By Emmanuel Mogbede
The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu-led government defines its commitment to unleashing the country’s full economic potential by focusing on job creation, access to capital for small and large businesses, inclusiveness, the rule of law, and the fight against hunger, poverty and corruption.
The phrase refers to a positive outlook or expectation for a particular outcome or situation, but how well the administration has achieved its objectives in this regard remains a debate amongst Nigerians, especially on the social media space.
As the administration clocks one year in office on May 29, with the country still confronted with economic and social challenges, most Nigerains are of the opinion that it is yet to achieve the desdesired goal.
This, Mr Godwin Ossai, a business man said is especially with regards to improving the well-being of the common man as prices of foodstuffs and general cost of leaving has continued to increase as well as insecurity.
While this remain the view of most Nigerains and members of opposition political parties, Dr Isa Yuguda, Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT)All Progressives Congress (APC)Professionals Forum, said Tinubu is not responsible for whatever challenge the country is going through.
Yuguda while speaking at a policy round table tagged: “The Asiwaju Scorecard Series”, said that although the reforms being introduced by the Tinubu-led administration may appear harsh, they would lead to a better Nigeria on the long run.
He said contrary to insinuations in the public space about the administration in the economy and other sectors, it is championing reforms that will guarantee a better society for Nigerians.
“The President did not create any of the problems people are talking about, whether in the economy or in the other sectors.
“Infact, what he met on ground would have created a worse situation if not properly handled, but he is championing reforms that are required to pave the way for a better society,” Yuguda said.
Ade Omole, a member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council and a former leader of the party’s United Kingdom chapter, said Nigeria in the last one year has undergone a period of resilience and reform.
He described Tinubu’s one year in office as a tough but successful comprehensive journey of reforms and strategic investments aimed at addressing security and economic challenges, improve law enforcement, and ensure financial stability.
Omole says this has yielded positive outcomes, including economic growth forecasts and foreign investment inflows.
“Most Nigerians will attest to the fact that the Tinubu-led government has prioritised security, the economy, education, healthcare, technology, and infrastructure to leverage Nigeria’s diversity and youth for progress.
“The government in the last year, is building a solid foundation to position the nation as a global economic player through diplomatic engagement and international co-operation while addressing internal issues.
“Overall, Nigeria’s story is one of hope, potential, and concerted efforts towards a brighter future under President Tinubu’s leadership,” Omole said.
Mr Bayou Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, while reacting to recent accusation by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the Tinubu-led administration is trying to entrench a one party state, said the administration in the last one year has been working to put Nigeria on a solid economic pedestal.
“Unlike the PDP’s administration of 16 years, the Tinubu administration has been confronting the problems of our country headlong.
“The administration is moving for an audacious reset that will firmly put our country on a solid economic pedestal.
“The results are already showing. Contrary to the pessimism and wishes of some PDP leaders, the national currency was recently declared the world’s best performing,” Onanuga said.
He added that the contrived pall of gloom cast over the country has faded out and renewed hope has been on leashed.
He said such is the positive trend the APC economic programme has generated that the IMF reviewed upward, the growth projection for Nigeria in 2024 from 2.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent.
He said the Tinubu administration has targeted a higher growth with its plans to embark on audacious infrastructure projects, such as the Badagry-Sokoto Highway and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
He said the government’s economic team is doing well, adding that no sane government will change a winning team if it is working in sync with the advisory of the private sector, state governors and economic gurus in the country.
“It was surprising that the PDP under whose watch Boko Haram was born in 2009 could so unabashedly blame the Tinubu administration for what it wrongly termed increasing spate of terrorism and banditry.
“This is far from the truth. Security has improved, with fewer cases of terrorist attacks and banditry recorded,” Onanuga said, noting that in recent weeks, over a thousand kidnapped victims were rescued by the country’s gallant armed forces, without government paying ransom.
Onanuga advised the PDP to harmonise its home first, rather than accuse Tinubu of trying to entrench one party state, saying the president nurses no such plan.
On the economy front and other areas, Chief Niyi Akinsiju,Chairman, Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), a policy think-tank, while accessing the administration’s performance in the last one year, said Nigeria’s economy did remarkably well in the first quarter of 2024 under President Tinubu in spite of criticisms.
