₦airaland Forum

After 2 years of Tinubu’s administration, it’s now time to properly rate him. And in this piece, I’m going to set aside my dislike for him and his values, and focus only on his actions so far as president; particularly on the reforms he has engineered since he came to power.

FUEL SUBSIDY: “Fuel Subsidy is gone” was part of the last phrases he uttered on his Inauguration Day and since that day till date, Nigeria has not remained the same. Fuel price ballooned to the roof and with it the cost of transport and essentials rose astronomically almost beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. But was he wrong? No.

Like we all heard them say, the 3 major candidates in the 2023 presidential election all promised to remove fuel subsidy once they get into office. What some have argued is that there may have been differences in “how” they would have gone about it. But Tinubu chose to go about it the way he did and we are here today.

Now, let me make an analogy of this fuel subsidy thing and how what we are going through is a necessary pain that is needed to set Nigeria on a solid foundation that nothing much will ever shake its roots again.

Take Nigeria as a child in oxygen support in a hospital. Now, he has been in the oxygen support for years draining the finances of his family members; both the father, mother, siblings and even extended family members. Now, at a time, the family complained to the doctor that they no longer have money to continue to pay for the boy’s oxygen support. They advised the doctor to remove the oxygen tank and allow the boy to breathe on his own. The doctor agreed. But each time the doctor removes the oxygen, the boy starts to struggle with breathe as though he is about to die. On the other hand, however, the family is always relieved of the expenses that comes with paying for oxygen. But not longer after, they would have to continue the expenses again because they can see their boy struggling for air and they don’t want him to die. Until one day another doctor came. And seeing how long the boy has been in oxygen, and the financial strain it has caused his family, advised the family to allow him remove the oxygen pipe and be ready for two things - it’s either the boy struggles for breathe until he dies or he struggles for breathe until he stabilizes and can now breathe on his own. The result is that the family is saved a huge cost and they can now channel that money into the training of their other children in school, payment of house rent and other bills. The boy too benefits as the family will no longer see him as a burden while he begins to heal naturally.

The above, I believe, best captures the situation Nigeria was in with fuel subsidy and why it needed to go. The grouse I have always had with Tinubu and his supporters is that they knew Jonathan was doing the right thing when he removed this same subsidy in 2012 but they went ahead and almost shutdown the economy; only for them to come back more than 10 years later to do the same thing. That’s hypocrisy.

EXCHANGE RATE UNIFICATION: With what was obtainable in the previous exchange rate, you had Alhajis that were making billions on daily basis by getting dollar from CBN at official rate and selling to the populace at the so called “black market” rate. The unification eliminated this and took the economy of Nigeria to the right foundation where it belongs and not on bubbles that was sustained by constant pumping of dollars just to maintain a lie.

Right now, Nigeria is no longer living on bubbles and lies. Where you see us today is where we truly belong.

TAX REFORMS: The next thing Tinubu has done is tax reform. I read an analysis that said some of our tax laws are as old as 1948. That is grossly outdated and it is right that we have a tax administration law that is informed by the 21st century realities. If anything, a lot of countries with no minerals and all, survive only on what they generate through tax. So, Nigeria should not be an exception. We are making money from oil and other minerals resources, yes, but we can make even more money by also reforming our tax laws to make for more money to be generated through tax and also make Nigeria’s federating units start to see governance as business; that they would have to make their states friendly for investors to come in so they can generate tax.

REGIONALISM: He has not done it, but he will do it. In fact he already started by getting the Supreme Court to rule that governors no longer have the powers to sack elected LG Chairmen.

The next stop is State Police which is already in a concluding stage which will enable states to take charge of their own security and no longer what is presently obtainable.

Then he’s likely to move to resource control where powers will be given states/regions to control their resources and contribute some percentage to the center instead of the current configuration where the center owns everything and gives piecemeal to the regions.


In all of these, only a president like Tinubu who doesn’t care much about his popularity could have done this.

