By Ismail Abdulaziz
On assumption of office, President Bola Tinubu’s administration made its intention clear to rejig the nation’s ailing economy and make it robust enough to engender the development and growth of Nigeria.
A few months into the four-year tenure of the administration, it has initiated many programmes to drive the economy towards growth. This is in order to extricate Nigerians from economic woes of the past and give them a new lifeline.
Tinubu came in with a pledge to make Nigeria great through a five-point agenda anchored on the rule of law and security. Others are remodelling the economy to provide jobs, address extreme poverty and ensure food security.
His target also involves giving prominence to women and youths in governance and championing a credit culture to discourage corruption. He has also shown a desire to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of various anti-corruption agencies.
On the economy, the President was emphatic that his target is having year-on-year higher GDP growth and a significant reduction in unemployment. These, he said, the government would attain through instituting budgetary reforms to stimulate the economy without engendering inflation.
Second, President Tinubu is trying to operate an industrial policy that will utilise the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing and lessen import dependency.
Also, he is working to ensure that electricity becomes more accessible and affordable to businesses and homes alike. This is by doubling power generation, transmission and improving distribution networks. The Federal Government will also encourage states to develop local power sources.
The administration has also made a significant commitment to local and foreign investors that the government would review all complaints about multiple taxation and various anti-investment inhibitions.
“We shall ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard-earned dividends and profits home,” the President said.
The measures taken so far seems to have started generating dividend. On Nov. 24, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew to 2.54 per cent year-on-year in real terms in Q3 of 2023. This is higher than the 2.25 per cent recorded in 2022.
In its 2023 Q3 Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report, the NBS said GDP grew slightly by 0.03 per cent, higher than the 2.51 per cent reported in Q2 of 2023.
NBS explained that GDP growth was driven mainly by the services sector. The sector recorded a growth of 3.99 per cent and contributed 52.70 per cent to aggregate national GDP growth.
Experts are of the opinion that the various efforts of Tinubu to woo genuine foreign and local investors will in the long run accelerate the administration’s quest to rejig and revamp the economy.
However, to make President Tinubu’s tenacity pay off, the government must strengthen institutional structures to drive governance policies successfully.
No doubt, democracy thrives on information, constructive criticism and encouragement, so that government policies and programmes are assessed dispassionately and adjusted where necessary to meet set targets.
In this respect, government and private media organisations should key into the national vision as enunciated by the administration.
This is necessary for them to appropriately provide the right information and content to galvanise the support of citizens and friends of Nigeria and encourage everyone to contribute towards the successful delivery of the government agenda.
The recent appointments of new heads of federal government media organisations is the first step towards reinvigorating the information machinery of government
However, the most important aspect is providing the organisations with the necessary funding and working tools. This will enable it to compete effectively in the fast-changing information space.
This is important for public media organisations to work in synergy with various government organs. There is a need for them to properly inform the populace. They should make Nigerians understand what the government is doing towards making life better for all.
Thus, the ability of the media organisations to function to the satisfaction of the government and the people depends largely on the support they receive in terms of funding and a conducive working environment.
There are still questions as to whether the government is taking steps to deliver the economic renewable it promised, or working hard enough to ease the current hardship brought about by the removal of fuel subsidies, sanitising the civil service, and addressing rising food inflation.
Even the Economic Intelligence Unit in its 2024 Outlook on the Nigerian economy, expressed such fears, demanding urgent action to prevent more Nigerians from falling into extreme poverty.
It is, however, encouraging that the President is aware of these challenges and taking the right decisions to overcome them.
For a start, Tinubu has designed a performance bond for cabinet members. The bond has clear timelines for the delivery of government programmes and policies. This is an important step that will offer citizens the opportunity to assess the performance of political appointees. And invariably, the government.
At a recent retreat for cabinet members, Tinubu was emphatic that they were not elected to bear titles.
“The responsibility we bear are not just titles, they are the hope and aspiration of millions of Nigerians. You might be ready to forget about the rest of the world but as a Nigerian, let’s go out there.
“Let’s bond together and make sure our country fully recovers. You are not here to make excuses, neither am I,” Tinubu told the ministers.
With the President’s commitment, Nigerians need to put the administration on its toes. They should also support the government as citizens desirous of seeing the emergence of a new Nigeria. And work collectively to provide solutions towards accelerating growth and development in Nigeria.
Nigeria and Nigerians deserve a better life and the Tinubu administration must not be derailed, like other administrations before it. It should be supported by all patriotic Nigerians to provide sustainable solutions to existing challenges.
Abdulaziz is a Deputy Editor in Chief of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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