Tinubu’s policies yielding positive results-Onanuga
By Peter Salami
A faction of the Yoruba Socio-Cultural group, Afenifere, yesterday passed a verdict on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government, saying it has failed Nigerians.
It also said the administration is destructuring instead of restructuring the military-imposed constitution on the country.
The Yoruba socio-political organization lamented that President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope has turned into a nightmare for Nigerians.
But Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Bayo Onanuga, during the weekend held out hope for Nigerians, saying the country will soon experience a reduction in the cost of living, as the effects of the administration’s economic reforms start to materialise.
In a statement, Onanuga said that the positive effects of President Tinubu’s policies would soon be felt across all segments of the nation. He said that President Tinubu had not only introduced progressive reforms but had also tackled challenges that previous administrations avoided.
He maintained that two years is an insufficient yardstick to fully measure the administration’s achievements, noting that policy experts typically assess the impact of policies over a period of 10 years to 12 years.
“The President’s years in office began with clear policy directions and implementation.
“A lot of reforms have taken place across sectors.
The President has laid down many fundamentals that would ensure growth,” he stated.
He acknowledged that while the positives of the President’s actions over the past two years were gradually trickling down, a significant paradigm shift had occurred in the economy, addressing many pre-existing problems.
Onanuga, while referring to the situation before the subsidy removal, said, “There was no fuel. Many stations were saying no fuel, no fuel.
“What was happening at that time was that the NNPC had reached the bottom point. It had no money to import fuel, it claimed that it was owing suppliers about six billion dollars and the government was owing it about four trillion naira. So, it could not import any more.”
Addressing concerns about borrowing, Onanuga clarified that it is a common practice globally, with even countries like the U.S. engaging in it.
“Nigeria has abundant resources that we are harnessing, but not as much readily available money as people might think,” he explained.
He stressed that borrowed funds were not squandered but rather used for their intended purposes, citing large-scale projects like the coastal roads that necessitate external financing due to their immense benefits.
Regarding currency devaluation, Onanuga explained that it is a universal economic principle, citing instances where even the UK and the U.S. have resorted to it.
“Even the UK and the U.S. at some point devalued. These are economic principles that are universal and cannot be changed because it is Nigeria,” he asserted.
He added that the government had made tough decisions and simultaneously created opportunities through infrastructure development, noting that many ongoing road constructions were not initially part of the budget.
Onanuga further stated that Nigeria had seen an increase in production and a rise in disposable income.
He pointed to companies like Nestlé and Nigerian Breweries, which initially faced challenges but were now sourcing materials locally and reporting profits.
“This economy has opened up opportunities in many forms for Nigerians. Those who can really exploit it. And they are making money,” he emphasised, giving examples of individuals making profits from exporting agricultural products like cocoa and even Zobo.
According to him, many companies are now investing and producing in Nigeria, and these positive shifts will soon become evident and tangible for all Nigerians.
Onanuga stressed the importance of public understanding of the economic context, saying, “We don’t do our people any good when we keep on pushing stories of gloom and doom without allowing them to see the truth, without allowing them to see the context, and without allowing them to know that there’s actually light at the end of the tunnel.”
But Afenifere, in its statement by its Leader and National Publicity Secretary, Oba Oladipo Olaitan and Justice Faloye, said the midterm report of the Tinubu administration has shown that every human development and sociopolitical index has regressed.
It also accused the administration of engaging in “massive propaganda claiming false successes.”
The statement reads: “The Midterm Report shows that every human development and sociopolitical index has regressed since the coming to office of the President Bola Tinubu administration, turning the promise of renewed hope to a nightmare of regressing hopelessness and despair.
“Rather than take full responsibility for the unmitigated sufferings inflicted on Nigerians in the past two years on account of its wrong policy choices and wasteful spending, the Tinubu administration has engaged in massive propaganda claiming false successes and shifting blames to global and historical factors, and showing scant empathy for ordinary Nigerians.
“Basically, due to unforced errors, especially the oversight of the production element of subsidies and floating the Naira, without any preparation to cushion the predictable impact, the Tinubu Economic Reforms has turned out to be Tinubu Economic Deforms.
“A Prebendal Government for the privileged and connected: Despite the Tinubu administration’s economic policies causing huge inflation that cut real wages in over half, only 4.1% of the Nigerian population in the civil service had their wages increased by 38%. Reliance on unproven channels for the distribution of pitiable halfhearted food and other palliatives was corruptly split among those connected, while uncontested mega projects were brazenly given to those with well-known connections to the President.
It is obvious that the Tinubu administration has no intention of delivering the greatest good to the greatest number of Nigerians,” the statement read.
The Yoruba group also accused the Tinubu administration of not fulfilling its promise to reform the electoral process two years into the life of its regime, as well as of failing to devolve power for state police.
It said that instead of the government finding solutions to the sufferings faced by Nigerians in the past two years, it has resorted to massive propaganda claiming false successes and shifting blames to global and historical factors, and showing scant empathy for ordinary Nigerians.
“Two years into its tenure, and contrary to its well-advertised electoral promise, the Tinubu administration is yet to implement the Oronsaye Report to cut the cost of governance. Instead, costs have ballooned with new cost centers for cronies to milk. The tone of government at all levels is one of a profligate ‘jaiye jaiye’ lifestyle, while the masses are being berated about Nigeria’s wasteful past and the imperative of sacrifice to restore fiscal integrity.
“The government’s first supplementary budget and subsequent budgets were spent on not only preserving but increasing the luxurious lifestyle of those in government – new Presidential jet, Cadillac limousines, N160 million cars for each federal legislator, and a scandalous increase in unaccounted constituency projects worth billions to each legislator.
“In the quest for absolute power, the Tinubu administration is trading off the lives of Nigerians by refusing to devolve power for state police.
“The Tinubu administration is destructuring instead of restructuring the military-imposed constitution, towards true federalism. It has shown increasingly centralizing tendencies to further weaken the federalist elements in the constitution by attacking federating units with the takeover of their administrative units, known as local governments. Tinubu is destructuring the pillars of our democracy by neutralizing the legislature and judiciary put in place for balance of power and robust representative governance. It is obvious that the agenda is a one-party state totalitarianism.
“In the last two years, we have witnessed a marked increase in intolerance of protests by dissenting civic groups. Peaceful protesters, students, and labour groups are hounded, destabilized, and bullied. In recent times, we have seen a gale of opposition politicians decamp to the ruling party to prevent institutional victimization. Even government sponsorship of internal conflicts in opposition parties and sociopolitical groups is open. Some recent appointments to the Independent National Electoral Commission are speculated to be card-carrying members of the ruling party. The emasculation of liberal democratic values is flagrantly displayed, without any shame or restraint.
“It has been a harrowing experience living through the pain and anguish of the last two years, inflicted on the nation by the administration of President Bola Tinubu. This Midterm Report is a duty that Afenifere must fulfil to prevent government propagandists from drowning the voices of millions of hungry and deprived Nigerians.
“Rather than focusing on service delivery, the Tinubu administration is focusing on winning the 2027 election regardless of the voters. No amount of propaganda will erase hunger and poverty in the land. Only selfless and empathetic leadership can serve the people, not prebendalist and hedonistic lifestyles. If this Midterm Report was an academic exercise, the student would receive advice to withdraw from the examiner, but we believe there is still room for redemption. We urge the President and his choir of mandate seekers to reflect and for a change just love Nigeria and Nigerians.”