Tinubu: the missing link, by Kola Amzat

Nigeria is undoubtedly a prodigiously endowed country. This nation obviously has everything nature could give.

With an awesome population of more than 220 million people, constituting a huge market by, Nigeria remains the most populous black nation on earth.

With more than 300 ethnic groups, the country is reputed for the vastness of its land space, the incredible diversity of its people and amazing deposits of oil & gas, and more than 44 mineral resources, some of which are gold, limestone, diamond, uranium, kaolin, Iron-ore, Bitumen, Talc, Coal, Lead/Zinc etc, spread across more than 500 locations across the land, and in commercial quantities.  

Nigeria remains the African largest oil producer, with production of about 2 million barrel/day, as well as 6^th in production ranking in the entire globe.

In fact, the country crude is about the best in the world with its light & sweet model, free of sulphur and making it easier to refine to gasoline.

Nigeria has 36.89 billion barrels of proved oil reserves and 5.47 billion cubic meters of proved natural gas reserves.   

With very predictable and favorable weather, this beautiful country also have deposits of virtually all agricultural produce one can ever think of, and in commercial quantities, too.

More importantly, Nigerians remain one of the most enterprising, industrious, vibrant, educated, ubiquitous and very creative species on the earth.         

But, what has the country been able to achieve with these tremendous resources, incredible endowments by nature, and several Trillions of Naira that have come her way in the previous past? Mismanagement! Squander mania!

The awesome treasure has been there for many decades without deliberate and conscious and efforts by successive administrations to galvanize them for the purpose of building enduring prosperity for the country, as well as the well-being of its teeming population of longsuffering people.

Curiously, since President Bola Tinubu ascended, he has apportioned no blame whatsoever to any of the past leaders, and neither has he made any effort to take any of them to Golgotha for crucifixion.

Instead, he has taken up the gauntlet, chosen to consign the past to the dustbin of history, taking the bull by the horns and hitting the ground running.

He’s been preoccupied with resetting, re-fixing, repositioning and re-engineering in all facets and in a very dogged, courageous, bold and decisive fashion backed with willpower, zeal, patriotic instinct and independent-mindedness of purpose.

In a very short time, the president has succeeded in drawing the attention of the entire world to Nigeria, so much that the global power blocs, American, Chinese, Russians, Great Britain, France, Germany etc are presently falling over themselves, to attract Nigeria’s attention with regards to investments, as well getting her involved in high-octane diplomatic developments as it concern the globe.

Tinubu’s attendance of Paris Summit Group at the instance of President Emman Macron of France attracted huge success to the country. The president used the platform to declare to President of Afrexim, as well as President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development of Nigerian readiness for business and its preparedness to welcome investments around the world.  

Thereafter, he registered his dominant presence at the ECOWAS Heads of States meeting where he was deemed worthy of being elected the Chairman of the West African Regional Body, the mantle he has assumed with aplomb and high level of responsibility, with his first task being to rally the entire globe for the restoration of democracy in the troubled Republic of Niger.

The president in his third trip abroad took African Union Commission in Kenya by storm where charged his fellow African Leaders to strongly reject the notion of a new scramble for Africa by the Western Countries and warned that past plundering and exploitation of the continent should remain in the past and never be repeated.

He also deployed the platform to emphasize the need for Africa to overcome its challenges and work towards a prosperous future, focusing on inclusive growth, good governance, and leveraging the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  

The president’s latest trip to attend G20 Summit in Delhi at the invitation of President Mohdi of India has attracted monumental success.   

Nigeria secured nearly $14 billion of pledges from Indian investors to drive the operational activities in the nation’s steel sector, expand the country’s petrochemical facility, as well as to assist  Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria in attaining 40% self-sufficiency in local manufacturing and production of defense equipment in three years.

The president made audacious declaration to the world at the summit that Nigeria is ready to give the foreign investors best returns possible for their investment, and that there’s nowhere else like Nigeria where they would achieve such returns.

The icing on the cake was his diplomatic trip to UAE where he has achieved the immediate lifting on the ban placed on Nigeria travelers, resumption of the flight schedules into and out of Nigeria by Etihad & Emirates Airlines, Struck agreement for new investments worth several billions of US Dollars into Nigeria economy by UAE government, as well as agreed a new joint foreign exchange liquidity program between Nigeria and UAE.

What a thinking, developmental, creative and problem solving president!    

Meanwhile, he has constituted his crack team of cabinet members, giving the Ministers marching order on the need to break new grounds and that, the only language he understands is accomplishments and results, and this they must achieve even, against all odds.

Following this, FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike has set the ball rolling in Abuja moving into every nooks & crannies of the Federal Capital Territory for the purpose of repositioning and reengineering the city and make it befitting of nation’s capital it’s purposed.

Wike has caused the reactivation of Metro Blue Line hitherto abandoned and has given marching order to the concerned contractors that the gigantic project must be delivered in 8 months’ time. He, has also in collaboration with Minister of Aviation drew the curtains on the impasse that has dogged the path of construction of second run away for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, paying hefty compensations to the indigenes that had stood on the way of project.

The Minister has flagged off the rehabilitation and construction of 135 roads spread all over Abuja. He has also mandated the lighting of the entire FCT in the quest beautify the city, and most importantly rid it of criminal elements.

