Nigeria is a special country with an impressively diversified character and composition, resounding unity, and a bright future. Nigeria, the most populated country on the African continent and the country with the highest concentration of black people, is home to more than 200 million energetic people. “It goes without saying that we have a responsibility to advance our country for both ourselves and our offspring. Prosperity and security are just ahead for us. Nothing less than this desirable goal would do, and I want to be the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because I am aware of the path to take.” During the unveiling of the manifesto, Tinubu pleaded with the audience, “I implore you to join Senator Shettima and Myself on this trip.”
Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu, a politician and Nigerian accountant born on March 29, 1952, is the country’s incoming president. He previously held the positions of Lagos State governor from 1999 to 2007 and senator for Lagos West during the Third Republic. Tinubu was born and raised in the southwest of Nigeria. He later immigrated to the United States and enrolled at Chicago State University to pursue a degree in accounting (Abidoye, 2023).
He returned to Nigeria in the early 1980s, working as an accountant for Mobil Nigeria before joining politics in 1992 as a contender for the Lagos West senate seat under the Social Democratic Party’s flag, according to the Prime Times. Following the Senate’s dissolution by the military dictator Sani Abacha in 1993, Tinubu joined the National Democratic Coalition movement as an activist, waging a battle for the restoration of democracy. Tinubu returned when Abacha’s death in 1998 marked the start of the Fourth Republic, after being put into exile in 1994.
Tinubu, a member of the Alliance for Democracy, defeated Dapo Sarumi of the People’s Democratic Party and Nosirudeen Kekere-Ekun of the All People’s Party in the first post-transition Lagos State governor election by a sizable majority. He defeated Funsho Williams of the PDP by a smaller margin in his re-election bid for a second term four years later. Attempts to modernize Lagos and conflicts with the PDP-run federal government characterized Tinubu’s two administrations. He was instrumental in the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 after stepping down from office in 2007. (Abidoye, 2023).
Tinubu gave the underprivileged in Lagos several housing units after taking office in May 1999. He made significant improvements in the state’s educational system during his eight years in power and decreased the number of schools by handing over many of them to owners who had already moved in. He also started new road development, which was necessary to accommodate the state’s rapidly expanding population (Abidoye, 2023).
Tinubu officially declared his campaign for president on January 10, 2022. On June 8, 2022, Tinubu won the party convention vote for the governing APC with 1,271 votes, defeating Rotimi Amaechi and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who received 235 and 316 votes, respectively. Tinubu was proclaimed the victor of the 2023 presidential election by INEC on March 1st. After defeating his rivals with 8,794,726 votes, he was named president-elect. Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) finished in second place with 6,984,520 votes. Peter Obi of the Labour Party received 6,101,533 votes, placing third (Abidoye, 2023).
His government plans to build a better Nigeria, especially for the young, by building on the foundation set by the previous administration and focusing on the following goals: Provide enough employment with fair pay to improve people’s quality of life. Cities and towns will see an unparalleled degree of industrial activity under his administration. In this, youth will play a key role in catalyzing economic recovery. This extends beyond offering respectable employment. It mentions enabling people who envision themselves as entrepreneurs and company owners in the new economy. It entails opening the economy in a way that promotes the greatest attributes of contemporary digital and IT-driven industries (APC Nigeria).
The goal of Tinubu’s new administration is to produce, design, and innovate more of the goods and services that people need. Nigeria will be regarded as a country of producers rather than only consumers. “We will construct an economy that generates more of the daily products, both agricultural and manufactured commodities, that define an individual’s and a nation’s level of life”, highlighted the Action Plan.
To strengthen the naira and their way of life, the government plans to export more goods and import fewer ones. The focus of monetary policy is on the interest rate, price levels, and exchange rate. This group must promote prosperity for all as the goal of fiscal policy. Spending public funds in a way that maximizes the employment of people and resources; especially those who were previously idle, is the goal of the fiscal strategy (APC Nigeria).
Essentially, global supply and production disruptions outside the authority of any one government, including Nigeria’s, are what is causing the present spike in prices. This inflation is supply-driven, as opposed to demand-driven inflation brought on by an overheated economy.
