Chief Emeka Charles Kalu, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s response to the yearnings of Nigeria, especially as activities in key sectors such as the petroleum industry and monetary matters are mired in doubts.

Kalu’s opinion is a re-echo of the increasingly popular belief that the leakages in the oil subsector under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and monetary controls under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have yet to be plugged and re-ordered.

Some critics have also recently raised questions concerning the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway and other road projects but the Minister of Works and Housing has reportedly snubbed the press rather than clarify issues around his ministry’s activities.

Dr Kalu, National Coordinator, PDP Coalition (PDPCO), said: “The fuel subsidy regime changes announced during his inaugural speech have not been able to practically tackle the management bottlenecks facing the Nigerian oil sector and, till date, we still have cases of missing funds in NNPC Ltd.

“The high cost of the fuel pump price is truly a clog on the wheels of transporters, civil servants and students who now incur excessive spending in their daily surviving activities, without feasible inputs from the government to address the problem.

“Come to think of it, the spate of the food crisis on its own is regrettable as commodity prices in the markets are no longer friendly to the people.

“One would have expected the government to have urgently addressed the national minimum wage, which has been on the desk of continued negotiations without reaching any valuable agreement.

“As at the last meeting held between workers and the government, the position of the government to pay N66, 000 as minimum wage was not a hope building one as such a sum of money could be spent on footing waste disposal bills let alone attending and sustaining other needs.

“So, the government under Tinubu has not done enough to raise the hope of Nigerians that things would later normalise in their favour, rather his cabinet is busy publishing appraisals on papers without meaningful projects executed.

ARBITRARY POLICIES

“The contract of the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway in the tune of N15trillion was not awarded in tandem with the guidelines of the Public Procurement Act, which made concerned Nigerians raise doubts about the entire process surrounding the contract.

“These are perceived as loopholes in the current political administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu . Insecurity is on the rise , State police creation being discussed while dysfunctional bureaucracy makes the day as decisions are tactically delayed from taken.

“The 10^th Assembly that just recalled Senator Abdul Ningi, who was suspended for speaking up on the realities surrounding 2024 budget, has not done much in altering and amending the Electoral Act 2000 as yearned by Nigerians that election results be directly transmitted from the polling units to the INEC central server to help curb electoral malpractice and other forms of irregularities plaguing the smooth conduct of elections.

“The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in conjunction with DISCOS got it wrong for increasing electricity tariff in the face of insincere data configuration in issuing cost of services to customers.

“Also, the Central Bank’s quest to without due process introduce an arbitrary policy of asking commercial banks to charge stipulated transactions 0.5 percent as cyber security levy.

“All these anti-people policies of the incumbent government were carried out despite the pains inflicted on the citizens as a result of fuel subsidy removal.

“So, by my personal evaluation and assessment, the government of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu still needs to return to its drawing board for reflection, step up policy harmonisation so as to deliver sound leadership to the good people of this nation.”

POOR COMMUNICATION

Apostle Dr Bolaji O. Akinyemi, a cleric and Convener, Apostolic Roundtable, stated: “Truth is relative to how much you see and know about an event.

“The President, in this instance, is the see-it-all and know-it-all. If the President, however, divulges all that he sees and knows, I am not sure this country will exist for a minute longer.

“So, truth is not applicable in all cases, particularly in the dynamic of statecraft, abreast of this. I will take side with Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah who, during a recent visit to the President at the Villa when asked a question, said: ‘My argument has always been that the government needs to very quickly IMPROVE on the QUALITY of communication so that Nigerians can get the sense of how long it is going to be before the food is ready.’

“Let us all accept that the President is busy in the kitchen cooking for us to eat. But, with no aroma of the delicacy being cooked coming from the kitchen and 365 days celebration of a four-year tenure, signifies that breakfast time is over on empty stomach.

“It is not for me to say that the government is telling the truth or lying, but there is no time to be political in intent and diplomatic in words.

“We need to know what the President is cooking and how long we have to wait. Will it happen for lunch? Or we have to wait longer to have it for dinner.

