President Tinubu’s Much Touted Independence Speech: A monumental Let Down

President Tinubu must be living in an alternate universe and in a denial bubble if he thinks “Nigerians worldwide can look back to see how well we have succeeded in realizing the lofty dreams of our founding fathers”. That single line so early in his 64th independence presidential speech set the tone for the speech and it tanked it from the get-go. It is so off-putting, so disconnected from reality, I totally lost interest in reading the rest of the speech. The heroes of our independence could not have envisaged that 64 years after, the nation they fought for would be unable to feed its citizens, still be so consumed by the virus of ethnic animus in geometruc proportion than what they faced, be overrun by bandits and kidnappers with tens of millions of its children panhandling for survival instead of being educated in schools. Our country had the largest population out of school children in the entire world. That was not the country they fought for.   If the President thinks that Nigerians can see any light at the end of the tunnel, he must be totally disconnected from the daily Hobbesian reality in which his citizens live. Our people are locked up in the prison of their home unable to get to work due to unavoidability of fuel to power their cars or pay for public transport. State governments are telling their workers to stay home and not come to work because the cost of transport is greater than their wages.   Children are going to bed on absent stomach with formula 001 which Obey sang about decades ago looking now like a faraway unobtainable Nirvana.   I am a supporter of the Tinubu presidency who strongly believes that our economy was desperately in need of a major reform shock treatment to prevent our match to the apocalypse. Hence, I have defended his reform agenda as necessary even though it is imposing unbelievable pain on the citizenry. I am also not blaming him for the despondency in the country and our collective failure. Only a jaundiced and blind fool would blame a 16-month presidency for the dysfunction of 64 years. In fact I commend President Tinubu for taking the hard road instead of continuing in our delusion of riches that was sinking our country deeper and deeper into the abyss. His reform policy was the painful surgery our country needed to remove its festering malignancy.   However, the president is failing to show the needed empathy to put a soothing balm on the pain of the people. He is failing once again to understand that government is part policy, part public relation and public perception. He is failing woefully in the public relation, public perception part and if not urgently addressed it might further sour people on his presidency and tank it.   People are not so more interested in his enumeration of his many policies nor new proposals like the proposed youth confabs. Nigerians have lost faith in confabs with our very long history of meaningless national confab jamborees with their resolutions left on the shelf to gather dust. The Nigerian youths want jobs, schools that are conducive to learning not the dilapidated pig pens they are forced to learn with no teachers nor resources to prepare them for the highly competitive knowledge driven global digital economy. They are not interested in hobnobbing with well fed, rosy-cheeks, government officials and politics bigwigs.   Nigerians are so consumed with the insurmountable challenge of meeting the most basic requirements of minimal existence which have been priced beyond the reach of the middle class if they even exist not to talk about the masses. They are sick and tired of looking their children in the face at night and tucking them in bed on an empty stomach: Husbands are tired and ashamed to live off of the bounty of their wives’ adulterous exploits to put food on the table. They are looking for an empathetic presidency to acknowledge their pain, to accept and own the responsibility that their reform policy is a major source of their pain. They want President Tinubu to reassure them that their pain has a terminal date and that even though it looks like the darkest night, that the sun shall shine again on the other side. They are not interested in being told to deny their daily reality by being told that Boko Haram and bandits have been eliminated when they are afraid to leave their homes, or to go to their farm without the fear of kidnappers and bandits. Not even great Michelangelo can paint over the Hobbesian reality in which the Nigerian citizens are living. The president will do himself a great favor by acknowledging it even as he is convinced and confident that his policies are the right one to save the country. I also believe that his policies will work if we are patient.   His most urgent task is to calm the restive passengers on the wobbling ship he is captaining on a violent sea or risk a stampede that will capside and doom a voyage to the promised land. He should learn great lessons of Moses in the wildness leading his Israelites people to the promised land. I am his great supporter but he needs to do a better job of feeling the pulse of his citizens and communicating with them.   Presidential speeches, especially in moments of crisis like we are going through, are historical documents that are carefully and methodically crafted, with each word, infection, tonality and even commas carefully chosen, debated and analyzed to meet the exigency of the moment. Once again the people around the president did him great disservice by inserting some of the totally disconnected from reality lines, so early in his speech instead of the president spending a big portion of his speech empathizing with the pain, anguish, suffering, and the disillusionment with the country, with its democracy, with his reform

Tinubu inspects guard of honour to commemorate 64th Independence anniversary

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led the nation in commemorating Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary on October 1st by inspecting a guard of honour at Eagle Square in Abuja.   The event, attended by dignitaries, military personnel, and citizens, was marked by colourful displays of Nigeria’s cultural heritage and the grandeur of the military parade.   This was disclosed in a video by the Special assistant to the president on social media, Dada Olusegun on Tuesday, October 1.   The caption reads: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inspects a guard of honour to Commemorate 64th Independence Anniversary Celebrations”  

