THE TINUBU ADMINISTRATION’S ECONOMIC AGENDA AND POLICY: HOW FAR, SO FAR? (2)
RULE OF LAW
The President promised to pursue the rule of law but you all know the state of the rule of law in Nigeria presently. No doubt there were major landmark policy decisions made by the President, such as increase in the retirement age of judges and increment in their salaries and allowances. But the major problem still remains that of funding, inadequate infrastructure and lack of independence and autonomy for the judiciary. In many States of the federation, the executive is still in charge of the budget of the judiciary, whereby houses are built for judges, cars presented to them as favours and they are forced to go cap in hand to secure approval for their budgets. Majority of our people still have no access to justice, which has led to the emergence of and resort to alternative arbitrary methodologies such as the police and other law enforcement agencies, unscrupulous bloggers, emergency activists and other crude means of securing the enforcement of their rights. In many cases, potential litigants prefer to resolve their issues in police stations rather than go through the long-winding route of litigation. Without any doubt, Nigeria is avoided like a plaque in international arbitration proceedings. The judiciary itself is experiencing its challenging moments with conflicting court decisions on the same subject matter such that it has become very difficult to advise clients on the state of the law on any particular matter. Whereas this may not be placed at the doorstep of the President, the influx of political judges into the judicial system is a deliberate policy of the executive to annex the third arm of government in order to perpetuate its executive lawlessness. The political parties have infiltrated the court system and polluted the fountain of justice such that you can hardly win any political case without going through the corrupted path.
The rule of law connotes respect for the laws of the land, regard for due process of law in doing all things according to the dictates of the law and avoiding all instances of arbitrariness. The executive arm of government under President Tinubu has demonstrated scant regard for the rule of law and due process of law, especially in cases of police-civilian relations. Without supporting the carnage that took place in Okuama community, it is however very sad that two of their prominent community leaders, Pa James Oghoroko and Dennis Okugbaye, died in the custody of the Nigerian Army. Military raids of bandits in Sokoto resulted in the death of scores of civilians who were wrongly targeted. Amnesty International released its report on the police handling of the #EndBadGovernance protests, resulting in arbitrary arrests, illegal charges and denial of constitutional right of protest. There is a growing case of illegal profiling of youths on account of wearing tattoos, driving what the police considers as ‘flashy cars’, youthful dressings and hairdos, leading to the unlawful arrests of these youths, invasion of their privacy through unlawful search of their telephones, confiscation of their ATM cards and cars. You would all have noticed that the reasons that led to the #EndSARS protests are escalating day by day, even in worse dimensions, meaning that the government has not learnt any lesson from the lofty recommendations of all the judicial panels set up to resolve the issues raised by the youths. The expectation was that upon his assumption of office, the President would set the machinery in place to implement the recommendations of the various judicial panels, engage the authentic representatives of the youths and work with them to end increasing cases of police harassment, exploitation and negative profiling. This has not happened and it may not likely happen in the lifetime of this administration, judging by the turn of events.
ANTI-CORRUPTION
Another aspect of the Renewed Hope agenda of the President is to fight corruption, whatever that means, as it has been the sing song of every administration, including the military. What our leaders do with this empty slogan is to give the false impression of a holier-than-thou leadership, with supposed zero tolerance for corruption and corrupt practices, but in reality, it is only a smokescreen to buy legitimacy and support. No society likes to condone corruption, as that would mean pilfering the commonwealth by a few privileged ones. When the state abolishes corruption and corrupt practices, then there will be enough resources for infrastructure, education and other social amenities that will benefit the people generally. This is why anytime a government announces its readiness to fight corruption, whether genuinely or pretentiously, the people rejoice. Section 15(5) of the Constitution imposes a sacred duty on the government that “the State SHALL abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power” (Emphasis supplied). This does not require an agenda from the government as it has no choice in the matter. But then, can we really and truly state that the present government is fighting corruption? Prominent members of the cabinet were caught red handed in corrupt practices, running into several billions of Naira but none of them has been charged to court for any offence at all, other than the usual soft-landing approach of relieving them of their offices to have enough time to enjoy their loot. On a daily basis however, hotels are being raided to capture youths, even in their nakedness, as part of the fight against corruption, drawing banal headlines all over, as a way of impressing Nigerians. I do not support the ‘yahoo’ business in any manner whatsoever, but I have only made the point to show that in the so-called fight against corruption, the government is only chasing shadows. In any event, the judiciary is the gateway to any meaningful fight against corruption, being the only organ empowered by the Constitution to determine the fate of anyone accused of alleged corruption. Thus, it still boils down to the issue of proper funding and autonomy for the judiciary, for any government to succeed in an effective anti-corruption struggle. I therefore have no hesitation to state that the administration of President Tinubu is only paying lip service to the issue of anti-corruption, in order to secure legitimacy and curry political support from the electorate.
