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Tinubu, One Year in Office and Catalogue of Woes
By Eric Elezuo
That day was a Monday. Nigerians had waited to know what was in store for them for the next four years. Expectations were high, considering that the three major presidential contenders had painted a blossoming picture of a better Nigeria. It was like whoever emerges knows the problems of Nigeria, and will fix it within a twinkling of an eye. Nigerians were sure to smile again.
But hope began to dim as the just sworn in president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, began to drift during his inauguration speech. Thousands were at the Eagle Square, venue of the swearing in ceremony, and millions were watching via online or cable television. When will he made the turnaround announcement that will usher in the much expected Eldorado.
The announcement did come. But it had no smack of Eldorado, it had no dressing of the Renewed Hope agenda on which Tinubu, and his All Progressives Congress (APC) campaigned, it was a blunt ‘spirit possessed’ outburst that changed the landscape of everything political, economic and welfaristic. It was a line borrowed from non-concentration, and it says “Subsidy is Gone”.
Since that Monday in 2023, May 29, to be precise, till now, one year after, Nigerians have practically lived from hand to mouth, moving from one terrible woe to another, and respite seems far from coming.
Just immediately after the announcement of May 29, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, ordinarily known as petrol, jumped to the roof. It sold at N615 as against N180 prior to the Tinubu era. The people did not protest. The people murmured, and adjusted to the hardship that came with the rise, and emboldened the government for more draconian policies. The prices of foodstuffs such as staples like garri, rice and beans soared beyond the reach of the regular citizen, and so emerged hunger, extreme starvation, deprivation and untold woes.
Then the government took more extreme steps, and descended on tariffs, increasing electricity cost even with abysmal supply. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had defended the move, and in a petty response, blamed Nigerians for putting on the freezers and A/Cs. He however, apologized for his misplaced utterance.
The naira totally collapsed, and nearly exchanged at N2000. Today, it trades at a price a little less than N1500.
Adding salt to injury, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a bid to deepend the country’s forex reserve introduced the Cybersecurity levy. The public outcry that followed the policy led to its suspension.
In the midst of all the woes, members of the National Assembly are buying cars at N160 million each and sending “prayers” to their various account numbers at regular intervals – while the masses continue to understand.
Meanwhile, Tinubu and his supporters have maintained that the government is doing well, and deserve applause as it completes one years in office.
Every Nigerian wants Tinubu to succeed, yes, but so far, it’s been a bleak one year of hunger, taste, deprivation and hopelessness. Someone says the matra has become renewed fraud!
The most fearful part is that there are three more years for the clueless administration to further torment Nigerians.
Tinubu government just have to review all they have done in the last one year with the eye of the regular citizen on the street, and not the Abuja landlord, and make amends before the hungry man truly becomes an angry man.
But Nigerians hope for the best, and this catalogue of woes may just end.
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
Pope Francis showed further improvement on Wednesday, the Vatican said, although it cautioned that “the prognosis remains reserved” for the 88-year-old fighting pneumonia.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father in the last 24 hours have shown a further, slight improvement,” said the Vatican in its nightly bulletin on the health of the pontiff, who has been in hospital since February 14.
“Although a slight improvement is being recorded, the prognosis remains reserved,” it said.
The Argentine pope was originally admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital with breathing difficulties and bronchitis, but his condition subsequently deteriorated, sparking widespread concern among Catholics.
Respiratory attacks he suffered at the weekend that required high levels of oxygen and blood transfusions have not been repeated, according to the Vatican, although he continues to receive oxygen and do breathing exercises.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said a CT scan performed Tuesday showed “normal progression of the pulmonary inflammatory condition” while blood tests on Wednesday confirmed the improvement.
It also said that a mild renal insufficiency detected at the weekend “had resolved.”
As Catholics across the globe pray for Francis, doctors have warned the path to recovery could be long, with the Jesuit pontiff likely staying in hospital beyond this week.
Despite his critical condition, the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has kept up with Church matters from his hospital suite, according to the Vatican.
Now on his 13th day in the hospital, the Pope Wednesday was “sitting in a chair, and continuing with the treatment as normal”, a Vatican source said.
The Vatican said he received the Eucharist in the morning and spent his afternoon working.The current hospitalisation is Francis’s fourth and longest.
The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.
He is prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain, which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.
Pilgrims and faithful have been flocking to the Vatican and the Gemelli to pray for Francis, with a fresh round of prayers held in St Peter’s Square later Wednesday evening.
US President, Donald Trump, has unveiled plans to sell new “gold card” residency permits for a price of $5 million each, saying Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
Trump said sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said.
“It’ll be people with money.”Sales of the cards would start in about two weeks, Trump added.
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump added.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon said that all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.
But asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it is a possibility.
“Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said.
“They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can. I think they can afford $5 million.”
A number of Russian oligarchs have been hit by western sanctions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump has caused shock in European capitals by suddenly opening negotiations with Russia to end the war, amid fears that he could be willing to sell Ukraine short.
The US president told reporters that lifting sanctions on Russia was possible “at some point” but was not currently on the table.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing at Trump’s side in the Oval Office, said of the gold cards that “we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”
Trump, who has branded a series of hotels and casinos in a long business career, even suggested the new cards could also be named after him.
“Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said, ‘If it helps, use the name Trump,’” he said.
AFP