A Peter Obi, who would not have wanted to see his popularity diminish, would not have removed fuel subsidy in full so the people won’t suffer. But Nigeria would have lost instead. Also a Peter Obi would not have initiated the kind of Tax Reform Bills that Tinubu initiated lest the north say “we said it that you should never trust an Igbo man with power.”

An Atiku, a northerner, would not have unified the exchange rate as most beneficiaries of the dichotomy that was previously obtainable were his kinsmen. He would not have dared to remove food from the mouth of his people. Also, an Atiku would not have initiated the tax reform bills especially the part that talked about derivation as most of the states in his region are more interested in destroying beer bottles than they are in creating a conducive environment for investors to come in and establish any meaningful business or industry.

So, in all, only Tinubu could have initiated these necessary reforms that truly have long term benefits for the country even though it comes with a lot immediate pain.

Just maybe, Tinubu was a necessary Saul that needed to come before David; like Pastor Paul Adefarasin said days before the 2023 presidential election.

Penguin is a bird of reason!

Sangoamadioha1:
Nigerian masses is the child (according to your analogy), you removed the oxygen helping that child breathe to save money to buy cars and boats. Even after removing the oxygen to save cost, you still borrow money and there is no meaningful change in your household, so what is the use of depriving that child the oxygen it needs to survive.
That child needs the oxygen to survive while the doctors treat the child so that he would no longer need the oxygen to survive. Only an irresponsible parent would watch their child suffer while the parents are feeding fat from the money that was supposed to be used in bringing a little comfort to their child.

helinues:
Cherry picking like his principal

If those who matters are praising president Tinubu's for the reforms and politicies, why should we take the opinions of those who might not even be relevant politically in their family seriously

Justiceleague1:
As if you even read the article...

Penguin2:
After 2 years of Tinubu’s administration, it’s now time to properly rate him. And in this piece, I’m going to set aside my dislike for him and his values, and focus only on his actions so far as president; particularly on the reforms he has engineered since he came to power.

FUEL SUBSIDY: “Fuel Subsidy is gone” was part of the last phrases he uttered on his Inauguration Day and since that day till date, Nigeria has not remained the same. Fuel price ballooned to the roof and with it the cost of transport and essentials rose astronomically almost beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. But was he wrong? No.

Like we all heard them say, the 3 major candidates in the 2023 presidential election all promised to remove fuel subsidy once they get into office. What some have argued is that there may have been differences in “how” they would have gone about it. But Tinubu chose to go about it the way he did and we are here today.

Now, let me make an analogy of this fuel subsidy thing and how what we are going through is a necessary pain that is needed to set Nigeria on a solid foundation that nothing much will ever shake its roots again.

Take Nigeria as a child in oxygen support in a hospital. Now, he has been in the oxygen support for years draining the finances of his family members; both the father, mother, siblings and even extended family members. Now, at a time, the family complained to the doctor that they no longer have money to continue to pay for the boy’s oxygen support. They advised the doctor to remove the oxygen tank and allow the boy to breathe on his own. The doctor agreed. But each time the doctor removes the oxygen, the boy starts to struggle with breathe as though he is about to die. On the other hand, however, the family is always relieved of the expenses that comes with paying for oxygen. But not longer after, they would have to continue the expenses again because they can see their boy struggling for air and they don’t want him to die. Until one day another doctor came. And seeing how long the boy has been in oxygen, and the financial strain it has caused his family, advised the family to allow him remove the oxygen pipe and be ready for two things - it’s either the boy struggles for breathe until he dies or he struggles for breathe until he stabilizes and can now breathe on his own. The result is that the family is saved a huge cost and they can now channel that money into the training of their other children in school, payment of house rent and other bills. The boy too benefits as the family will no longer see him as a burden while he begins to heal naturally.

