Tinubu’s unforced errors: President Bola Tinubu has made many unforced errors. And they are hurting him, his administration, and, most importantly, the over 200 million people he has governed in the last one year since taking office
By Ogochukwu Ikeje
It’s okay for an athlete to be outplayed and defeated by an opponent. Quite understandable if his head drops momentarily as he packs his bag and walks away, to return another day. It’s all in the game. However, what’s harder to take is unforced errors, in which case, you hand the victory to the opponent. Take a tennis player, for instance. The ball falls kindly to him, bouncing a little over the net. All he needs to do is move over and tuck the ball away on the opponent’s side of the court. But raising the racquet over his head, our man smashes the ball against the net. Point lost. That’s an unforced error.
Or, picture a defender in a football match who nods the ball past his diving goalkeeper, straight into the corner of his net. That’s an own goal, same as an unforced error. Unintended but a costly, self-inflicted error all the same.
President Bola Tinubu has made not one or two unforced errors, but many. And they are hurting him, his administration, and, most importantly, the over 200 million people he has governed in the last year since he took office following a most controversial election. Is Mr Tinubu, or his administration, willing to admit these errors and own goals? No. In fact, during his many shuttles overseas earlier in his administration, the president wondered why no one had given him any prizes for his efforts.
The unforced errors started quite early, in fact, too early. The first thing, and most likely the only thing Nigerians took away from his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, was that “petrol subsidy is gone”. Perhaps he thought he would get a standing ovation. Rather, a chill spread from the podium where he was standing to every corner of the country. That chill was quickly replaced by sweeping agony because, right from that moment, fuel prices went through the roof, up from N194 a litre when he took over, to over N600 per litre. This left many Nigerians trekking and others paying higher fares than they wanted. It was an unforced error because the subsidy was still in the budget for another year, we learned. Why announce its removal without good advice and a cushion for the people? It was an avoidable error that defined Mr Tinubu’s government and unleashed anguish on the people. Floating the naira was also avoidable.
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In the last year questions have been raised about Mr Tinubu’s preparedness for office, the same question that has dogged his party, the All Progressives Congress, since 2015, when Muhammadu Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It took Mr Buhari about half a year to form a cabinet. Mr Tinubu’s team was also late in taking shape and when it did, more questions were asked whether those he chose were the right people to help rescue a country gasping for breath. One year on it has become obvious that the answer is no. Take the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio for whom Mr Tinubu fought hard to make him the No 3 man. Mr Akpabio has inspired little confidence beyond his small crowd of cronies and beneficiaries and has drawn criticisms for taunting the poor in that famous ‘let the Poor Breathe video.’ He also leads 360 federal lawmakers each cruising around in luxury four-wheel drives each costing N160 million. This is the ultimate mockery of the 133 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty.
Another person Mr Tinubu chose to work closely with is George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF). Mr Akume, a former governor of Benue State, recently exposed his immense wealth, insensitivity and vanity by saying he could not afford to pay his four drivers N100,000 each. He was responding to the demand by Labour leaders for a reasonable minimum wage for Nigerian workers earning N30,000 monthly. What is a serious government doing with a man who has four drivers when most Nigerians cannot afford a decent meal let alone a car?
Yet, you might forgive Mr Akpabio and Mr Akume, both stupendously wealthy, if you consider that the government they work for has not shown much discretion in their priorities, policies and tastes either. Going by the assurances of Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory, a new home for the vice president will soon be ready for habitation. It cost Nigeria a whopping $15 million.
Last month, Vice President Kashim Shettima confirmed that the federal government subsidised the last pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with some N90 billion. Consider too that a coastal highway running from Lagos to the Southsouth valued at trillions is being built at a huge cost to everyone.
And recently, Wale Edun, finance minister, the most prized official in Mr Tinubu’s government, ended the lies surrounding the fuel subsidy. With the president’s announcement, the government had consistently claimed that the petrol subsidy ended on May 29, 2023. Mr Edun has declared that N5.4 trillion would have been spent on the subsidy by the end of the year.
No serious government succeeds on lies, and none leaves a lasting legacy on poorly thought-out projects. What is the justification for spending billions on a government official’s residence in a country with woeful housing deficits? Or building a superhighway valued in trillions of dollars where most roads in the country are death traps? Or subsidising a private religious trip to Saudi Arabia or Jerusalem with billions where it is not a requirement to make heaven by any of the religions?
Pray, how has a government mastered the art of unforced errors?