Few days ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu addressed Nigerians. This was an 'off season' address, so to say. Apart from his inaugural speech, this was his first national broadcast since he took over office as Nigerian President on May 29, 2023.
The speech itself was a message of hope needed by a people roiling from hash economic realities occasioned by the removal of a cancerous fuel subsidy that was ravaging Nigeria to death but which, paradoxically, no government has mustered the will to remove because of not only its asphyxiating effects on the lives of Nigerians but also in the deadly social potentates such bold move would unleash. His broadcast was a soothing balm to a people undergoing economic strictures presently but who are hopeful that soon, and very soon, things will change for the better. Nigerians need such assurance from their leader to plod through the present economic straits.
So, over the years, successive Nigerian governments had put up with the more deadly effects of fuel subsidy as it makes its fatal rounds on the Nigerian economy that was bleeding to death as the fatuous cancer walk unmolested eating Nigerian economy to a painful death.
But Tinubu mustered the willpower and the rare courage to stop this ennui just as he was making his inaugural speech. He defiantly pronounced the death sentence on subsidy right on his inauguration ground. He was like a doctor that had to carry a surgical procedure to remove a cancerous growth in a patient. He knew he must use the knife. He knew such application of the knife would provoke eons of searing pain on the patient but then he had no choice than subjecting the patient to such temporary pains to save him from the fatal clutches of cancer.
Predictably, the economic turbulence unleashed by the removal of fuel subsidy has been enormous. It has been so excruciating that the patient wonders whether the pains won't kill him before cancer does. Nigerians have been groaning under the strictures and privation this removal has brought, in terms of higher costs of living, inflation and other ancillary consequences. They have been groaning, they have been murmuring, they have been complaining and they have been nattering.
But in their pain and misery, Nigerians know that the alternative to subsidy removal was to allow Nigeria bleed to an imminent death and that would be much more catastrophic than the temporary pains that came with the subsidy removal. Even, as they pretend to be oblivious of this reality, Nigerians know that it was either we kill fuel subsidy or fuel subsidy would kill us. That was why all the presidential candidates in the last election. promised to end the subsidy regime. That was why those who have made the subsidy removal a protest point today, fiercely canvassed the abrogation of fuel subsidy-and this includes the Nigerian Labour Congress.
So in his broadcast few days ago, the President spoke hope, optimism and courage to the Nigerian people. He knew Nigeria doesn't need a standoffish leader now; that Nigeria needs a leader that will stand down from his high office, come down their level and reason with them in their language to wedge through the tempestuous realities of the present and access the bright future with them. He knew that even as many Nigerians have sowed mischief, guile and political wile into what should be a harsh (though understandable) reality, he needed to reassure his people of the bright promises of the ensuing future. He knew that at this stage, he needs to reflate and boost the faith of his people in the capacity of his government to snatch a glorious future for them from the seemingly ruinous after effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
He did not disappoint in his broadcast. Vintage Asiwaju, he spoke eloquently, cadently, laconically and simplified what is unarguably a painful reality. He told Nigerians he understands their anguish. He told them that he shares their worries and anxiety. He let Nigerians know that even as President, he is not far from them; that he is not oblivious of the economic turbulence the fuel subsidy removal provoked. He pleaded for patience. He pleaded for understanding. He pleaded for tolerance.
On the other hand, he reiterated that what Nigeria is going through now is a necessary transition to a glorious economic future. He said (and of course Nigerians knew) that the alternative was to allow Nigeria bleed to death via the subsidy regime and that as a leader, he won't allow Nigeria plunge into such fatal reality.
His speech reeked of empathy, compassion and we-feeling. It was full of viable promises for a brighter future that will certainly vitiate the present harsh economic realities. President Tinubu fell short of swearing that he knows his way through Nigeria's seemingly intractable economic challenges. He was firm, potent, re-assuring and confident in appealing to Nigerians to tolerate the harsh present in huge expectation of a brighter future that is just at our doorsteps.
He did not stop at appealing for the understanding of Nigerians, he rolled out an expansive palliative regime to temper the present harsh economic certainties the removal of fuel subsidy unleashed.
These palliatives which are far-reaching enough include, but not limited to the following measures;
* N75 billion to fund enterprises at single digits (9%) per annum
* N125 billion will be set aside to energize MSMEs
* 200,000 metric tonnes of grains to be released.
* 225,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer, seedlings and other inputs to be provided for farmers immediately.
* N50 billion will be provided to cultivate 150,000 hectares of rice and maize.
* N50 billion will be provided to cultivate 100,000 hectares of wheat and cassava.
* N100 billion to acquire 3000 units of 20-seater CNG-fuelled buses.
* Minimum wage will be upwardly reviewed immediately.
* Emphasis on quick establishment of Students Loan.
There were many more palliative measures in Tinubu's broadcast to assure Nigerians that he not only means well but has an uncanny capacity to turn the economic fortunes of Nigeria for the better. He is versed. He is bold. He is courageous. He is knowledgeable. He is confident. He is audacious. He is deep. He knows the way. He can do it because he did it for Lagos and set that bustling Mega-city on the paths of irreversible growth.
His broadcast few days ago was a classical masterpiece to speak directly to the issues that gall and trouble Nigerians. It is capable of melting the hardest of hearts and had seduced many of his dedicated opponents and irreformable nay-sayers on the fuel subsidy issue. But it was a national reassurance that we have in President Tinubu a leader that listens, connects with us, knows the way and who will certainly fix Nigeria to our collective benefits. Let us all give him the chance to do just that!
Peter Claver Oparah
Ikeja, Lagos
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