Tinubu’s date with history and the tasks ahead

Most Nigerians agree with the view that there is an urgent need to proffer lasting proactive solutions to the myriads of socio-economic and even existential challenges confronting the nation as the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn in today as the 16th  President and Commander-in-Chief of Africa’s most populous country, by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

We, similarly totally subscribe to recent advice by the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari that his successor and the Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima strive to remain focused and “committed to the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability, as these are the foundations upon which our nation’s progress and development rely”, the duo should serve the citizens and tackle current numerous problems with “courage, wisdom, and compassion” but most importantly, the fear of God.

Today, no doubt represents a significant milestone in the annals of the nation’s political history because apart from being the nation’s seventh transition ceremony and marks 24 years of unbroken democracy since the return of civilian administration after the military exited the scene on May 29, 1999, it is the first time that such incoming elected first two citizens share the same faith-Islam. They are also both former senators.

History, according to the records, would have been made about 30 years ago if the military junta of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida had allowed the people’s mandate prevailed after they overwhelmingly voted Basorun MKO Abiola (now late) and Ambassador Babagana Kingibe also both Muslims and winners of the June 12, 1993, Presidential election exercise that power which unfortunately was annulled by Babangida apparently for selfish motive(s).

However, it is also a statement of fact that just as the duo of Abiola and Kingibe hail from the South West and North East geo-political zones respectively, Tinubu and Shettima similarly come from the South West and North East in what political analysts have described as a consolidation of the traditional alliance of both zones in the struggle for power at the centre. The latter joint ticket unlike the former, are two-term former governors of Lagos and Borno States respectively.

Regrettably in our view, currently, nothing much seems to have changed regarding good governance and the challenges that threatened our common existence in 2015 when the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Buhari vigorously campaigned on the mantra of ‘Change’ amongst other promises,  to eradicate insecurity, intensify the war on corruption, revamp the economy as well as ensure the wellbeing of the citizenry in line with the statutory primary duty of government namely the security and welfare of the people.

As a matter of fact, unlike that year when the nation’s common enemy was Boko Haram insurgents tormenting the residents of the North East particularly, today, equally potent and vicious non-state actors such as Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network, kidnappers, unknown gunmen, cultists and other forms of violent extremism are on the offensive killing hundreds of law-abiding and peace-loving  Nigerians without any provocation such that an estimated 63111 persons were murdered in cold blood during the eight-year Buhari administration according to recent statistics released by the NST. These high casualties in peace time are not only unacceptable but condemnable.

Sadly too, according to some experts the increasing cost of foodstuffs and hunger in the land should be blamed squarely on the past incessant massacre of farmers in the North Central states of Benue, Plateau and Niger, the food basket region, by the Fulani herdsmen and bandits thus forcing most of the natives to abandon their ancestral farmlands since the security agencies have failed woefully to guarantee their safety.

The worsening security situation which unfortunately had also taken its toll on security agents particularly policemen had negatively impacted socio-economic indicators such that over 130 million citizens had been thrown into the poverty bracket; high unemployment rate of about 33 percent, epileptic electricity supply, endemic corruption, dwindling economic fortunes, rising inflation, a total debt burden of over N77trillion, debilitating fuel subsidy, crisis-ridden educational and health sectors, disunited country and high cost of governance.

In other words, the incoming Tinubu government has several onerous tasks to be surmounted immediately after assuming office on May 29 while the immediate challenge will be to constitute a federal cabinet comprising competent professionals and technocrats with sound credentials, proven unblemished records of service, men and women of honour, integrity and relevant experience to promptly lead the various ministries and deliver on their mandate from the frontline.

We expect Jagaban, who is renowned for his capacity to have identified talents across the various ethnic groups to get the job done as governor of Nigeria’s most populous and richest state, Lagos between 1999 and 2007 not to waste time like Buhari in appointing a new team of ministers ready to roll up their sleeves, hit the ground running to provide more dividends of democracy to the people. It should no longer be business as usual and the practice of putting square pegs in round holes which has been the nation’s lot since 2015 must stop. In our view, therefore, all major appointments should apart from being merit-based, must reflect the federal character principle and national spread unlike what was obtained in the outgoing administration in which over 90 percent of heads of military and paramilitary appointees come from northern Nigeria.

And since contesting the Presidency according to Tinubu, has been his life ambition and from available facts done a lot of planning based on his vision for the country captured in an 80-page policy document that highlights an eight-point agenda, with national security, economy, agriculture, power, oil and gas, transportation and education topping the priority list of action plans, it is expected that the new President with the active support of the National Assembly and the citizens should be able to make positive impacts within a short time, in alleviating the long-suffering of most Nigerians.

It is clear therefore, that for the incoming administration to make any appreciable progress in providing good governance and meet its objective of fostering a new society based on “shared prosperity, tolerance, compassion, and the unwavering commitment to treating each citizen with equal respect and due regard”, Tinubu after constituting his cabinet should completely overhaul Nigeria’s present security architecture that had failed woefully in safeguarding lives and property over the years for the mere fact that no commercial or business venture thrives in the midst of insecurity and violence.

More significantly, as an active participant in progressive governance since the return of democratic rule, one of the leading conveners of the Southern Governors Forum, and a strong advocate of restructuring and fiscal federalism, we believe that Jagaban whose victory is being challenged by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party counterpart Mr. Peter Obi at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, has the wherewithal and perhaps the best credentials to taking the country out of the woods, heralds a new dawn in line with his promised Renewed Hope Agenda with the support and cooperation of federal lawmakers.

We demand that the incoming President should as a first step, in line with federal democratic principles and tenets, take all necessary legal measures to initiate an executive bill that will ensure the decentralization of the Nigeria Police Force and the birth of State Police after decades of procrastination on its desirability or otherwise, to pave the way for a strong “yet adaptive national security architecture and action to obliterate terror, kidnapping, banditry, and all other forms of violent extremism from the face of our nation” promised by him.

Considering too that thousands of peace-loving innocent citizens had been massacred by blood thirsty terrorists nationwide under the outgoing administration with no imminent sign of abating, it no longer makes sense for the country to pretend or have an illusion that the current security forces despite the humongous amount of money spent on equipment and training on officers and men, have the capacity to neutralize the terrorists thereby making the creation of State Police not only inevitable but given utmost national priority.

We strongly believe that no meaningful social, economic and technological transformation can ever take place when Nigerians and foreigners resident in the country continue to live in fear and under constant attacks by rampaging terrorists and hoodlums armed with more sophisticated weapons, unsustainable petrol subsidy regime, low power generation and epileptic supply for domestic and industrial consumption. It is only when these fundamental tasks are tackled objectively, patriotically and in the national interest that Tinubu’s action plans and recent public declaration not to disappoint the people upon assumption of office but meet their yearnings and aspirations can be feasible and achieved.

For a better society

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