The above, I believe, best captures the situation Nigeria was in with fuel subsidy and why it needed to go. The grouse I have always had with Tinubu and his supporters is that they knew Jonathan was doing the right thing when he removed this same subsidy in 2012 but they went ahead and almost shutdown the economy; only for them to come back more than 10 years later to do the same thing. That’s hypocrisy.

EXCHANGE RATE UNIFICATION: With what was obtainable in the previous exchange rate, you had Alhajis that were making billions on daily basis by getting dollar from CBN at official rate and selling to the populace at the so called “black market” rate. The unification eliminated this and took the economy of Nigeria to the right foundation where it belongs and not on bubbles that was sustained by constant pumping of dollars just to maintain a lie.

Right now, Nigeria is no longer living on bubbles and lies. Where you see us today is where we truly belong.

TAX REFORMS: The next thing Tinubu has done is tax reform. I read an analysis that said some of our tax laws are as old as 1948. That is grossly outdated and it is right that we have a tax administration law that is informed by the 21st century realities. If anything, a lot of countries with no minerals and all, survive only on what they generate through tax. So, Nigeria should not be an exception. We are making money from oil and other minerals resources, yes, but we can make even more money by also reforming our tax laws to make for more money to be generated through tax and also make Nigeria’s federating units start to see governance as business; that they would have to make their states friendly for investors to come in so they can generate tax.

REGIONALISM: He has not done it, but he will do it. In fact he already started by getting the Supreme Court to rule that governors no longer have the powers to sack elected LG Chairmen.

The next stop is State Police which is already in a concluding stage which will enable states to take charge of their own security and no longer what is presently obtainable.

Then he’s likely to move to resource control where powers will be given states/regions to control their resources and contribute some percentage to the center instead of the current configuration where the center owns everything and gives piecemeal to the regions.


In all of these, only a president like Tinubu who doesn’t care much about his popularity could have done this.

A Peter Obi, who would not have wanted to see his popularity diminish, would not have removed fuel subsidy in full so the people won’t suffer. But Nigeria would have lost instead. Also a Peter Obi would not have initiated the kind of Tax Reform Bills that Tinubu initiated lest the north say “we said it that you should never trust an Igbo man with power.”

An Atiku, a northerner, would not have unified the exchange rate as most beneficiaries of the dichotomy that was previously obtainable were his kinsmen. He would not have dared to remove food from the mouth of his people. Also, an Atiku would not have initiated the tax reform bills especially the part that talked about derivation as most of the states in his region are more interested in destroying beer bottles than they are in creating a conducive environment for investors to come in and establish any meaningful business or industry.

So, in all, only Tinubu could have initiated these necessary reforms that truly have long term benefits for the country even though it comes with a lot immediate pain.

Just maybe, Tinubu was a necessary Saul that needed to come before David; like Pastor Paul Adefarasin said days before the 2023 presidential election.

Penguin is a bird of reason!

Mynd44
Fergie001
Nlfpmod

Tochitee:
But truth be told, ,the civilised understand that Nigeria is on the right path with tinubu policy at then end of his tenure by 2031,we should consider a young modern northerner!

ivandragon:
And why must the masses bear the brunt of the reforms?

While does the political class continue to bask in excesses?

Obaaderemi2:
You have not finished

b3llo:
Emilokan bird of reason

Obaaderemi2:
Because they're in the majority so they'll feel it the most. That's not to say the moneyed class don't feel it too. Subsidy thieves and forex roundtrippers who used to make billions per day also won't like this government. Some of them are in a coalition against the present government. Meanwhile they're not better and they also don't like the masses

ivandragon:
I am talking about the political class. Have you seen any political office holders cut down on expenses?

You talk about subsidy thieves and forex manipulators, why hasn't the government gone after the economic saboteurs? Was it the masses that were manipulating the subsidy and forex markets?

Where buhari and bat better when they were in the opposition? Given thier antecedents, did they show any sign of liking the masses?

Anyway, usual excuses for incompetence and greed...

