Key Achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s One Year in Office
By Temitope Mustapha
One year ago on May 29th, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
President Tinubu assumed office after his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the February 25, 2023 presidential election, defeating candidates of two major opposition parties, Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP.
President Tinubu’s campaign vision was hinged on a harmonious and inclusive society, where every Nigerian would have equal opportunities to thrive, promote a culture of understanding and empathy as well as ensure that every citizen is treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their background or identity.
Top on President Tinubu’s priority list of action plans are national security, economy, agriculture and food security, unlocking energy and natural resources, enhancing infrastructure and transportation, prioritizing education and health as well as women and youth development.
Leading a country that is the most populous black nation on earth and whose population is projected to hit about 400 million in 2050, President Tinubu, on assumption of office, was confronted with two major challenges insecurity and economic instability.
To reset Nigeria’s economy and create a new pathway to growth, President Tinubu removed subsidies on premium motor spirit, also known as petrol, a longstanding policy that fostered corruption and inefficiency in past governments. The subsidy regime also imposed significant fiscal strain on the government for many years. By the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol, the president moved to stimulate private sector investments in the downstream sector of the oil industry.
President Tinubu also took a deliberate step towards rebuilding the credibility and capacity of Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. In a major policy shift directed at the unification of the Nigerian foreign exchange market, the CBN floated the Nigerian currency, the naira. The policy was geared towards creating a balance in the official exchange rate, the investor’s and exporters’ window rate as well the parallel market rate.
President Tinubu has intensified efforts to ensure peace and stability across the country by identifying insecurity as a major challenge to governance. Some of the strategies in this regard include the enactment of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, which established the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the Zero Ransom Policy and prioritizing of safe return of victims of kidnapping.
With rising food inflation, shortage of food and concerns about the viability of the agriculture and food value chain, the administration of President Tinubu also adopted urgent action to ensure the well-being of Nigerian citizens through the distribution of 42,000 metric tons nationwide and accelerated agricultural mechanization to improve production and empowerment of young farmers in Nigeria.
In the past year of his administration, President Tinubu signed the 2023 Electricity Bill into law to decentralize electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in Nigeria. President Tinubu also signed the Nigeria Data Protection Law in 2023, establishing a legal framework for safeguarding personal information and promoting data protection practices in Nigeria.
The Nigerian government also demonstrated political will and prioritized the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s seaports and the implementation of policies and programmes that delivered direct and targeted economic relief to Nigerians. Through such initiatives as grants and cash transfers, President Tinubu approved N50 billion as nano-grants of N50,000 each to 1, 300 small businesses in all the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
The president also approved the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund to bridge Nigeria’s funding gap of $25bn per year in infrastructure. The fund will focus on road, rail, agriculture, ports, and aviation.
On social investment, President Tinubu repositioned the National Social Investment Programme NSIP, to ensure it delivers maximum value to the intended beneficiaries by eliminating middlemen in the process. He approved the takeoff of the first phase of the Consumer Credit Scheme that will enable Nigerians access goods and services upfront and pay over time. This is to facilitate crucial purchases, such as homes, vehicles, education, and healthcare essentials to pursue life aspirations.
This vision of targeted economic relief also led to the enactment of the Student Loans Access to Higher Education law this year. This is in keeping with President Tinubu’s declaration that no Nigerian student, regardless of his background, will be excluded from obtaining quality education.
Targeting increased gas production to ensure the supply of about 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, the Tinubu administration resuscitated three out of the seven gas processing plants across the country to improve value from the nation’s gas assets while eliminating gas flaring. This policy will provide gas to the market by the middle of this year for electricity generation and industrial needs.
The Tinubu administration’s Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative offered more affordable alternatives to petrol and diesel for transporters and commuters to ease the burden of the increase in petrol cost after the removal of subsidies.
In the health sector, President Tinubu directed the redesigning of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund as the foundational basis for sector-wide reforms that attracted the infusion of $2.5 billion into the financing of the National primary health care system in the country.
These various interventions by President Tinubu in their first year in office created an emerging consensus among Nigerians that President Tinubu has a clear intention on the path he is taking Nigeria.
As he marks the first anniversary of his administration, President Tinubu has shown commitment to reinforcing these reforms, steering Nigeria towards prosperity, as well as enhancing public finances, managing expenditure, and improving tax administration for the good of Nigerians.
It’s expected that in the years ahead, Nigerians and foreign partners will support these initiatives toward achieving the desired goals for the realization of the renewed hope agenda implementation for the accelerated development of Nigeria.