10th March, 2024
By Oluwagbenga Oyebanji
I wrote an article on June 1, 2019 for this prestigious online publication PMNEWS titled, “The Calculus of South West Politics.” I predicted that a Yoruba man was going to be next president of Nigeria 2023. The core of my DNA is Afenifere and my ‘Yorubaness’ is unblemished. I am so proud of my heritage and the contribution it has made to Africa and the dark skinned race. The 2023’s election duly contested and won by the most prepared candidate. The election was possibly the most disputed election in the history of Nigeria politics, and was fiercely contested for by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP, Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) of APC. The Nigeria’s Supreme Court confirmed PBAT as the winner of the February‘s presidential election dismissing cases brought by the two main political oppositions.
The future belongs to those who are prepared, having won the gubernatorial elections and became the governor Lagos State between 1999-2007. Asiwaju’s journey in politics has never been a straight road, it has been rough but his capacity and sagacity saw him through the ups and downs of politics. He is the father of modern Lagos. PBAT is a builder, he fashioned out what is known as modern Lagos. All the rail projects Lagos is enjoying today are brain child of Asiwaju, from the Blue Rail, Red Rail and all the future rail projects, Green, Purple, Orange, and Yellow Rail line were the vision of Asiwaju He is a leader that knows how to discover talents and give them the required platform to excel.
When Asiwaju became the governor of Lagos state the IGR hovered around N600M monthly, and today Lagos has IGR of N651.2B FY 2022 representing 30% of N1.9T of the total national IGR according to NBS. The political philosophy of Awolowo was like the journey of Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Asiwaju got the progressive idea of Awolowo to the presidency which is the Promised Land. Asiwaju, a derivation of Awolowo’s political ideology stood on the tower of Afenifere politics to emerge the president of Nigeria 2023. It is crystal clear that the economy is hurting, inflation and unemployment are on the rise, foreign exchange is unstable and insecurity is spreading like wild fire. But at this time in the history of our nation the man with the intellectual capacity to position Nigeria’s economy for the 21st century is PBAT.
The 2024’s of budget anchored on the “Renewed Hope” agenda of PBAT would be the needed succor to the people, if proper attention is given to improving OPEC oil production quota and diversifying the economy to increase non oil revenue. The oil theft in the Niger Delta has been a major setback to boosting oil production output which was confirmed as 400,000 barrels daily. The fiscal reforms embarked upon would assist in boosting non-oil revenue and it will reposition the economy by implementing the budget to alleviate the suffering of the masses. There must be a dogged fight to reduce inflation and fight unemployment to stand still by unlocking the potentials of Nigerian youths. The CBN must direct its attention on monetary policy and focus mainly on price stability by maintaining a robust foreign exchange.
Achieving the $1Trilion GDP target of PBAT by 2030 is possible. As indicated by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s GDP currently values at $440B. The economy has to grow an average of $90B every year for 6years for this ambition to be actualized. According to the chairman of NESG, Niyi Yusuf, he said, for Nigeria to achieve a $1Trillion economy, it must drive foreign direct investments (FDI), tame inflation and tackle foreign exchange volatility. He also retorted that the government must block all fiscal leakages in the CBN, NNPC, and FIRS, and we must increase our tax-to-GDP ratio.
The enormity of the task ahead is colossal and should not be taken with kid gloves; the hunger in the land due to food crisis is solvable. It was reported in the newspapers that looters intruded into a warehouse in Abuja belonging to the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat. The food crisis witnessed across the land was caused by insecurity, and it must be tackled with the full weight of Nigeria security infrastructure.
PBAT must focus on four principals to achieve the $1Trillion GDP by 2030. Food security and infrastructural development, Innovation and Value Creation, Security, and, Price stability and Export. It is pertinent to know that refocusing the economy to unlock the youthful population’s potential is key to getting to the Promised Land. The complexity of the present challenges should not be compared to Lagos of 1999-2007 and the antecedents of Asiwaju in governance must not be underrated. He performed the impossible with the Lagos state economy.
Obafemi Awolowo did the unbelievable with the western region between 1951 and 1963 and Asiwaju’s leadership skills and vision has turned Lagos state to one of the biggest economies in the continent with $80Billion GDP and having 20% the national GDP. Arguably, Asiwaju is the heir apparent to the Awolowo’s political dynasty and he is the torch bearer of Awo’s political ideology. According to Winston Churchill the father British modern democracy, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
-Oluwagbenga Oyebanji, a Political/Social Analyst writes from Lagos
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