State of The Nation: Tinubu and Another Missed Opportunity to Sell Himself

By Ifeanyi Izeze

Finally, the long-awaited “I feel your pain” speech by President Bola Tinubu, came and the story is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but the Almighty God will not allow it to be forever.

Does anyone sincerely believe that the yearnings and expectations of the protesters in particular and Nigerians in general were genuinely captured and decisive solutions proffered to the varied problems keeping the country comatose in perpetuity? It is clear that the broadcast is like placing a band aide on a stage 4 infested wound about to cause a terminal systemic infection. Period!

Clearly, the President is not in touch with the reality of things in the country. His speech is diversionary and doesn’t address the key existential challenges of Nigerians that motivated them to protest, such asunbearable high cost of living especially cost of basic food items, hike in fuel pump price, hunger and banditry that is driving our farmers from going to their farms, high electricity bill, forex instability, high cost of transportation etc.

The present reality, gory as it is, received almost no serious attention. Little or nothing to bring immediate succour to Nigerians after one year and four months in office. Most of the presidents’ speech is still largely stated in anticipated promises of what is to come. These are not the kind of vacuous promises Nigerians want to hear from a government that has been in office in the last 14 months and had been borrowing and spending trillions of Naira with reckless abandon.

The broadcast is just mere verbiage that is devoid of any practical action that could bring immediate succour to Nigerians.

The speech spoke volumes about the disconnect between citizens and their leaders. The speech can easily be passed off as campaign material, not one coming from a sitting government. It is very superficial in most respect.

Can you imagine the President promising to cultivate 10 million hectares of land this year? Last year he said he will do 500, 000 hectares. Ask him: a man that failed at 500,000 hectares want to take on a 10 million hectares, How? Abegi!

He claimed that he inherited a dilapidated Nigeria from the former President Muhammadu Buhari. The question bordering us as Nigerians is: How can a President that claimed to have inherited a dilapidated Nigeria be spending public funds extravagantly as if you inherited a rich and prosperous country?

A non-expedient N15 Trillion Naira Lagos Calabar Coastal Road was awarded illegally to his friend, a Lebanese, Gilbert Chagoury who was repatriated back to his country by the former President Obasanjo.

Tinubu’s government has the largest Ministers ever in the History of Nigeria, where is the president sourcing the money to pay them?

He went ahead to create another Ministry of Livestock Development, what happened to Orasanye Report of downsizing and merging some of the Agencies, Parastatals and Departments?

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The Cost of Governance has not reduced instead it has increased massively. How would Mr. President justify the extravagant spendings under his Government?

Should the current administration not have had some prepared cushioning initiative in place before the two huge policies of subsidy removal and floating of the Naira? This is the real issue. You don’t start the implementation of a policy and then resort to reactive measures to mitigate its impact. It shows poor planning. If the President should not be blamed, if indeed it is a blame game, who should? After all, the buck stops on his table.

Where is the Subsidy Money that was removed on Petroleum Product and Electricity? How much has been saved and what was the Money used for? Nigerians want to Know?

This speech really shows how irredeemable Tinubu and his jesting court of cheerleaders are -adamant and insensitive to the seriousness of the problem in Nigeria. Not only has he addressed the matters from a cosmetic viewpoint, his continued reference to “enemies” against whom he lays the accusation of being behind the nationwide protest by suffering Nigerian youths only reflects how insensitively parochial his administration is to the plight of the citizens. Hence, the hand-out measures of his government in the name of palliatives. No government that operates the engines of governance by palliative measures ever succeeds.

Given the extensive publicity surrounding the protests and the threats issued by government officials against demonstrators, one would have expected President Tinubu in his sate of the nation address to present ground-breaking reforms, particularly those aimed at reducing the exorbitant costs of governance and improving the welfare and wellbeing of the citizenry.

This should have been the president’s landmark speech, but look at how brainless it read. He didn’t even address the pressing issue of hunger nor did he say how food will be made available. Na this long ramble Almajiri wan hear?

The principal role of government is the safety and well-being of the citizens. President Tinubu himself has said no one should pity him. He asked for the job. Where there is an action, there are consequences.  Enough of these sympathisers that are crying more than the bereaved. God Bless Nigeria!

• Izeze is a celebrated Columnist with National Daily Newspaper and can be reached on: [email protected]; 234-8033043009 (sms only)