FOOD SECURITY
Part of the Renewed Hope agenda is food security, by which it is meant that the government will ensure availability of basic food, support farmers and drive a robust agricultural policy to achieve mass production of food and in that process bring about reduction in the prices of food and other commodities. Above all however, the issue of security is crucial as many farmers have since abandoned their farmlands due to the incessant invasion of herdsmen and kidnappers. Kidnapping has become the most lucrative venture in Nigeria presently, given the alarming figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics that Nigerians paid N2.3 trillion in ransom in 2024. Linked to this is the construction of a durable road network in the rural areas so that farmers can readily transport their produce to the market before they rot. It is common knowledge that the cost of transportation is actually one of the major factors influencing price increase by farmers. The policy of food palliatives, which the administration of President Tinubu has elevated to an art of governance, is totally demeaning to our people, having imposed poverty on them through unsustainable economic policies. What the Constitution requires of the government as stated in section 16 (d) is to “direct its policy towards ensuring … right to food and food security … are provided for all citizens.” In the eye of the Constitution, citizens of Nigeria have a right to food and food security, not palliatives from the same government that has taxed them to their bones. In addition to the right to food and food security, the Fifth Alteration Act (No.34) of 2023 imposes a binding obligation on the government as follows:
“16. A. The state shall direct its policy towards ensuring:
(a) strategies that guarantee food security of the nation regarding availability, accessibility and affordability of food to the citizens are initiated, undertaken, and implemented.
(b) the means of production, conservation and distribution of food are upgraded and improved upon on the continuous basis; and
( c) adequate measures are provided to ensure that food security of the nation is not compromised by any individual, group or institution.
- The state shall promote and sustain activities that enhance food security.”
Nigeria’s present inflation rate suggests that food commodities are the worst hit. In 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 64 percent of Nigerians had to skip meals and go to bed hungry as they could not afford enough food, while the year ended with nearly 100 people dying in desperate stampedes for palliatives. The Renewed Hope agenda has brought food scarcity in place of food security.
ACCESS TO CAPITAL
The Renewed Hope agenda also talked about access to capital, ostensibly referring to a situation whereby investors and other Nigerians will have the opportunity to secure adequate financing for their dream projects and other viable ventures. Nigerian financial institutions have made nonsense of the credit system that other nations operate so easily and effectively. And this is one of the factors driving corruption, when you need to have liquid cash to buy your house, to buy your car and also to build your business. On the average, it will take about N500M of your own money (available cash) to achieve these three major plans, excluding your medical bills, children’s school fees and other basic expectations of life. What it therefore means is that no average working-class citizen will be able to buy or build a house with his normal earnings unless he is part of the thieving gang. The government should encourage all financial institutions to grant long-term financing at moderate interest rates. And for the agenda to become truly hopeful, the President should redirect his policies to the principles that he was known for while he was in the opposition, being devolution of powers, state police, true federalism, resource control, true restructuring, create enabling environment for businesses to thrive and be consistent in policy formulation and implementation. If you ask me how far, so far, I will say we still have a very long way to go.
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