Wading through Tinubunomics

By Mohammed Ododo

With his Renewed Hope vision, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is mindful that improving the lives of the people in Africa’s most populous nation is the ultimate kernel of his administration. No wonder, it talks about guaranteeing “the greatest good …for the greatest number of Nigerians.” Since this is anchored on geometrically growing the economy to take on gigantic projects that will spur millions of jobs and aggressively support welfare benefits with tremendous trickle-down effects on the citizenry in what’s dubbed Tinubunomics, he’s also not oblivious that this will only come with some initial great pains. 

As a financial wizard with bias in Tax Administration, Tinubu is deftly pursuing a policy not only to generate resources from many untapped areas across the country but also to spread the tax dragnets to millions of Nigerians, particularly in the informal sectors who hardly pay any taxes. Unfortunately, the same people who either pay nothing or in-negligible taxes are the loudest in saying the government has not been working for them.  The citizenry must put their mouths in their pockets by regularly paying appropriate taxes and stirring the government on its paces.

The gaze of the Tinubu administration is a wider picture of massively expanding the Nigerian economy to provide for the welfare of the citizenry in different areas. Borrowing from his intervention in Lagos as the governor, where the state internally generated revenue ballooned from N300 million to multi-billions, thereby transforming it into one of the biggest economies in Africa, he’s unwavering in stimulating a mega Nigerian economy via many policy reforms.

Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris puts this succinctly when he says, “President Tinubu is resolutely focused on policies and actions that will attract long-term local and foreign investments to Nigeria.

This explains the focus on improving the business environment, through ease-of-doing-business initiatives, tax and fiscal policy reforms, the Central Bank’s monetary policy reforms and many more.”

Tinubu is also “focused on policies and programs that provide direct and targeted economic relief and benefits to the pockets and livelihoods of Nigerians, through grants, student loans, food and fertilizer distribution, cash transfers, health insurance, consumer credit, and the new minimum wage that is being finalized.”

In the view of Idris, the “President understands that desirable developmental outcomes often require a temporary period of pain and adjustment. He seizes every opportunity to be seen and heard asking for the understanding of the Nigerian people. In his words, “The hallmark of leadership is making difficult decisions when they need to be made.” Importantly, these difficult decisions are necessary to make things easier for us all in the future.

President Tinubu is a listening leader, who does not allow ego to get in the way of doing what is best and does not shy away from implementing adjustments in the policy-making process, where necessary. The goal is simple: to ensure that the greatest good is guaranteed for the greatest number of Nigerians.”

This explains the bold reforms being undertaken in varied sectors.

The reforms in the mining sector being driven by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, designed to flush out illegal miners and stridently regulate the sector, are aimed at ensuring that the billions of dollars previously going to the pockets of these unscrupulous persons is dutifully earned by the government. The government is not mincing words in dealing sternly with those milking the mining sector and smiling home with billions of dollars in private pockets.

There would also be a brand new mining corporation to oversee the sector. Apart from creating 150 mining cooperatives, which is yielding dividends, the mining marshals, which the administration recently launched to police the operators have already arrested many illegal miners and their sponsors. There is also a move to tighten the noose on mining companies to add value to the mining industry rather than merely exporting the minerals known as the “Pit to Port” phenomenon. The reforms are no doubt bearing fruits.

Already a lithium factory capable of producing 4000 metric tonnes of lithium per day and transporting over a million lithium per year has been commissioned in Nassarawa State. Lithium, often referred to as “white gold,” is a vital component in rechargeable batteries that power a range of devices, from smartphones to electric vehicles. The lithium mining market is primarily fueled by the expanding electric vehicles (EV) market and the increasing adoption of renewable energy solutions across the world.

Another important sector that the Tinubu administration hopes to tap huge earnings is the blue economy, which is said to be worth $1.5 trillion globally and provides over 30 million jobs and supplies a vital source of protein to over three billion people. The vision is to ensure that a significant fraction of these huge resources is earned by Nigeria. And that’s why he wants the Navy to be steadfast in securing our maritime environment.

“The wealth of Africa can never be realized unless we prioritize the protection and development of our maritime environment,” Tinubu maintained while addressing the International Maritime Conference recently held in Lagos. He also implored foreign companies based in Africa and the world to explore the opportunities and invest in the country’s blue economy charging them to “Let us work towards a maritime future that is secure, prosperous, sustainable and beneficial to all our people and the generations to come”.

As part of stimulating Economic Rebirth anchored on “Facing economic turmoil, widespread poverty, and rising unemployment,” President Tinubu implemented bold reforms to stabilise the economy. The withdrawal of the unsustainable fuel subsidy and the unification of the FOREX market were pivotal steps, redirecting funds to critical sectors like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. These measures the government insists have reduced petrol importation by 50% and boosted investor confidence, making the Nigerian Stock Exchange the top-performing bourse globally.

Apart from dolling out a whooping N75 billion to manufacturers as part of efforts to engender production in the real sector and generate thousands of jobs, the Tinubu administration has also given N75 billion to the Small Scale Enterprises (SMEs) perceived as the engine of growth in any economy. Another N100 billion has been committed to the agricultural sector to ensure food security. To assuage the living conditions of the impoverished population, a sum of N50,000 is being dispensed to one million persons as conditional grants while a monthly N25,000 cash transfer is also being dispensed to 15 million persons. The government has also kickstarted a student loan scheme to cushion the rising cost of education.

• Ododo is a Lokoja-based development economist