President Tinubu, in his speech, displayed empathy over the deaths, looting and destruction that trailed the Days of Rage protests and promised to enthuse law and order to prevent more of such incidents, which is reassuring. Even more welcoming is his promise to go after those who issue threats to ethnicities in some states. It is high time he asset asserts his authority. This protest has done enough economic damage to Nigeria.
Listing all that the nation has achieved from his economic policies in the last 14 months is fitting because the failed presidential candidates who have promoted this protest have given the impression that nothing has been achieved. Yes, things are tough. But no nation became great without transiting from tough times to productive times. Oil production has increased, and revenue has also risen. Allocation to states has jumped significantly, and infrastructure is being built, such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway projects, which will unify the country and boost intra-regional trade.
I hoped to see one or two things about cutting the cost of governance in this speech.
The promise to distribute a million conversion kits for commercial vehicles and set up conversion centres nationwide for conversion to CMG is a step in the right direction. It would have been better to have stated that this has already started. That was a mistake on his part. A good speech should not only talk about solutions to come, but it could also discuss solutions already being g implemented. And this CMG concession is already being implemented, but the President failed to highlight that.
Young Nigerians will undoubtedly receive the news from the President’s speech that ₦ 45.6 billion has already been processed for payment to students and their respective tertiary institutions. However, the President should have gone into this more detail rather than just one or two sentences. This policy can excite youths and unleash patriotism in them.
Good to know that the Tinubu administration has released ₦570 billion to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens. The President could have urged those protesting to ask their state Governors what they have done with this money. All eyes are just on the Presidency because the organisers of the Days of Rage are failed Presidential candidates. Very little pressure is being put on the Governors who have received more allocation and intervention funds in the last year than they received in the previous two years of Buhari. Where has the money gone?
Also, the fact that 75,000 beneficiaries have received the Tinubu government’s ₦1million Micro and Small Business single-digit interest loans is noteworthy. In my opinion, the President should have challenged states to introduce their own state-level schemes with the funds he released to them. The states and LG are being spared scrutiny, and this is giving room for too much laxity at their levels.
Saying that he signed the National Minimum Wage into law last week, and the lowest paid workers will now earn at least ₦70,000 a month is good. But this is August 4, 2024. I expected the President to say that July salaries of federal workers would reflect this wage. But at least, he has implied that August’s salary will reflect it. Half bread is better than none. I applaud this. But what about the states? He ought to have given a call to action for states to pay this amount as well. That was missing from this speech.
For me, the best part of the speech was when the President said, “My dear Nigerians, especially our youth, I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens.”
It was a very good inspiration to the protesters to suspend their protest. The message has been passed and received. I like that. President Tinubu displayed the democrat in him by making this statement at the end of his speech.
Altogether, it was a good speech. Politics is a contact sport, and the President has connected with the nation through this speech. Anyone who wants to continue protesting after this obviously has ulterior motives, and Nigerians should not follow that corpse to its grave!
Reno Omokri
Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022
