Sir: IT is a glorious thing to have a tested leader as the president of a country. It is also a blessing when the president means what he says and when what he says is not just believable but also approved by the people. Such a society is bound to swim in an environment of enormous possibilities because the question of trust is taken care of. The question of purpose is also sorted. Be that as it may, it is a two-edged sword: the leader will have to be conscious of time and calculative of his achievements while the mass of the people must remain critical in terms of the goals and objectives of the government.

As for the people, that’s what will give them the leverage in terms of the measurement of performance of the critical goals and objectives of the government. As for the government, to achieve its goal, no Ministry is sacrosanct; no policy is a no-go area. In other words, there should be no sacred cows. So, a leader worth his designation must be exceptionally bold.

Promises are good when they are implemented. They create an atmosphere of trust and a political capital that is difficult to deplete. But when promises are made but broken, they deplete the political capital faster than a bullet. It is like thunder and lightning.

Integrity also wanes. The more the believability of a gladiator wanes, the faster the credibility and the ability to win elections fly away. If one tells the people something and that thing wanes, so is a certain percentage of one’s political capital waning. The more reason a leader has to guide the currency of his or her promises, because nobody wants to trade with a currency that’s under suspicion. In other words, once it gets to a point where the people are no longer eager to listen to their leader’s voice, trouble looms.

It is no longer news that President Bola Tinubu has promised to let the poor breathe! He has promised to banish poverty! He has also promised to fight insecurity to a standstill! As a matter of fact, Nigerians have lost count of the promises made by this administration since May 29. Early this week, Tinubu vowed that no student would drop out of school on his watch! The point is: Nigerians are tired of unending promises from their leaders. In the 80s, Nigerians were promised houses, stable power supply, affordable and qualitative education and ‘everything for all’ by the Year 2020. This is 2023 and … here we are! So, Tinubu needs to prove to the world that he is different from the abnormal norms. He should learn, especially from our recent past, because examples of people who started well but ended badly abound.

Successive governments have taught Nigerians how to get weary of unending promises. It’s a bad experience which they don’t want to relive. On May 29, 2015, Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as Nigeria’s president. Buhari came into office standing on a tripod: security, fight against corruption and infrastructure development and job creation. By the time he was leaving office on May 28, 2023, life in Nigeria as a Nigerian had become extremely hard. So, only God can rate the former president’s performance and thank him on behalf of Nigerians. For instance, Buhari had promised to recover every Chibok girl captured by Boko Haram. He had also promised to lead Nigeria ‘from the front.’ But that’s what they were: unfulfilled promises. Mention the economy under Buhari and Nigerians would be quick to recount how he acted King Rehoboam.

Without doubt, too many promises are a panacea for loss of focus. Therefore, Tinubu should let Nigerians know which among his promises are achievable before this first term expires.
• Abiodun Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria ([email protected]; 08098514418 – SMS only)