he said.

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