By: Haruna Lawal
Time waits for no one indeed; we are already 100 days into the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his renewed hope agenda is already taking shape as he keeps making bold decisions though tough but necessary.
First 100 days in office is being celebrated by democratically elected leaders worldwide, the term was however coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt, since the return of democratically elected president in 1999, all presidents namely Obasanjo, Yaraduwa, Jonathan and Buhari have being critically assessed by Nigerians with opponents dwelling of their wrongs and supporters dwelling on their rights. It is now time for us to asses PRESIDENT BOLA TINUBU and as a patriotic Nigerian I believe he is on the right path making decisions that will propel Nigeria to sustainable success.
The administration took off on the 29th May with a very powerful speech that brought an end to the Fuel subsidy, critics have called the action of the president as reckless but economists and strategic managers have hailed the action and described it as a step in the right direction owing to the fact that Nigeria was borrowing about N4 trillion annually and wasting it on subsidy at the detriment of good health care, roads, schools and better Infrastructure at large.
In response to the pains of subsidy removal, the government have brought about short-term measures like release of grains, sale of subsidized fertilizer to farmers and release of N5 billion palliative to states.
On the long run, the government is currently negotiating new wages for workers as well planning a transition to CNG vehicles to reduce dependence on petroleum.
President Tinubu also freed our foreign reserve by bringing an end to the multiple exchange rate system and floating the Naira, this helped in dismantling the dollar cartel that has being bleeding our economy by collecting dollar at official rate and selling it for huge profit at black market rate. I bet under president Bola Tinubu we will not be having bedroom millionaires whose only trade is exploiting our economy.
President Tinubu’s suspension of Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria received widespread commendation owing to the fact that the ousted CBN Governor inflicted hardship on Nigerians with his terrible implementation of Naira swap policy which expert defined as a cash confiscation exercise. As things stand, the president is committed to strengthening the CBN and appointing a competent person as Governor.
To expand tax net and improve revenue generation further, the president has inaugurated a tax reform committee headed by the capable Taiwo Oyedele of PWC
In his bid to make lives easy and give every Nigerian access to higher education, president Bola Tinubu signed into law the student loan bill which is a game changer in the Nigerian education sector. With the signing of the bill, students who cannot afford tertiary education can get education funding from banks provided they satisfy the necessary requirements, the president also have made efforts to strengthen the judiciary.
President Tinubu signed a bill on new retirement age for judiciary officers which brought about uniformity in retirement age and pension rights of the judicial officers hence motivating them to render their service effectively. Recall that Tinubu also signed the data protection bill which is aimed at safeguarding the fundamental human rights freedom and interest of data subjects.
To wrap it up and put an icing on the cake, President TINUBU has fully assembled his cabinet in less than 100 days in office. This shows that the president came prepared and ready to get things done according to the tenets of our constitution. With a cabinet in place, the foundation to a greater Nigeria by Tinubu is technically ready hence, the stage is set and positive difference will be made.
Let’s endure more a little today for numerous benefits await us tomorrow.
Haruna Lawal writes from Kaduna
