Tinubu’s presidency: Smoothening the rough edges

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commemorated his first year in office. Expectedly, his numerous admirers and supporters have lavished him with encomiums regarding the courageous manner he has initiated and implemented far reaching multi-sectoral reforms over the past year. Objective analysts and non-partisan minds have, however, expressed misgivings about his stewardship.

The emerging consensus is that while president Tinubu has not been a failure in government, his performance has, nonetheless, not been too impressive either. Accordingly, it is widely believed that the president needs to do far more in his second year in office by smoothening the rough edges of his presidency.

I have listened to the president severally. He appears to me to be well- intentioned. He speaks passionately, courageous and reflectively from his heart as a leader who genuinely cares. He has reversed himself severally whenever the public is dissatisfied with his decisions, especially those adjudged to have been made either without proper engagement with relevant key stakeholders or in contravention of the federal character principle.

He has promised that non-performing ministers, and other political officer holders under his administration, will be shown the way out. The president has worked assiduously to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country to accelerate the process of rapid economic recovery. He has made salutary efforts to bring life and vitality to underperforming key sectors of the national economy. A year in office is inadequate to judge him in his strides in these areas.

But, perhaps, after a year in office, the president may need to consider reordering his priorities to enable him to cement his legacy as a statesman. My sense is that the first priority of this administration ought to be national rebirth and healing in order to build a more united, stable and prosperous nation. I have often wondered why successive governments in Nigeria focus less on nation building, but erroneously believe that, as a nation, we can make any discernible progress without national rebirth and healing. Undoubtedly, our beloved nation needs healing.

Over the years, its diversity has been taken for granted. Its peoples have been oppressed and robbed of their dignity. Its soul has been poisoned by hate and recriminations among brothers and sisters, tilting us to another ogre of a senseless civil war, violent armed conflict and bloodletting. After the acrimonious elections in 2023, in which we all became losers through the debasement of our shared humanity, the time for national healing is not now but yesterday.

Perhaps, most significant, in this respect, is the restiveness in the south eastern geo-political zone of the country which must be contained permanently. The continued trial and incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu may be antithetical to the healing process we desire for our beloved nation. It is doubtful whether his case can be resolved through a judicial process, as recently stated by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice without causing further grave harm to our national unity, cohesion and brotherhood.

Given that the decision to free Kanu and other aggrieved persons, regarded as persons of security interests to the state, cannot be unilaterally determined by the president, it is expected that the president will mobilise opinion leaders and well- meaning Nigerians across the six geo-political zones to make this courageous decision through consensus building and shared understanding.

As a progressive politician, most people expected the president to have given greater attention to the restructuring of the country. Fortunately, the recommendations of the 2014 national conference can provide a pathway for the president to jumpstart the process. His ruling party (APC) had also set up a committee in the past, chaired by Mallam el- Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State which addressed this matter competently in its reaching recommendations, and reflected the consensus of opinions, across the six geo-political zones of the country.

The president is, therefore, respectfully advised to show a more sense of urgency in addressing the restructuring of the country as a compelling strategic national imperative by forwarding an executive bill to the national assembly on this matter, in order to free the nation from the trappings of a unitary state, and enthrone a true federal state with a view to institutionalising a vibrant and sustainable constitutional democracy. Besides, the president needs a robust legislative agenda on other weighty matters of the state in order to lead competently from the front.

The administration also needs better organisation and coordination. Abundant evidence shows that the presidential bureaucracy- comprising the respective Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Chief of Staff to the president- is working at cross purposes. Authority delineations seem to be blurred. It is doubtful whether presidential appointments are duly processed by relevant authorities through rigorous vetting before they are made public. Appointments, including inconsequential ones, which, ideally, should be announced by Ministries, and at other levels of government, are made in the State House.

It is worrisome that the president seems to be working with aides without an in-depth knowledge of the institutional memory of the federal bureaucracy and its systems and procedures. Unless it is remedied, the noticeable untidiness will continue in a greater pace.

The government needs to improve on its public communication. A robust communication plan/ strategy does not seem to be in place. Presidential spokespersons are communicating at cross purposes. They often communicate on wider issues of public governance which ought to be handled by the Hon. Minister of Information. Most ministers have refused to inform on their respective sector plans, key initiatives and challenges in order to secure the buy-in of the citizenry.

The town hall meetings, popularised during the Buhari administration, have been abandoned. The leadership of the national orientation agency is not proactive, given its inability to develop a comprehensive plan of action to mobilise the citizenry and enlist its support for the realisation of the grand vision, objectives and expected outcomes of the renewed hope agenda.

The economy needs to be fixed. Its present managers have not shown the desirable level of competence to take us out of the woods. The low rate of the naira to the U.S. dollar is scandalous. Rising inflation, worsening unemployment, declining standards of living, national insecurity challenges, hunger and poverty, increased assaults on the military require are unbecoming, hence ought to be addressed urgently through pro-active interventions. Public service reform is sacrosanct, yet seems not to be getting the deserved attention. A new leadership to inspire confidence in the federal civil service, as the administrative machinery of government, for the delivery of efficient and cost-effective public services, is required.

It is expected that the leader will not be another inexperienced and politically espoused civil servant who got to the highest realm of the federal service through lack of due diligence by the president and his core advisers. The federal civil service is already gasping for breath. A wrong decision on its new leadership will bleed it to its death and ultimate collapse.

The president has the capacity to smoothen the rough edges of his administration. Our earnest expectation is that, henceforth, he will bring a renewed sense of order, purpose, responsiveness, creativity and public-spiritedness into his presidency.
Mayomi is a public analyst, and Director (rtd), Federal Civil Service.