Tinubu: Subsidy and the uncertainty of hope

BY WEALTH DICKSON OMINABO

On Monday, May 29, Nigeria witnessed another democratic transition, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu taking over the reins of leadership from Muhammadu Buhari. The transition signals a ray of hope, for defenders of democracy around the world, at a time when democracy around the world is in crisis, more so for Africa when the continent is witnessing a wave of democratic recession characterised by unconstitutional change of government.

The transition ended months of political anxiety and speculations about the plans to truncate the current democratic order by political interest groups. In the last two months, state and non-state actors have given different analyses on the likely end of the Fourth Republic.

The reports, prophecies, and fears about the impending democratic apocalypse in Nigeria were premised on the nature of the general election and the discontent that followed thereafter. The brazen violence witnessed in some states during the election, and the election management body’s conduct all contributed to post-election malaise that necessitated fear of the likely disruption of the democratic order. The inauguration signals a triumph of Nigeria’s democracy despite the obvious challenges associated with the last election. A threat to Nigeria’s democratic order threatens the fate of democracy not just in West Africa but the entire continent. Nigeria’s status as a democratic hegemon in the continent imposes great responsibilities on the nation to preserve and uphold its constitutional framework to inspire other countries to promote democracy.

Contextualising the president’s inaugural speech

Inaugural speeches usually reflect the campaign manifesto of the party and some other current realities. President Tinubu expectedly used his address to clarify his administration’s priorities. The speech highlighted his administration’s quest to build a prosperous and united society. The tenor and tone of the speech reflected President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, as it referenced the country’s potential amid the many challenges that have prevented the citizens from accessing hope, peace and joy. The president echoed the need for unity in diversity; he preached that hope and peace would be realised when citizens work in unity of purpose.

The president promised to uphold the rule of law and respect the laws of the land. Perhaps very inspiring is his commitment to asserting Nigeria’s place in the comity of nations and ensuring it takes its leadership position in Africa. President Tinubu pledged to work with the regional bodies and other global stakeholders to resolve some of the continent’s shared problems starting with the conflict in Sudan. This is welcoming as Nigeria was fast losing its leadership position in the comity of nations. During the past administration, the stature of the Nigerian state was bruised on many fronts, and the country lost its leadership role and status in the continent. Unlike in the past when Nigeria wielded so much influence in the continent, resolving conflicts in different nations.

The president listed his priority areas as security, economy, agriculture, job creation, monetary policy, and infrastructure. This meticulous conceptualisation of policy drive will make sense if the president matches his word with commitment and delivers these promises. In Nigeria, politicians usually speak what they don’t mean and never commit to their actions. Recall how President Buhari, during his inauguration, declared that he belonged to everybody and belonged to nobody. The statement ended up being a political statement that was never intended to be implemented, as his actions later proved to be the opposite of what he said. President Tinubu has vowed to serve with “prejudice toward none but compassion and amity towards all”. We pray that he matches his word with action and threats every political group fairly and equally.

Commenting on the 2023 election and the legitimacy questions around his mandate, the president emphasised that he won fairly. He dismissed the argument that the elections were flawed. He stated that the elections were the most credible to have been conducted recently. In the second to last paragraph of the speech, in what some may consider as vain triumphalism, he declared that my “name is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I am the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. This was to drum it to the ears of all opposition voices that he is the country’s present reality and that all parties, despite their grievances, must accept it.

While it would have been outrightly difficult to discuss the challenges of Nigeria’s democracy as witnessed in the last election in the inaugural address, what many statesmen would have done would have been to acknowledge the fact that the nation’s democracy was still a work in progress and then restate the administration’s commitment to a credible and peaceful in the future. The drama that characterised the announcement of the Adamawa governorship election was a good premise to anchor his promise for a better electoral system. Presenting the last general election as a perfect election carries a tone of insincerity.

One of the gaps in the speech was the fact that the issue of restructuring was left out. Restructuring has been on the front burner of national discourse for many years, and the president and his party have previously spoken on the need to restructure the country. The president spoke about the imperfect constitution but shifted the responsibility of making the country work to the citizens.

He said: “Our constitution and laws give us a nation on paper. We must work harder at bringing these noble documents to life….” There is a limit to which citizens can help address some of the structural challenges of our nationhood without government input. This is where the idea of restructuring becomes very important. Maybe in the coming days, it will be interesting to hear the president speak on restructuring and what kind of restructuring his government would pursue.

Subsidy and the uncertainty of hope

Contrary to the promise of the president in his inaugural address that his administration shall “govern on your behalf but never rule over you. We shall consult and dialogue but never dictate”, he did the opposite in respect of the issue of fuel subsidy. The president announced the removal of fuel subsidy without stating how he would manage the effect of the post-subsidy economy. Through the transition period, the president had the opportunity to engage the relevant stakeholders on the fuel subsidy issue if he was determined to remove the subsidy, but he didn’t.

Nigerians nationwide are gnashing their teeth because of the agonising reality of the fuel hike and product scarcity. Just a few minutes after taking over power, the president plunged the nation into economic and social crises with the famous utterance, “fuel subsidy is gone”. This is the most defining statement in his entire speech. There is an air of uncertainty across the land, footage of long queues at petrol stations, clips of citizens lamenting the new reality, and groanings at every home and community on their present reality. A government with a mantra of renewed hope should be more circumspective on issues of public policies.

In some quarters, the joke is that with President Tinubu, hope is swallowed up in victory, and the days ahead will be rough and tough. Someone had said somewhere that with President Buhari, things were tough, but he was a Pharaoh who knew Joseph, but today we now have a Pharaoh who does not know Joseph, with the country besieged with an uncertainty of hope. Although it would be unfair to write an epitaph on Tinubu’s government at the moment, the message that should be taken to him is that, like George Floyd, Nigerians are struggling to breathe. So he needs to steady the ship of governance and give citizens a ray of hope.

Ominabo is the communications officer at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation.