Spoken words do matter, especially when they come from leaders. Their words may lie, but actions taken always tell the truth about what’s on ground. That’s why speeches delivered by leaders can distort as much as they can reveal and enlighten the public. Such words also do reveal the character or personality flaws of a leader. Which is why a president’s speech is almost, always, carefully weighed and analysed. It’s so because, such words can be a window of some sort into a great occasion, and can define the political persona of a leader. President Bola Tinubu’s New Year message clearly defined his political character, unmasked his leadership deficit and laid bare why his administration has not been able in seven years, to frame a coherent, concrete policy roadmap to tackle the challenges confronting the country.
The annual ritual New Year message by President Tinubu has drawn strong reactions from critics and supporters. His message was full of platitudes. It was hollow, hackneyed. In context, it contains unfulfilled promises, and as usual, deceitful. A dig into the details of his New Year message offers hint at whether this President is ready to learn, ready to mend his ways and chart a new course for the country and the economy. As Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential candidate in the Feb 25 election rightly noted, the president’s New Year message offered neither good governance nor inclusive development. It was bereft of accountable leadership expected in a functional democracy. The president’s failure to mention the pain, the tragic bloodshed in Plateau state communities last month, which has been the source of so much grief, sums up the president’s leadership style as a man on AWOL. Let’s be clear: During uncertain, turbulent times, such as Nigerians are going through currently, when despair and pessimism have supplanted hope, when the people genuinely feel their leaders are not measuring up to their expectations, it’s not unkind to ask a few compelling questions: how did we get to this terrible present? Is Nigeria jinxed on the leadership index, lacking in producing excellent, caring and compassionate leaders? Why has leadership moved other nations forward, shaped their hopes and aspirations, and the opposite is the case with Nigeria? In context, leadership should not be reduced to a huge joke as is the case with present crop of selfish leaders in Nigeria . When governance is reduced to this present sad level, regret and disillusionment set in, patriotism wanes. That’s exactly what Tinubu’s administration has clearly shown in the last seven months.
The unprecedented convoy that accompanied the President to a Mosque, in Lagos, a place of worship, during the Christmas period, speaks volumes about what the presidency means to him, a prize that has been won, rather than a duty to perform. That’s why the office of the President is described as the toughest job any leader can give his brain. What area of our economy has turned the corner in the last seven months? His New Year message contains no clear direction to bolster or revitalise our floundering industrial sector, boost agricultural production, increase national productivity that can set Nigeria on a path to national greatness. Undoubtedly, Tinubu knew exactly why he desperately wanted to become president, and what he wanted to do with the office. He claimed in his New Year message that he ran to be President to “rebuild a better country, and a Nigeria that cares for all its citizens”. It’s not true.
An assessment of his presidency so far shows he ran for the highest office to add to his political conquests and fulfill long-term ambition(‘Emilakon). Once that ambition has been actualised, nothing else, it seems, matters. Under his leadership, the fault lines that divide us have widened. Hopes have been shattered, not renewed. Contrary to his claims, every thing he has done in the last seven months, every decision he has made, and all foreign trips undertaken, were largely for the benefit of self and cronies, not in the best interest of the country and Nigerians. Faced with a choice between two roads – the well-traveled, and the less traveled, Tinubu chose the path less-traveled. The outcome is where we are today. That’s the point Robert Frost, one of the most popular American poets of all time made in his poem titled, “The Road Not Taken”, first published in August, 1915 issue of Atlantic Monthly. It is more than a poem. Till today, it remains a timeless masterpiece that reflects on life’s choices . At its core, ‘The Road Not Taken’, is about choices and their consequences. The consequences of some of terrible economics decisions that have led to extreme hardship on the people and the exit of many multinational companies, summarise the road less-traveled.
Last week, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry(LCC1) was among the Organised Private Sector(OPS) that voiced frustration on some of the thoughtless decisions so far taken by this government. In a statement by its Director General Dr Chinyere Almona, the Chamber said the government has no clear strategies yet to tackle the challenges confronting the country. On its part, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said the outlook of the sector in the first half of 2024 might be bleak because the government has no concrete measures to close the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. This is evident in the 2024 budget signed into law recently. The budget allocations have properly taken care of the elite at the detriment of the vast majority of Nigerians. For instance, the National Assembly got an allocation of N344.85bn, the highest it had ever received since 1999. And you ask, for doing what? Of course, for being a rubber stamp of the Executive. Ordinarily, the process of good leadership begins with an individual’s diligent discovery of the purpose for which he sought for power and got it. Make no mistake about it: According to those close to the President, he is an archetypical politician. He likes trading favours and flattering in generous measure, sometimes manipulative, always searching out and exploiting the weaknesses of rivals. Every sector of the economy you look at, this government has failed to make the right choices. It appears he deliberately overlooks the need to prioritize national issues. Time and again, he pursues the trivia with zeal and ignores the essentials. Some say he lacks the political will and spiritual connection to galvanize the country and the citizens.
This much is clear: In seven months, the honeymoon that every President enjoys after inauguration is over now. All that Nigerians have received in seven months are empty promises dressed up as ‘Renewal of Hope’. This year, Nigerians demand concrete actions, not platitudes. Many are worried that there are no positive signs that things will get worse before they better. No clear-headed-headed foreign investor will put his hard-earned money in an economy that is full of uncertainty. I have made the point on this page many times last year, to the effect, that many presidents who ran aground in the office often begin by confusing their nations’ destinies with their own. The second step downhill is outright lies, deceit and exaggeration of their accomplishments to give an impression of stellar performance. But, it’s all a facade to give an image of a superstar. Anyone can claim to be a superstar. But concrete performance should be the scorecard.
Truth simply spoken, for over 133 million poor Nigerians, seven months of Tinubu presidency is like been in jail. If you doubt, go out on the streets with a serial notebook and ask questions. This administration is only good for the super rich and those who have friends at the corridors of power. The government has broken the hearts of many families. His policies have been a ‘kill-joy’, shocking and tortuous, to say the least. Poor Nigerians are facing extremely difficult times, while the poor are groaning. As schools resume, many parents are unable to pay their children’s school fees, some not even sure where their next meal will come from. The reckless habits of politicians are being sustained at taxpayers’ expense. Cost of governance has soared, same with cost of living. All at unprecedented level, leaving the poor and vulnerable groaning under heavy burden, and cursing the government. We saw that when the President’s convoy passed through Lagos last month like a frigate of warships going to war in Gaza.
Nigerians have also seen how the ill-advised removal of subsidy, and the floating of the naira have brought breathtaking negative consequences to the people and the economy. Last weekend, naira exchanged at over N1,100/$1 at the official market, and over N1,235 at the ‘black market’. Yet we saw the president last year beating his chest before potential foreign investors. If President Tinubu and his advisers want to hear the grim truth, Nigerians are on edge over the policies of this government. Trust deficit has reached all-time high, and his own ability to turn things around is at all-time low. The deep hole in which Nigeria is today, is the outcome of when a leader is preoccupied with acquiring power for the sake of it, and nothing more.
The complexity of ambition can sometimes make a president take his eyes off the ball of what matters to the people he was elected to serve. The greater good of the people should take precedence over everything else. The lesson of the last seven months mirrors the mind and soul of a leader for whom power simply means being able to bend people to his will. It’s a sober reminder of warning by historians that power reveals – meaning that when a leader gets enough power, when he feels he doesn’t need anybody anymore, then we can see how he has always wanted to treat people all along. The message is simple: According to Robert Caro, what leaders do while they are trying to get political power is not necessarily what they do after they have got it. My advice is this: President Tinubu should be watched carefully this year.
President Tinubu needs reminding that the essence of Presidential power, according to Grant McConnel, the author of “The Modern Presidency”, is the ability to appeal to both large and wide different constituencies at the same time. Every section of the country should receive equal treatment. For this reason, Grant warns that any elected President who ignores this timely advice risks running aground in the office. I must add that the essence of true leadership is that even when you disagree with a leader’s policies, you will be touched by his goodness and ability to look at facts and acknowledge he has made mistakes and ready to learn from them in the best interest of his country and the people. Nigerians are yet to be touched by any good policies of this administration. Only the ruling class has. That’s the truth.