Tinubu, May 29 and Nigerians

By Clement Adeyi

The Eagle Square, FCT, Abuja is wearing a new look. In its royal majesty appearance, it sits hugely in a blaze of glory, receiving into its palatial theatre guests from all walks of life for the inauguration of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima as the 16th president and vice president respectively of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

With the inauguration, Tinubu’s famous “emilokan” (it’s my turn) campaign slogan has finally transmogrified from a mere wish into an unarguable reality.

May 29, 2023, that Nigerians had dreamt to be a reality, a day that they would bid farewell to an administration that had put them in acute hardship, hunger, poverty, insecurity and other dehumanizing conditions and usher in a hope of recovery with a new administration, is here.

Apparently, Tinubu, the Jagaban Borgu, is in high spirits to assume the throne as a king who had paid his price as a king maker.

Nigerians, and the international community, would expect him to hit the ground running to fulfil his pledge to renew the hope of the masses.

Obviously, the technocrat-turned politician and seasoned accountant is very much conscious of the enormous tasks before him.

As an astute economist and political wizard who understands the knotty gritty of political economy and a politician on a familiar terrain having excelled in governance as governor of Lagos, he knows what Nigerians expect from him. He knows where their shoes pinch them and how to fix them to guarantee comfort.

Nigerians expect him to give a priority attention to insecurity, secessionist agitations threatening national unity, growing youth unemployment, wobbling economy characterised by galloping inflation and weak local currency, poverty, fuel scarcity, epileptic power supply and address the squarely.

Earlier, particularly during electioneering, he had assured the citizenry that he was equal to the task.

What Nigerians expect are not just economic theories

“Renewed hope has dawned in Nigeria,” he had affirmed in his acceptance speech as President-elect.

A petty trader, Alhaja Aminat Dauda, said: “He is the hope of the nation now and must be a man of his words to fulfil their hope. He should not listen to bad advisers that are only good in discouraging presidents from looking in the direction of the poor masses. He should follow his mind and do the right thing. People are hungry. The first thing he should do is to address the hunger.”

A visibly worried Abuja-based public analyst, Ahmed Labaran said: “What Nigerians expect are not just economic theories and abstract policies that would replicate the ordeals they have suffered for eight years, but food on their tables and policies that would make life meaningful to them. Only then can they heave a sigh that, at last a new hope has dawned on them.”

A political commentator, Ekwueme Dike, said: “I have always known Tinubu as a man that has knack for performance and competence. As a progressive, he knows how to put square pegs in square holes to get result in line with his progressive ideology. He has eyes for competent people. I believe he will fix the right people as he forms his cabinet. Nigeria is on a threshold if history of good governance.”