- President Bola Tinubu promised a lot before he came into office in 2023
- He recently celebrated one year in office and many Nigerians are complaining about the policies in his first year in office
- Some of the policies highlighted include the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira
Nigerian president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said his government is walking the talk after he assessed his performance in the last 365 days in office. Citizens have, however, said they are wrestling with pains, insecurity, devalued naira, and economic hardship.
Expectations were high when the President resumed office on May 29, 2023, promising to "hit the ground running" and "continue running" under his "Renewed Hope Agenda."
The question of whether President Tinubu has fulfilled his political promises or fallen short in tackling the nation's problems has become more prevalent as the administration marks its first year.
Here, we highlight some of the policies of his administration in the last twelve months which directly impacted citizens:
Removal of fuel subsidy
During his inauguration, he announced the removal of the fuel subsidy, which aimed to lower the nation's reliance on fuel imports and promote domestic refining.
The announcement immediately caused the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, to increase from N185 to over N500 as independent oil marketers stopped selling their current products in anticipation of Nigeria’s official oil suppliers setting new prices.
This resulted in the increase of commodity goods and services with prices of transportation, food and other essentials rising beyond the “common man” reach.
Floating of the naira
The public has said that the administration’s policies, such as the floating of Naira, are not improving the economy but have further worsened the situation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) implemented a clean float foreign exchange management system and gave Deposit Money Banks the order to remove the rate cap on the Nigerian currency in accordance with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's ambition to implement monetary policy reforms.
A floating exchange rate, or floating currency system, is a monetary system in which supply and demand in the market decide the value of a country's currency. This, however, did not achieve the upsurge in value that Nigerians expected and devalued the local currency.
Before Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, the official exchange rate was around N460 to the US Dollar, with the parallel market rate at N740. It went up to N1,460 to the US Dollar, with the parallel market rate exceeding N1,700 by mid-2024.
Some land borders remain closed
Beyond the subsidy and the floating of the naira, inflation has also been a challenge, caused by currency devaluation and the closure of borders, among others.
Inflation was 21.34% in 2022 but rose to 33.69% in April 2024, significantly affecting living costs and household earnings.
The Tinubu administration approved the reopening of the Seme land border with the Benin Republic, reversing the policy of the last administration on the closure of all the land borders to enforce the import substitution policy.
But some of the land borders are still closed despite the cries from Nigerians to President Tinubu to consider reopening all the closed land borders and allow the importation of commodities which will in turn help reduce the hike in price and alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
What does the next 3 years hold for Nigerians?
Despite the challenges, some argue that the president shouldn't take full blame for the current economic and social challenges because the nation had been seriously damaged by the previous administrations and could not be fixed in one-year-and-a-half.
The president has also said that Nigeria is no longer in danger of bleeding, and it would now march toward prosperity rather than bleeding to death.
Tinubu went further to assure Nigerians that his administration would lift the burden of bad governance, increase access to high-quality public goods, and leave a long legacy of prosperity for future generations.
What are your thoughts? Share with us in the comment section.