Key Highlights From Tinubu’s 64th Independence Anniversary Speech

President Bola Tinubu addressed the nation on October 1, 2024, marking Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary. In his speech, he outlined the steps his administration is taking to tackle current challenges and implement reforms. Tinubu acknowledged the economic struggles many Nigerians face, emphasizing the government’s commitment to finding sustainable solutions. He noted that, since taking office, his administration has reformed the political and defense sectors to foster long-term progress. In the area of security, Tinubu highlighted successes in the fight against terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings. He announced that over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders have been eliminated, and efforts to completely eradicate these threats are ongoing. The President also announced the approval of a Disaster Relief Fund aimed at mobilizing both public and private resources for faster responses to emergencies, particularly after recent flooding in the country. Tinubu revealed that foreign direct investments totaling more than $30 billion have been secured within the last year due to ongoing reforms. Furthermore, the Central Bank’s policies have stabilized the foreign exchange market, reducing the country’s debt service ratio. Plans to implement the Supreme Court ruling on local government financial autonomy were also disclosed. Additionally, Tinubu reassured citizens that his administration is working on multiple initiatives to lower the cost of living, particularly food prices. He spoke on the government’s push for energy transition, including the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in mass transit, a move aimed at reducing transportation costs across the nation. In conclusion, Tinubu announced the launch of a National Youth Conference, set to unite the country’s youth in shaping policies on education, employment, and social justice.  This 30-day event is expected to foster collaborative solutions for the nation’s future.

Nigeria @ 64: Walk your talk!

Nigeria, the giant of Africa. One in every four black persons, they say is a Nigerian. Nigeria is the most populous black nation on earth. In the diplomatic circle, it is believed that the route to Africa passes through Nigeria. In deed, many believe that when Nigeria coughs, the rest of Africa catches cold. And so on and so forth.   The wonderful appellations that are deployed to describe my beautiful country are so enchanting, they blow my head!   As one who has had the privilege of stepping foot on the shores of not a few countries, I bear testimony to the wonderful encounters I’ve had with the nationals of a couple of countries who literally want to open you up to know what makes you tick when they discover you are a Nigerian.   Nigeria used to be a beautiful country of happy, indeed, very happy people.   On paper, I can boast that Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world. Like a musician once sang: Me I like my country. I like the land and people. Everything e dey for Nigeria. Make we join hands to make Nigeria better.   Many argue that there is not a single inch of the country’s 923,768 square kilometers of landmass  that cannot grow a crop or where, if you dig deep, you would not find one earth mineral or two of value. Gold, coal, petroleum, gas, tin, iron, lithium, bauxite, bitumen, kaolin, lead, zinc, tin, limestone, etc, etc, abound.   Nigeria is a country of humongous potentials in both man and materials. Nigeria has a vibrant youth population with over 42.54% aged between 0–14 years. In fact, as of 2022 when Nigeria’s total population was estimated to be 217, 079, 601 according to “Worldometer,” the youths account for 70 percent, amounting to a huge 151 million youths, while 42 percent of the 70 percent are under the age of 15 years. By about 4am this morning while I write this piece, Nigeria’s population is estimated at 233,893,209   Nigerians are some of the most intellectually endowed individuals on earth. They are brilliant, smart and courageous. They are often intrinsically motivated and launch out to the highest heights to excel. Both domestically and across the globe, Nigerians shatter age old academic records. It is on record that there are about 400,000 Nigerians in the USA and they are amongst the most successful immigrant population in that country.   As a country, it is regrettable however, that Nigeria’s greatness has largely remained in the realm of potentials rather than transformative. Over the years, successive leaders of Nigeria failed to leverage on the innate potentials nature endowed the country with.   Sixty four years after independence from British colonial rule, Nigeria is today almost a shadow of its old self, where the gains of the mid 70s, up to the early 90s, achieved mainly through proceeds from the export of crude oil, have been lost. Unfortunately, the past 25 years of civilian rule have been one single spell of unanticipated disaster where Nigeria’s performance in social, economic and political spheres decelerated so rapidly that the country now features prominently in several underdevelopment indices.   Poverty, insecurity, stealing of public funds, hunger, bad governance, indiscipline and other forms of irresponsible behavour by public officials are rife. Large swaths of Nigeria’s landmass are now under the control of so-called unknown gunmen such as bandits, terrorist herdsmen, kidnappers, ritualists and cattle rustlers. Violent criminal acts are rampant in both rural and urban areas.   Most of these acts of criminality continue unabated because of leadership failure. Since the dawn of civil rule in 1999, many observe that almost every succeeding regime perform worse in governance than the previous one. There is also a consensus of opinion that partisan politics has been militarised and criminalised, whereby all that matters is how to when the next election.   There is really no use boring readers with the gory tale of leadership failure under this Fourth Republic, save to note that Nigerians are in for a very long night because the politicians are showing no signs of retreating from their path of bad governance and stealing of public funds. Anyone in doubt may take another look at the current situation of statecraft and last week’s Edo state election as a case in point.   Nigerians have to take their destiny in their own hands. Though it is argued that the people get the leadership they deserve, change must also come from within, since all the people can not be the same. The challenge I see is that the American presidential democracy that we practice saddles the electorate with a huge responsibility that the Nigerian populace cannot execute. That responsibility is the onerous task of recruiting the national leadership. This remains a task that the largely illiterate, uninformed, hungry and poor Nigerian electorate continues to fail at executing.   President Bola Ahmed Tinubu therefore has his work duly cut out for him. Unlike the leaders before him, he must walk the talk. He must look inwards to rediscover the strength of Nigeria and Nigerians, and provide the leadership to grow the economy from within. The president must discard the bogey passion of chasing so-called foreign investors because there is no record in human history to support that approach to economic growth and development.   The President must realize that money goes to where it is welcome. So, even if we are to expect foreign investors to grow the Nigerian economy, the investment climate must be conducive enough to attract such investment. At the moment, local farmers cannot go to their farms, not to talk of foreigners.