BAT’s Bland Start

Perhaps, there is no Nigerian alive that has prepared well and long enough to be president like Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT). He is believed to have had his eyes fixed on the presidency and was working towards realising that for over three decades before giving it his first and winning shot in 2023. As a matter of fact, BAT publicly told Nigerians that becoming the nation’s number one citizen had been his lifelong ambition.

But even before contesting, BAT has provided either platform and/or other support to persons that sought to clinch the presidency at different times, including his support to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the incumbent national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. His support to the former was in 2007, when ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, literally speaking, turned the heat on his estranged deputy. In 2011, BAT provided similar support to the latter when he (Ribadu) sought to be Nigeria’s president on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the legacy parties that merged to birth the ruling APC.

As he was deploying his ACN platform, large financial war chest                                            and many more to enable others achieve their political ambition, the politically-savvy BAT was also busy plotting his way to the presidency. The 2023 polls provided the best opportunity and he grabbed it, and the rest, like they say, is now history.

Nothing underscores the profundity of BAT’s political sagacity like the fact that he surmounted all the obstacles placed on his way by many, including some persons in his inner circle within the governing party as well as some key officials and persons reportedly close to former President Muhammadu Buhari, to clinch the APC ticket and eventually win the 2023 presidential election. Never mind the fact that his election is being hotly contested in court.

Aside from having a deep pocket, there is a congruence of opinion that President Tinubu is an intelligent politician who is a builder of men. He has mentored many people, with some of them even turning against him when their interests diverged. Others have continued to show him unalloyed loyalty. Considered as someone with a full grasp of the peculiarity of the challenges bedeviling the Nigerian nation, some Nigerians, as should be expected, invested so much hope in BAT.

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But almost one hundred days in office, the president’s actions and, most importantly, policy flip-flops have continued to raise question about his preparedness for the arduous task of governing Nigeria. Tongues are already wagging that he may well have been overrated, after all.

One fundamental sign that BAT could not have been fully prepared for the job started unfolding as soon as he was sworn in. It took him over sixty days from the day of his inauguration, on May 29, to unveil his ministers. For someone who had admitted that becoming the president of Nigeria was his lifelong ambition, there is clearly no reason why he failed to constitute his cabinet immediately after his inauguration. Even after waiting that long, BAT’s choice of ministers is a mixed bag of some old and recycled hands, including some former governors who have left lacklustre imprints in their states, and some whose performance records smack of mediocrity. So, to some, their choice defies logic.

Like most Nigerians, I expected the president to demonstrate his preparedness for the job by unveiling his ministers in the first few weeks in office and to consequently hit the ground running. His failure to do so, considering the fact that he has taken decades to prepare for the job, was the first pointer that he was either not prepared for the job or he was overestimated, after all.

More than his failure to unveil ministers immediately he assumed office, BAT’s policy missteps and flip-flops have further cast doubt about his preparedness for the office of the president. During his inaugural speech, he, like most Nigerians expected, announced the suspension of the controversial, fraudulent and, I must add, patently unsustainable fuel subsidy. Bold decision, it seemed, but BAT disappointed many when it became obvious, a few days after he announced the suspension, that he had no clear plans to cushion the devastating impacts of the subsidy removal.

This fact became manifest when he announced the government’s plan to disburse N8,000 monthly stipends to 12 million households as palliative for six months. As expected, Nigerians condemned the decision, arguing that it was not well thought-out. They expressed fear that it would not produce the desired result judging by the outcome of a similar policy by the immediate past administration.

Following widespread condemnation by Nigerians, BAT hurriedly suspended the policy. On the surface, it could make the administration look like one with the proverbial listening ear. But that is not where the snag is. The real concern is about the fact that we may have ended up with a government that is dim-witted enough to not know that cash disbursement of a paltry N8,000 to households will not make any impact, and ought not to have been contemplated in the first place. Furthermore, he was not even aware that there was no credible social register to disburse money, in the first place!

Yet, barely three months after suspending fuel subsidy, TheCable, one of Nigeria’s vibrant online news sites, reported exclusively that there is a proposal for temporary subsidy. Although the government has insisted that fuel subsidy is gone for good and there won’t be further price increase, the unanswered question is: who pays the balance since the cost of production is making it practically impossible to retain the current price of N615/litre?

Then came the ministerial list and assignment of portfolios. Not only was the list uninspiring; BAT clearly couldn’t, as expected, effectively put round pegs in round holes, except in very few cases. But that is not even the issue. That he had to redesignate, or, if you like, reshuffle the ministers even before their swearing-in suggests clearly that he was not thorough in the selection process and at the point of assigning portfolios.

Perhaps, the major misstep, in my thinking, is the fact that after blatantly scrapping the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, BAT hurriedly re-established it to assuage the outcry. What that means is that the decision to abolish it was, in the first place, taken without careful examination. If not, why the approbation and reprobation?

Even though he may have served with stellar performance as governor of Lagos State for eight years and has groomed a lot of people, BAT needs to be reminded that governing a country as complex as Nigeria requires firm but calculated decision making. Nobody takes a leader that approbates and reprobates seriously.

But this is not unexpected. Things like these should be expected from someone whose only claim to a seat as coveted as the presidency of the most populous black nation in the world is that it is his turn with his famous ‘Emi Lokan’ outburst. He needs to change gear fast because a lot of things are in need of radical overhaul.

It is indeed a crying shame that a few days to his 100 days in office mark, things have remained the way they were, or have got worse since he came on board. This should worry BAT and his handlers. They need to be told that governing a complex country like Nigeria is not about guess and gamble. We need a breather and cannot wait to see the renewed hope they promised us.