Minister Dave Umahi is also redefining and setting new standards at the Ministry of Works. He has hit the roads, with his first point of call been Lokoja/Abuja road where he expressed total indignation at the quality of road and hinted that the contractor may be dropped.

He’s been to the sites of roads construction in South East axis where he mandated that moving forward, concrete will be in use for construction of roads as against bitumen, which is presently being used. He’s also been to Lagos/Ibadan Expressway where he gave December date as the delivery time.

Of course, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior has visited most of the Agencies under his ministry, sternly admonishing some of the staffers against indolence and rolling out the riot act to the staff of Immigration Department concerning racketeering in the issuance of passports and giving deadline for the clearance of about 200,000 passports with them.

Immediate past governor of Osun state and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy has also swung into action, conducting business & familiarization visit to Apapa Port, the topmost Agency under his ministry and mandating on the need to decongest the ports so that commercial activities could thrive seamlessly. He has also assured that under his watch, Blue Economy will henceforth contribute significantly to Nigerian FAAC, and ultimately, the nation GDP.

Ministers Badaru and Matawalle, whom entire nation’s security mandate has been situate, have also hit the ground running, strategizing in collaboration with the service chiefs on how to draw the curtains on the banditry, insurgence and criminalities that have been holding this nation by the jugular and thereby make the nation’s territorial integrity safer for the Nigerian people and the local and global investment community.

The vivacious and obviously vibrant Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs & Poverty alleviation seems to have heeded our humble and genuine advice that for her to succeed, she must completely close her eyes to the comfort of FCT, Abuja and move to the hinterland where Nigerians whose her ministry is purposely created for, are dwelling.

Following this, the Minister and her entourage stormed IDP camps in Borno state with packages of palliates in their innumerable forms for teeming population of displaced Nigerians who are there. She’s also pledged to hit the haven of downtrodden dwelling in nooks & crannies in other parts of the country in a short while.  

To her credit, she’s also collaborating with security Agencies as well as Ministry of Interior

One Minister that Nigerians must have trust & confidence in his capacity to deliver, even to the optimum level is Adebayo Adelabu, the new helmsman at Power ministry. Of course, the youthful, but very vibrant, innovative, resourceful and focus character revels working at his own pace, but assuredly, his strategy expected to be unfolded in the days ahead would be apt enough to do a turn-around in this all-important ministry, which everything is dependent on-upsurge in industrial sector, rebound in SMEs and resurgence in households across the country.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tuggar has proved beyond reasonable doubt, just within his short term in office that he’s the best man for that office with his tremendous grasp of international diplomacy, almost impeccable knowledge of diplomatic ethics & ethos and his seamlessness in arranging diplomatic interactive sessions for our president at international fora. One is also thrilled by his confidence level and diplomatic panache.

Other ministers are also strategizing, working and obviously, on the move. They can’t afford not to, especially working with a president who has knack for working round the clock. Instructively, the Ministers have Key Performance Index (KPIs) on which they are expected to be assessed periodically. 

With the enormous and very impressive performance of the president just within a spate of 100 days in office, there exists no shadow of doubt that he seems to be the missing link over the years between Nigeria and her quest for prosperity and march into the comity of the greater nation.

May be, if he’d come much earlier, the Refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna would have been efficiently alive, producing optimally for local consumption, as well as exporting for foreign markets. It’s also a strong possibility that the number of Refineries might have increased consequent upon the upsurge in local and foreign demands.

If he’d ascended earlier, may be the nation industrial sector would have been the cornerstone of the economy, even surpassing revenue earnings from the nation’s crude earnings. It’s also possible that all the nooks & crannies would have had industrial hubs as it’s obtained in China and India.  

There is strong possibility that the nation’s rail, seaports, airports and roads architecture would have been so established to that point of optimum efficiency to drive & power the country’s desire for technological, scientific and industrial advancements, with ultimate objective of making Nigeria to compete on the same pedestal with global industrial and technological giants.

With his incredible entrepreneurial spirit and quest for adventures into unknown, it’s also not impossible that Tinubu might have produced many Nigerian Digital Entrepreneurs in the mold of Bill Gates, Elton Musk, Mark Zuckerberg etc through deliberate and strategic huge investments in ICT hubs all across the country.

Of course, Nigeria would have been swimming in food sufficiency with its vast arable land space spread around the country, and thriving irrigation dams that are in every nooks & crannies of the North. The country would have been in food sufficiency for its teeming population, as well as making available quantum in quantity for export markets.

May be, the spate of banditry, insurgence, criminalities, prostitution, armed robbery that pervade the land won’t be as this dominant.

Let no Nigerian opined that this writer is under the illusion of gross over-estimating Nigeria capacity. The vast potential to ensure turn-around of all the facets of our national developments is there. The ‘i’ only need to be dotted, with ‘t’ to crossed, backed with unity of purpose and collaboration with the nation’s leadership, we would be there.

This is the leadership being provided for the country by President Tinubu at the moment-purposeful, inclusive, resourceful, focus, visionary and making spirited efforts to bring every Nigerian on board.

The president therefore deserves our collective supports, cooperation and collaboration in his quest to bring forth Nigeria of our collective dreams.

Kola AMZAT (FCA),

Lagos Based Financial Consultant,

09077509348.