Obaaderemi2:
By the time you handle a leadership position you will understand better. No politician likes you. But it's better to have someone who would come with helpful policies than a liar who would continue to ruin the economy but still steal

ivandragon:
That you have probably not held any leadership position does not mean others have not.

When bat was against reforms in 2012, what was he?

What is the sense in reforms that enrich the political class but impoverish the masses? You think bat and his cronies not stealing? Someone that has populated his government with known thieves.

Bat is a liar and deceitful character and his whole history proves it.

Obaaderemi2:
Ok. They should have just continued paying subsidies and borrowing money to support the naira.

BAT is a thief, just like Atiku and Obi and the rest of them. None is clean

surgical:
That decision is a reckless decision which is very callous and insensitive
Those allegations about not going to school might be true after all,
He just make decisions without proper thinking or research
He thinks power is by showing you are in charge and can do anything, I am the boss kind of thinking
Now see the results

surgical:
That decision is a reckless decision which is very callous and insensitive
Those allegations about not going to school might be true after all,
He just make decisions without proper thinking or research
He thinks power is by showing you are in charge and can do anything, I am the boss kind of thinking
Now see the results

ElSudani:
What he did is the stuff only great leaders can do. Unpopular but absolutely necessary. This is what Nigeria needed not some lilly livered pretender who will pander to some useless populism that will keep Nigeria down for another decade or two.

surgical:
you are just a blind supporter ,who can even support Satan if he were to be on earth
No value just support anything in power
How is the decision, that of a visionary, a visionary would have weighed the pro and cons of a decision and take decision in the best interest of the people but this decision is not meant to achieve anything and it will not achieve
He is just punishing Nigerians for being foolish enough to make him president
What is he going to achieve to the benefits of the people when he removed subsidy and increased all prices, which brought increased revenue to government, which is the intention anyway but
What he did with is at variance with your submission, he invested the pain of the people on austentatious spending like buying yacht, limousines, bogus airplane and pampering of the elites and othe wasteful expenditures
These will not be the focus of a visionary leader, personal agrandisment
That's why bwala said give him 30 years he won't achieve anything

ivandragon:
Why is it now that you, bat and the rest have suddenly realised that N215:$1 is too low and fuel at N145 is too cheap?

When you were all protesting, didn't you all know that paying subsidies and borrowing to support the naira was bad?

You cannot preach righteousness without first owning up to your deceit. If circumstances have changed, then bat should come out and say so, and not act as if he is some sort of evil demi-god. The arrogance is nauseating.

Yes, they are all thieves, agreed. But at least the pdp had been consistent about subsidy removal and not lying like bat.

Penguin2:
After 2 years of Tinubu’s administration, it’s now time to properly rate him. And in this piece, I’m going to set aside my dislike for him and his values, and focus only on his actions so far as president; particularly on the reforms he has engineered since he came to power.

FUEL SUBSIDY: “Fuel Subsidy is gone” was part of the last phrases he uttered on his Inauguration Day and since that day till date, Nigeria has not remained the same. Fuel price ballooned to the roof and with it the cost of transport and essentials rose astronomically almost beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. But was he wrong? No.

Like we all heard them say, the 3 major candidates in the 2023 presidential election all promised to remove fuel subsidy once they get into office. What some have argued is that there may have been differences in “how” they would have gone about it. But Tinubu chose to go about it the way he did and we are here today.

Now, let me make an analogy of this fuel subsidy thing and how what we are going through is a necessary pain that is needed to set Nigeria on a solid foundation that nothing much will ever shake its roots again.