Using the standard anti-inflation treatment of higher interest rates and a limited money supply will only weaken the patient. Not stifling typical levels of aggregate demand is the solution to supply-driven inflation. Finding methods to boost supply and production is a better answer. Suppressing demand will lead to a general decline in economic activity and job creation. Even worse, given the reasons for the present inflation are on the supply side, putting more emphasis on the demand side would not significantly address these problems. To put it briefly, we penalize the people and the national economy without actually gaining anything (APC Nigeria).
By avoiding exposure to sizable debt commitments denominated in foreign currencies, Tinubu focuses on defending exchange rates, protecting against inflation, and maintaining foreign currency reserves. While taking on foreign debt, the government will use great caution. According to the policy, new foreign debt obligations will be connected to endeavors that provide cash flows from which the loan may be repaid. Where feasible, they should only use these foreign currency loans for necessary expenses that can’t be covered by debt obligations or naira-denominated spending (APC Nigeria).
By wise agricultural policy that encourages production and ensures adequate salaries, the new era pledges to continue aiding the tireless farmers, enabling them to maintain their families and feed the country. Young, entrepreneurial Nigerians would have additional investment options thanks to a thriving agriculture industry, which will also help diversify the economy away from dependency on oil and gas (APC Nigeria).
One of the main pillars of the Tinubu regime is the modernization and growth of public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy may expand at the best rate possible. The value of the transportation industry as a whole is NGN37 trillion. In Q2 2022, transportation-related activities increased real GDP by 1.84%. Road transport is responsible for the majority of goods and passenger transit, accounting for nearly 90% of all transportation-related operations in 2021. A brighter future for Nigerians may be achieved by developing the political will and technological capability to move people and products in a secure, economical, and accessible way. The standard and breadth of the transportation infrastructure will decide the price and accessibility of priceless products and services (APC Nigeria).
The administration of Tinubu aims to produce, transfer, and distribute enough energy at a reasonable price to offer people the necessary power to illuminate their homes, lives, and dreams. The administration will work to execute other changes, in the long run, to put Nigeria on the path to having enough on-grid generation, transmission, and distribution to fuel its ambitious aspirations. The government will cooperate with the private sector and interested State Governments to give access to low-cost financing for power projects. Off-grid and renewable power generating choices and solutions implemented by willing private sector players will also be promoted (APC Nigeria).
His government continues to be aware of world developments. Western countries are steadily reducing their imports and consumption of fossil fuels. The export figures are already under pressure to decline as a result of this. That is expected to result in more downward pressure on pricing and revenues at some time soon. They decide to take action right now as a precaution to stop this clear trend from hurting the economy. The country also has large gas reserves, totaling over 206 trillion cubic feet, in addition to its oil resources. Nigeria continues to flare too much gas, harming the environment and the general population despite improvements in the collection and export of gas (APC Nigeria).
The administration is planning to implement a bold and forceful strategy that will build a strong, yet flexible national security architecture and take measures to eradicate terrorism, abduction, banditry, and all other manifestations of violent extremism from the face of the country. Protecting the lives and property of its inhabitants is the primary duty of the government. To safeguard all Nigerians against risk and the threat of danger, they will mobilize all of the nation’s military, law enforcement, and national security resources. To accomplish this crucial national security objective, they want to strengthen current agencies and systems, increase staff recruitment, and extend and improve the use of technology (APC Nigeria).
The current system is centered on providing economic opportunities and training to the most vulnerable and impoverished people. “We want to see a Nigeria where no parent has to send their child to night hungry, worrying about whether there will be food tomorrow. All people should be able to access and afford basic housing, healthcare, and education. By utilizing growing industries like the digital economy, entertainment and culture, tourism, and others to build the Nigeria of tomorrow, today, we will empower and assist our young people and women,” highlights the Action Plan.
Nigeria’s economy is barely keeping up with population growth amid skyrocketing inflation and catastrophic cash shortages following a bungled launch of new banknotes, and armed groups have made large portions of the nation ungovernable (Cocks, 2023). Bola Tinubu, the next president of Nigeria, has largely operated behind the scenes during his political career. He is considered a “godfather” who supports political candidates through his huge network of patrons. His authority will now be put to the test as Tinubu works to address Nigeria’s challenges and outperform Buhari’s dismal track record.
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