“Plain effective, not strategic communication is what the government owes us.”

FOUNDATION OF LIES, MANIPULATIONS

Amb. Dr. Kalu Ofon Emmanuel, Lagos State Chapter President, lnternational Human Rights Protection Service, Naples, Florida, USA, stated: “I would not say with absolute confidence and certainty that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has been telling Nigerians the truth about its activities and the state of the nation so far.

“Truth is priceless and only the person who has the fear of the Almighty God can speak the truth and also tell Nigerians the truth.

“Personally, l don’t believe the truth in everything they say because the foundation of Tinubu’s administration is not laid on truth, but lies, deception, bribery, corruption and manipulations.

“Consequently, how would anyone in his right frame of mind ever think or believe in his administration that everything they tell Nigerians is transparent truth?

“The gullible people could believe that his administration has been telling the truth about its activities and the state of the nation so far.”

Bishop Dr Herbert Ekechukwu, a cleric, economist and public affairs analyst, stated: “In the build-up to the 2023 election campaign, we started seeing the art of lying and propaganda taken to a great height.

“Mechanics, plumbers, artisans, etc were robbed in bishop attires and paraded as bishops supporting the candidature of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“This lying game was a tip of the iceberg of what is to come. As days are passing, the lying becomes ever increasing.

“Now, let us look at some of the lies and deceptions. At inauguration, we were told that the subsidy is over. But, the IMF report and recent happenings prove that this is far from the truth.

“There was a report that the United Arab Emirate had lifted the ban on Nigeria so that Nigerians were free to visit Dubai. Later UAE Authorities confirmed to CNN that it was false.

“Again, there was a report that President Tinubu was the first African to ring the NASDAQ bell. This also proved to be false.

“The students’ loans scheme is a scam. The workability is dead on arrival.

“The government said that it will be fair in appointments. But, what we have seen is tribalism and sectionalism.”

Dr Rexkennedy Saltlove, a human rights activist and cleric, said: “The passion to see Nigeria work for each and every one of us has placed a burden that ensures we cannot lie to ourselves or the nation on issues.

“For some of us, the prism through which we see the APC as an opposition and government in power (with its former Minister of Information, Alh. Lai Mohammed, who many associate his name with lying or falsehood), is a party built on lies and propaganda desperately interested in power only and not in government and governance.

“This view may not be absolutely correct, but we need to be proven wrong by empirical evidence. The Tinubu administration continued with the lies DNA it inherited from its predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who promised ‘Change’ with the goal to fight corruption, eventually became corruption itself, with no clue on governance.

“Same way Tinubu came with the Renewed Hope Agenda eight-point agenda. But, in one year of being in office, Nigerians’ lives are as hopeless as ever before with regard to survival and affordability of basic necessities.

“The only Renewed Hope is Emi lo kan achieving his hope of getting into power and those celebrating along with him telling him, they stood on his mandate of getting to power.

“On getting to power, everything about this nation has gone sour, due to inability to steer the compass of governance to the benefit of the citizens.

“More citizens have escaped Nigeria under the APC in nine years than there have been in almost 30 year. ‘Japa’, or ‘Escape from country’ has become prominent in Nigeria’s lexicon.”

OVERWHELMED BY CHALLENGES

Professor John Ebhomien, economist and financial expert, and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration came on board with so many challenges begging for solutions.

He stressed that the myriad of problems of insecurity, kidnapping, inflation, high exchange rates, high interest rates and other socio-economic challenges were so glaring that Nigerians were worried whether these problems would go away.

Prof Ebhomien, a former World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) consultant, continued: “But Mr. President took decisions and actions for sustainable economic growth, security of lives and properties.

“The solutions to these teething problems are not rocket science but require a collective and diagnostic approach, which will definitely take some time. It requires understanding and patience.

“The management of information in challenging times is difficult, but requires essentials of communication. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has been telling Nigerians the truth about its activities and state of the nation. So far, so good.

“Though, there may be some lapses, but there is room for improvement. I will rate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration 80 percent generally.” (Sunday Independent)

Update news