According to him, following government’s economy reforms, Nigeria has bounce back as an economic giant waiting to take its position in the sun in spite of the fact that the country has remained stunted over the years because of policy misapplications.
“Already, we have started witnessing the green shoots of the impact of the policy deployments on the economy,” he said, adding that the period under review witnessed commendable strides in the oil and gas sector.
This, Akinsiju said, included the domiciling of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) revenue account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which facilitated a truly single treasury account platform for the country’s oil earnings.
“In addition, in a continued upward trajectory witnessed in oil and gas exploration activities, oil rig count, an index with which upstream activities are measured, surged by 23 per cent year-on-year to 16 rigs in February 2024.
“The increased rigs activities have resulted in higher crude oil production inclusive of condensates averaging 1.65 million barrels a day as per last quarter.
“While this has positive prospects for accretion to our foreign reserve, we estimate that crude oil production should increase to 1.8 million barrels a day.
“Which is more than the 1.78 million crude oil production target projected in the 2024 federal budget, by the end of the second quarter of 2024,” the IMPI chairman said.
He said the government has taken the economy a notch higher with the introduction of the Consumer Credit Scheme known as The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp).
This, he said, has the potentials to improve consumption capacity for Nigerians, resulting in expanded productive capacity for the manufacturing sector.
“This implies that you do not need to wait until you have saved so much to purchase what you desire,”he said, adding that there is need for government to urgently rejig its cash transfer programmes to ensure effectiveness, transparency and accountability.
He said the group is delighted to note that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered transportation system has become a reality as promised by the president.
Akinsiju said this was as all was now set for the launch and deployment of the first set of mass-transit CNG vehicles and tricycles across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the administration clocks one year in office.
He said the eco-friendly vehicles would transport commuters at reduced cost, provide thousands of job opportunities for our youths, and improve the standard of living of the people.
He added that in the immediate, the Federal Government is growing stronger on opening up and truly liberalising the national economy from the fetters of the past, saying the removal of fuel subsidy has become a financial elixir for the hitherto constricted revenue earning capabilities of the national economy.
“Nigerians are now witnesses to the monthly spectacle of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee’s (FAAC) sharing and savings never before earned revenue among the three tiers of government.
“Which has averaged N250bn monthly, thereby enhancing the Federal, States and Local Government Areas capacity to pay workers’ salaries and provide critical infrastructure.
“While the economy is gaining much needed momentum in the enunciated areas as recorded in the first quarter of the year,” he said.
He said the group however, observed with mixed feelings, rocketing food prices which continued to manifest in high headline inflation rate recorded at 33.2 per cent, driven by a 40.01 per cent food inflation rate in March.
He said in spite of the increase in food prices, the conscious efforts of President Tinubu to rejig the economy and ensure food security through massive investment in agriculture must be encouraged.
Akinsiju commended the administration for funding the ongoing dry season cultivation of 120,000 hectares of farmland for the production of wheat.
He said that this aggressive push to boost food production is a confirmation of the president’s seriousness on his declaration of State of Emergency on Food Security on July 13, 2023.
He also commended the Jigawa Government for allocating 80,000 hectares of land to the Presidential initiative on wheat, and the Government of Kano and Kaduna States for making available the remaining land.
The Forum of APC States Women Leaders however, felt the government is not doing enough in terms of giving women political appointments across all levels.
Mrs Patricia Yakubu, Chairperson of the forum said this in Abuja when she led a delegation of the forum on a visit to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), saying a change of the narrative is critical to enable women contribute their quota to the Renewed Hope Agenda and national development.
“The APC State women leaders will want to advocate that we should be carried along in all the party’s affairs pertaining women in the states.
“We are closer to the party women at the grassroots, the largest voting bloc in the secular world, our demography should not be neglected,” Yakubu, APC Adamawa women leader said.
She said the forum has in its fold, technocrats and professionals that can add much value in the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu-led government if given the opportunity in terms of employments.
While the administration celebrates its one year in office, it is expected that Nigerains at the grassroots begin to feel the impact of the Renewed Hope Agenda.(NANFeatures)