Take Nigeria as a child in oxygen support in a hospital. Now, he has been in the oxygen support for years draining the finances of his family members; both the father, mother, siblings and even extended family members. Now, at a time, the family complained to the doctor that they no longer have money to continue to pay for the boy’s oxygen support. They advised the doctor to remove the oxygen tank and allow the boy to breathe on his own. The doctor agreed. But each time the doctor removes the oxygen, the boy starts to struggle with breathe as though he is about to die. On the other hand, however, the family is always relieved of the expenses that comes with paying for oxygen. But not longer after, they would have to continue the expenses again because they can see their boy struggling for air and they don’t want him to die. Until one day another doctor came. And seeing how long the boy has been in oxygen, and the financial strain it has caused his family, advised the family to allow him remove the oxygen pipe and be ready for two things - it’s either the boy struggles for breathe until he dies or he struggles for breathe until he stabilizes and can now breathe on his own. The result is that the family is saved a huge cost and they can now channel that money into the training of their other children in school, payment of house rent and other bills. The boy too benefits as the family will no longer see him as a burden while he begins to heal naturally.

The above, I believe, best captures the situation Nigeria was in with fuel subsidy and why it needed to go. The grouse I have always had with Tinubu and his supporters is that they knew Jonathan was doing the right thing when he removed this same subsidy in 2012 but they went ahead and almost shutdown the economy; only for them to come back more than 10 years later to do the same thing. That’s hypocrisy.

EXCHANGE RATE UNIFICATION: With what was obtainable in the previous exchange rate, you had Alhajis that were making billions on daily basis by getting dollar from CBN at official rate and selling to the populace at the so called “black market” rate. The unification eliminated this and took the economy of Nigeria to the right foundation where it belongs and not on bubbles that was sustained by constant pumping of dollars just to maintain a lie.

Right now, Nigeria is no longer living on bubbles and lies. Where you see us today is where we truly belong.

TAX REFORMS: The next thing Tinubu has done is tax reform. I read an analysis that said some of our tax laws are as old as 1948. That is grossly outdated and it is right that we have a tax administration law that is informed by the 21st century realities. If anything, a lot of countries with no minerals and all, survive only on what they generate through tax. So, Nigeria should not be an exception. We are making money from oil and other minerals resources, yes, but we can make even more money by also reforming our tax laws to make for more money to be generated through tax and also make Nigeria’s federating units start to see governance as business; that they would have to make their states friendly for investors to come in so they can generate tax.

REGIONALISM: He has not done it, but he will do it. In fact he already started by getting the Supreme Court to rule that governors no longer have the powers to sack elected LG Chairmen.

The next stop is State Police which is already in a concluding stage which will enable states to take charge of their own security and no longer what is presently obtainable.

Then he’s likely to move to resource control where powers will be given states/regions to control their resources and contribute some percentage to the center instead of the current configuration where the center owns everything and gives piecemeal to the regions.


In all of these, only a president like Tinubu who doesn’t care much about his popularity could have done this.

A Peter Obi, who would not have wanted to see his popularity diminish, would not have removed fuel subsidy in full so the people won’t suffer. But Nigeria would have lost instead. Also a Peter Obi would not have initiated the kind of Tax Reform Bills that Tinubu initiated lest the north say “we said it that you should never trust an Igbo man with power.”

An Atiku, a northerner, would not have unified the exchange rate as most beneficiaries of the dichotomy that was previously obtainable were his kinsmen. He would not have dared to remove food from the mouth of his people. Also, an Atiku would not have initiated the tax reform bills especially the part that talked about derivation as most of the states in his region are more interested in destroying beer bottles than they are in creating a conducive environment for investors to come in and establish any meaningful business or industry.

So, in all, only Tinubu could have initiated these necessary reforms that truly have long term benefits for the country even though it comes with a lot immediate pain.

Just maybe, Tinubu was a necessary Saul that needed to come before David; like Pastor Paul Adefarasin said days before the 2023 presidential election.

Penguin is a bird of reason!

Mynd44
Fergie001
Nlfpmod

helinues:
Cherry picking like his principal

If those who matters are praising president Tinubu's for the reforms and policies, why should we take the opinions of those who might not even be relevant politically in their family seriously