When dictator Buhari left office in May of 2023, Nigerians thought they had seen the height of sadism, horror, and terror. But less than a year later, they have been struck with the startling reality that the worst was actually yet to come, so much so that some Nigerians now look back nostalgically at dictator Buhari’s calamitous regime.
Tinubu's ascension to power has been the worst nightmare for Nigerians. His policies have been similar to General Ibrahim Babangida’s Structural Adjustment Programme of July 1986, which was instigated by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] but was rightly rejected by Nigerians whom it was targeted to ruin.
Tinubu found his way to power, fully unprepared to lead and apparently with a non-existent economic pathway. This is evident in some of the ill-conceived policies that have characterised his first year in office, and I presume that most Nigerians must be thoroughly horrified when they remember that he has three dreadful years ahead to complete his first constitutional term of four years! For everyone's sanity, however, it is better to not write about Tinubu's possible second term.
We must continue to emphasise that in less than one year in office, Tinubu has presided over a frightening inflation that has seen an unprecedented rise in the prices of foodstuffs. Food items have since risen by over 600 percent, putting survival at great risk. The cost of transportation is equally frightening and has tripled on multiple occasions since Tinubu was ushered into power. This disturbing situation, which started on his first day in office, has since deteriorated rather than getting better. But in the midst of this hardship, created by Tinubu's ineptitude, his administration’s decision to burden Nigerians with excessive taxation is what has raised eyebrows more than anything else! Tinubu, obviously bereft of ideas to generate revenues to keep his sinking administration afloat, sees Nigerians not as citizens but as sources of revenue generation. This is despite the fact that his administration has created a hostile environment for businesses to thrive, compounded by its failure to create jobs for those who genuinely need them.
It is my contention that a government with several anti-people policies, such as the one Tinubu presides over, lacks the moral competence to burden its people with taxes. It therefore leaves me with the disturbing question: what is the obligation of Tinubu’s government to the Nigerian people? Reports say that the administration has now retraced its steps on the infamous “cybersecurity levy,” following the outcry that greeted the announcement. The withdrawal of the levy is a welcome development, provided that the regime does not smuggle in the same levy through the window in disguise.
If Tinubu had any knowledge about governance, or if he had competent economic advisers around him, he should have known that no economy in the world grows by strangulating people with taxes. Serious countries stimulate economic growth by ensuring an increase in aggregate production, which results in a rise in national income. Business investment and consumer spending also help give life to the economy. Tax cuts and rebates, which are the antithesis of what Tinubu appears to be doing in Nigeria, put money back into consumers’ pockets. These consumers, in turn, put the money back into the economy by way of spending, which increases business revenue, cash flow, and profit. All of these actions increase productivity, which then grows the economy. So, excessive taxation will not grow the economy, if that is Tinubu's intention. It rather weakens it.
Tinubu’s first year in office has been a nightmarish experience. This explains why, to most Nigerians, it is as if he has been in office for the past 15 years or more. It must be emphasised that, having subjected the people to the ongoing horror, during which he has completely been unconcerned about the widespread privation his administration has created in less than 12 months, Mr Tinubu should understand that his second year in office must be accompanied by practical solutions to the myriad economic chaos of his sadistic reign. Nigerians can no longer be deceived under the guise of “making sacrifices for the nation,” whilst politicians who should lead by example live in luxury, with the majority of them buying palatial homes in Dubai and elsewhere around the world!
Let it be known that Nigerians are not asking their government to do the impossible for them. All that the people desire is a decent country where their businesses can thrive under a stable economy, a country where citizens’ purchasing power is not deliberately weakened by government policies, a country where people get value for their money, a country with stable electricity and world-class infrastructure, a country where the sanctity of human lives is respected, a country where politicians do not embezzle public funds for personal use, a country that is serious about human capital and economic developments, a country where the executive and legislative arms “conspire” to deliver good governance to the people, etc. These are genuine demands that the government can easily confront and achieve if the political will to do so truly exists. But it doesn’t.
As Tinubu completes one year in office on May 29 this year, being the day he made that infamous announcement that marked the beginning of his failure, it is important to note that it has been a year to forget. And based on the evidence of his first year in office, it is discernible that nothing will change in his second year and possibly throughout his first term. To buy time, however, the administration has tried to pacify the raging public, claiming without evidence that the days ahead will be good when it has built on absolutely nothing to bring about the goodness that it promises.
I sincerely hope to be proven wrong, but until then, my permanent stance is that Tinubu cannot transform Nigeria, even if he spent a thousand years in office. This is obvious. He merely came to fulfil a childhood dream, which he referred to as “my lifelong ambition.” He is living that dream today. What now, at his age, will inspire him to pursue what was never part of his childhood aspiration? It is synonymous with someone learning to be left-handed in old age. Impossible!