I was a guest speaker at Plenary Session V of the 70th Anniversary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, along with Dr. Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru and Dr. Segun Sowunmi, to dissect the above topic. This particular session was to discuss the state of the nation and it was organized in honour of late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, CON, SAN, former Governor of Ondo State and former President of the NBA. It was chaired by Honourable Justice Bayo Taiwo on behalf of Chief Charles Akinlolu Olujimi, SAN, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, with the Ondo State Governor, Mr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa as a Special Guest of Honour. The session was ably moderated by my fellow Comrade (Great Ife Pacesetters) Mr. Musibau Adetunbi, SAN. Permit me to share snippets of my presentation with you.

INTRODUCTION

Let me start by apologizing for my inability to be physically present at this august occasion given certain developments beyond my control. I recognize the matriarch of the Bar, Chief (Mrs.) Folake Solanke, SAN, the wife of the late Bar leader, Dr. (Mrs.) Betty Akeredolu, My Lord the Honourable Justice Bayo Taiwo, who is chairing this session on behalf of Chief Olujimi, SAN, My Lords of the superior and lower benches, my Learned Brother Silks, the Chairman of NBA Ibadan Branch, Comrade Ibrahim Lawal, fellow panelists, my colleagues, special guests, gentlemen of the press. We all miss Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at this critical stage of our national life and you can all imagine what would be his position and contribution to the topic of our discourse had he been here with us at this moment, being a man who spoke truth to power, always. Although I am not worthy to step into his big shoes, but I will still attempt in my own little way, to speak to the issues as they affect all of us.

THE ECONOMIC AGENDA AND POLICIES OF THE TINUBU ADMINISTRATION

As with every administration in Nigeria, the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has documented an attractive agenda on paper, containing a catalogue of programmes of action without the means of their actualization. It is termed Renewed Hope Agenda, consisting of eight major promises of Food Security, Ending Poverty, Economic Growth and Job Creation, Access to Capital, Improving Security, Improving Playing Field (Inclusivity), Rule of Law and Fighting Corruption. You do not need to be a soothsayer to know that these are mere political statements couched to hoodwink the people and to garner support for the administration, but it is important that we have an idea of what the Tinubu government is all about by highlighting and discussing these programmes. Even before he took the oath of office, the President had declared his intention to continue with the policies of his predecessor-in-office, President Muhammadu Buhari. This did not come to many as a surprise because it was President Tinubu that sold President Buhari to Nigerians, and he was referred to as the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress throughout the tenure of President Buhari such that it will be impossible to assess the Tinubu administration without a reference to that of President Buhari. As you would readily observe, all the policies highlighted above are interwoven as they all speak to the issues of security and welfare of the people of Nigeria. This indeed should be the starting point of any serious analysis of the utilitarian value of the economic agenda and policies of the Tinubu administration.

The heading of Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is ?Government and the People?, thus providing a glimpse of the nature and extent of the responsibilities of every government to the people they claim to govern. It is also described as the ?Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy?, not by error but deliberately so couched as obligatory principles to guide all those who are in positions of authority. In truth, the agenda and policies of any leader in Nigeria should take their root from Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which is why in section 224 of the Constitution, it is stated that ?the programmes as well as the aims and objects of a political party shall conform with the provisions of Chapter II of this Constitution.?. Now some eminent persons have stated that President Tinubu was not prepared for national leadership and that he had no roadmap for governing Nigeria prior to his victory, unlike in 1999 when he ran for governorship in Lagos State. In 2023, it was an entitlement mentality (Emilokan) and not necessarily about competence or capacity. This view will find root in the President?s address during his inauguration on May 29, 2023 when he made those rapturous declarations about fuel subsidy removal and floating the national currency without any foundation. Those twin policies do not align with the 8-point agenda of the Tinubu administration, especially food security, economic growth and job creation and poverty eradication. One of the most important provisions of Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution is section 14 which deals with the relationship between the government and the people, in particular the obligations of government to the people. Section 14 (2) (b) states categorically that ?the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.? President Tinubu did no favour to us as a people therefore to borrow his agenda from section 14 in order to secure mass acceptance at the inception of his administration. What has played out between May 2023 and now is a total deviation from those utopian promises. I have taken out time to highlight the nexus between the political promises of the President and the obligations imposed on him by the Constitution in order to create a balanced assessment thereof and thereafter answer the cardinal question posed in my topic: How far, so far?

When properly examined, section 14 of the Constitution contains a three-prong agenda of sovereignty to the people who in turn transfer it to the government in order to secure their security and welfare and to ensure inclusivity in governance. I honestly do not need to go too far to show that the Tinubu government has not secured the security and welfare of the people of Nigeria. The truth is that they have worsened since his assumption of office in 2023. At 34%, the galloping inflation has wiped out the food security agenda, creating mass poverty and biting hunger, all over the land. The emergence of the Lakurawa sect in the North, the creation of an emirate by terrorists in Niger State, the growing influence of bandits in the North-West and the continued escalation of tension in the South-East all point to the worsening security situation in Nigeria since 2023 when President Tinubu took over. The exit of major multinational corporations like P.Z. Cussons, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Equinor, Bolt, Binance, Unilever Plc, Kimberly-Clark, Diageo Plc, etc rubbish the much-touted job creation strategy, leading to mass unemployment and job insecurity. This has in turn resulted in mass exodus of our people to other locations in search of the greener pasture, otherwise called the ?Japa Syndrome?. The inability of the government to fix the monster of the power sector has equally wreaked great havoc on the economy of the nation, wherein in less than two years, the national grid has collapsed more than twelve times. Rather than fix the electricity challenge, the government is busy subsidizing the incompetence and inefficiency of the power brokers by creating artificial Bands to empower the power distribution companies to fleece Nigerians. By taunting Nigerians that they were hitherto dwelling in false luxury, the President somersaulted from his declared agenda of Renewed Hope by dashing their hopes. The inability to fix the exchange rate is at the core of the failure of all other policies of the government. The instability of the national currency discourages investment, it does not allow for proper planning and it has wiped out the economic power of the masses of our people. What the President has done is to tax the common people in order to enrich the political elite and his army of economic rentiers. The subsidies that have been removed from fuel, electricity and the exchange rate have not translated into any benefit for the common people. We now live in a country where we have to buy our own currency (Naira) as all the ATM machines are empty while POS operators have a field day.

The President?s agenda of inclusivity defies all sensible logic, given the direction of his major appointments into critical positions of national importance. Section 14 (3) of the Constitution states that ?the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or any of its agencies?. In the present dispensation, the entire financial architecture of Nigeria is dominated in a complete circle by the loyalists of the President from the South-West of Nigeria. From the Minister of Finance to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, the Managing Director of Bank of Industry, the Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Comptroller-General of Customs and all other critical agencies and institutions dealing with financial matters are all his kinsmen. It is the same with the justice sector, marine and blue economy, education, power sector, mines and minerals and the oil sector, where the President himself is the substantive Minister. If they follow the footstep of the President, the heads of these agencies and institutions will also appoint their own kinsmen into all crucial positions of authority, effectively marginalizing the other ethnic groups. How does this promote inclusivity, command national loyalty and unity?

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