A year and a few months after a new Nigerian government came into power, Moses*, a voter who voted for President Tinubu assesses his performance.
He talks about why he voted for the current president, how the government has affected his quality of life, and the major areas in which it has failed so far.
As told to Akintomide
Will I ever vote for Tinubu again?
Never.
Do I regret voting him in as the current president? No.
Let me start from my first contact with him: his tenure as Lagos State governor. I saw dumping grounds and water-logged areas like Bar Beach, Ozumba Mbadiwe and Ahmadu Bello turn into high-rise buildings. Out of these came businesses like Silverbird Galleria, Civic Centre and Oriental Hotel.
Long before the Lagos Atlantic Project happened, he did an ocean disembarkment project that reduced flooding.
It was a no-brainer that I thought Tinubu, the president, would put Nigeria on the same trajectory he put Lagos on.
But now, the man has lost focus. He was sworn in as president at a time the economy was at an all-time low; Nigeria was broke, with food inflation, unemployment rate, etc., were at a high. More than a year later, this man has yet to show any urgency in his governance.
To put it simply, there’s hardship in the land.
I work remotely, and try to go to the office almost every day. But since March, I’ve been in my house. It’s expensive to go out. Booking a ride is unbelievably costly. Although I can afford it, it has become unnecessary spending.
That said, I still spend more than necessary at home. I live in a one-bedroom apartment and used to spend ₦40,000 on power monthly. Now I pay double that. It’s a ridiculous price to pay for a Band B tariff.
My TV hasn’t worked in four months. When I contacted the manufacturer, I received a repair bill of ₦500,000. I bought that TV for ₦450,000 in 2020, man. If the economic situation didn’t get worse, the fees and prices wouldn’t be so damn high. I can’t spend that much to repair a TV.
I didn’t know I could kick my cravings to the curb so fast until this government happened. One bottle of VitaMilk sold between ₦800 and ₦1000; now it’s around ₦2000. I haven’t bought one since May. I loved to buy food online and eat out with friends, and ₦60k usually got two people a complete meal. These days, that’s what one person pays.
Tinubu came into power, removed the subsidy and floated the naira. Yet, he allocated ₦1.5 billion fund to purchase new cars for the office of the First Lady in the first supplementary budget he approved. Why spend money on cars when Nigerians can barely afford food to eat? Will Tinubu tell me he has no private vehicles? If he doesn’t, what about the cars the former presidents used? If those are discarded, where are his election campaign vehicles? He couldn’t use those?
Leadership goes a long way in (deciding) what citizens do. Tinubu has spent a whole year in the office and hasn’t spoken to the media once, just like he avoided the presidential debates. It’s evident that he doesn’t rate the citizens at all.
Again, I have no regrets. It’s my constitutional right to vote and be voted. But anyone who defends this incompetent government is either a paid agent or hoping to be invited to eat at the table.
Tinubu’s presidency has let the citizens down. It’s disappointing and painful because I did it for the nation, not myself.
I want the type of economic growth that won’t force me to japa. It’s not sustainable for everyone to leave. Some of us will remain in the country, and if we’re here, we will have to live in a stable economy. I thought he’d deliver this type of growth, and that’s why I voted for him.
The most important question now is: will I reinforce failure? No.
I have no faith left in Tinubu. A Nigerian government has only two years to do proper work out of a four-year tenure. After the first two years of governance, the third year is dedicated to the primary election, which leads to the fourth year, also the election year. A year has already passed since Tinubu’s government. One would know a great weekend from the vibes of Friday.
It’d be ridiculous to keep having faith in the president who spent more than two months setting up and fixing his cabinet. He also had three months post-election to prepare for the inauguration. But what did the government do during that period? Nothing.
If there’s a thing that should have been handled in the first six months in the office, it’s the minimum wage issue. The newly approved ₦70,000 minimum wage came late and it won’t work because the state government can’t afford it. Inflation is a problem, too. That money has no good value for the earners.
Also, the government should have opened the borders and allowed importation. Nigeria can’t feed itself. Farmers can’t meet the high food demand due to insecurity chasing farmers out of their lands. There’s nothing wrong with supporting local farmers and allowing people to bring food into the country.
Instead of opening the borders, providing subsidies to local farmers, and addressing insecurity to solve the issue of food security, what’s Tinubu’s government doing? They brought trucks to share rice bags across Nigeria like the country is a refugee camp. Is that the next move? What about people who don’t eat rice? What do we want to do with the rice sef? Since the government has been sharing food, how many people has it reached?
People are hungry. How can one crate of eggs be ₦5000? If you go to the market now, a few tomatoes go for at least ₦500 to ₦1000. Garri is very expensive. Can’t the president see or hear the people’s cry?
When Tinubu was campaigning, he said, “Let the poor breathe.” I’m putting it to you now, Mr. President: Let Nigerians breathe.
