Tinubu’s new Nigeria and citizens’ responsibility.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
A news analysis by Ismail Abdulaziz, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
On assumption of office, it was clear that the new administration of President Bola Tinubu intends to rejig the nation’s ailing economy to make it robust enough to engender growth and development of the country.
Few months into the four year tenure of the administration, a lot have been initiated to drive the economy towards growth in order to extricate Nigerians from the economic woes of the past and give them a new life line for a prosperous future.
Tinubu came in with a pledge to make Nigeria great through a five point-agenda anchored on rule of law, security, and remodeling of the economy to provide jobs, address extreme poverty and ensure food security.
His target also involves giving prominence to women and youths in governance, and championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.
On economy, the president was emphatic that his target is having year-on-year higher GDP growth and significant reduction in unemployment.
These, he said, would be attained through instituting budgetary reforms to stimulate the economy without engendering inflation.
‘’Second, industrial policy will utilize the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing and lessen import dependency.
‘’Third, electricity will become more accessible and affordable to businesses and homes alike,” by doubling power generation and transmission and improving distribution networks while states will be encouraged to develop local power sources.
The administration has also made a significant commitment to local and foreign investors that the government would review all complaints about multiple taxation and various anti-investment inhibitions.
‘’We shall ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard earned dividends and profits home,” the President said.
The measures taken so far, seems to have started generating dividend.
On November 24, 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew to 2.54 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter of 2023, higher than the 2.25 per cent recorded in 2022.
In its 2023 Q3 Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report, the NBS said GDP grew slightly by 0.03 per cent, higher than the 2.51 per cent reported in the second quarter of 2023.
It explained that the GDP growth was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 3.99 per cent and contributed 52.70 per cent to the aggregate national GDP growth.
Experts are of the opinion that the various efforts of Tinubu to woo genuine foreign and local investors will in the long run accelerate the administration’s quest to rejig and revamp the economy.
However, to ensure that the tenacity of the President pays off, institutional structures must be strengthened to drive governance policies to success.
No doubt, democracy thrives on information, constructive criticism and encouragement, so that government policies and programmes are assessed dispassionately and adjusted where necessary to meet set targets.
In this respect, government and private media organisations should be made to key into the national vision as enunciated by the administration.
This is necessary for them to appropriately provide the right information and content to galvanise the support of citizens and friends of Nigeria, and encourage everyone to contribute towards the successful delivery of the government agenda.
The recent appointments of new heads of federal government media organisations is the first step towards reinvigorating the information machinery of government
However, the most important aspects are providing the organisations the necessary funding and working tools to compete effectively in the fast changing information space.
This is important for the public media organisations to work in synergy with various government organs to properly inform the populace and make them understand what the government is doing to make life better and easier for all.
Thus, the ability of the media organisations to function to the satisfaction of the government and the people depends largely on the support they receive in terms of funding and conducive working environment.
There are still questions as to whether the government in taking steps to deliver the economic renewable it promised, or working hard enough to ease the current hardship brought about by the removal of fuel subsidy, sanitising the civil service, and addressing rising food inflation.
Even the Economic Intelligence Unit in its 2024 Outlook on Nigerian economy, expressed such fears, demanding for urgent action to prevent more Nigerians from falling into extreme poverty.
It is however encouraging that the president seems to be aware of these challenges and is making the right decisions to overcome the difficulties.
For a start, Tinubu has designed a performance bond for cabinet members with clear timelines for the delivery of government programmes and policies.
This is an important step that will offer citizens the opportunity to assess the performance of political appointees, and invariably, the government.
At a recent retreat for cabinet members, Tinubu was emphatic that they were not elected to bear titles.
“The responsibility we bear are not just titles, they are the hope and aspiration of millions of Nigerians.
“You might be ready to forget about the rest of the world but as a Nigerian, let’s go out there, let’s bond together and make sure our country fully recovers. Let me remind you that you are not here to make excuses, neither am I,’’ he told the ministers.
With this commitment from the president, what is required of Nigerians is to put the administration on its toes, support it as citizens desirous of seeing the emergence of a new Nigeria, and work collectively to provide solutions to accelerate growth and development in Nigeria.
Nigeria and Nigerians deserve a better life and the Tinubu administration must not be derailed, like other administrations before it; it should be supported by all patriotic Nigerians to provide sustainable solutions to existing challenges.
Ismail Abdulaziz is a Deputy Editor in Chief, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).