War on hunger/insecurity: Tinubu says to governors ‘Come, let’s reason together’ By Bolaji Ogundele
The last few weeks have been especially remarkable for both the Nigerian state and the man at the head of the state. This last one was especially so. We all remember how this very curious ‘food crisis’ saga almost tumbled overboard in some cases, sparking pockets of protests in a couple of states. That very suspicious reaction was particularly embarrassing for members of his administration, but even much more for President Bola Tinubu.
The hardship, occasioned by the removal of a petrol subsidy, which has run for more than forty years, and an attempt at restructuring the foreign exchange system, which has favoured rent-seeking for ages, and which is supposedly responsible for the protests, is easily a stain on an enviable record, like the one Asiwaju advanced his premise for contesting the Presidency on. But then, like they say, no good thing comes easy: every child is born through blood and pains, just as the fine gold was burnished by some high degree furnace to become wearable.
As I pointed out last week, from a claim made by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), these protests, justified as they might seem, have not really been spontaneous. As a matter of fact, the idea that devious elements in the position have hijacked the situation and decided to weaponize it to blackmail the administration, something that has become coined as the ‘Jonathan Treatment’, is already becoming public knowledge, tilting towards exposing the intents and schemes of those who never minded subjecting the people to horror in their bid to play morbid politics. From intelligence, this orchestra of doom do not just sponsor protests, they also sponsor hoarders of essentials as well as muscle men for dark and dirty businesses.
Despite the heat being bellowed on the system, President Tinubu and his team will not be daunted. As a matter of fact, Baba has taken steps targeted at easing the pains the people feel. He continued with that task in the just concluded week. Since the vicissitudes of fortunes for Nigerians have been primarily two-pronged (economic and security), the President has been deploying appropriate action plans, just as he has been engaging various stakeholders on parts that everyone has to take.
On Thursday, he held an elaborate meeting with the governors of the thirty-six states and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the Villa on the situation. That was the second time he was convening such a meeting since he became President, the first time being in July 2023, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC), under his administration. Thursday’s all-important meeting with, which had to come before he would depart for the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was devoted to the issues at hand.
Primarily, it was an environment for him to get the buy-in of the governors, who were led to the meeting by the Chairman of their Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, into the various steps that will be required to achieve peace, security and comfort for the people. It was also an opportunity for him to urge them to key-in to the welfarist ideology he is well known for and before the end of the meeting it seemed he was able to achieve success. At the end of the meeting, there were agreements on steps on make food available across the country, including going after hoarders and those whose interests only border on collapsing production and reverting the system back to importation. Everything needed to banish the ‘ebi n pa’wa’ chorus.
Kidnapping and some other forms of criminality recently rose to a very embarrassing crescendo that it almost seemed like the various reports and incidences were actually some rehearsed drama performances. Some of the most annoying of such occasions happened in Ekiti a couple of weeks back, when some criminals kidnapped school children, their teachers and the driver of their school bus. On the same day, in another part of the state, another set of criminals waylaid traditional rulers who were coming from a meeting, killing two of them in the process.
The Thursday meeting proffered solutions to these kinds of horrendous security dramas. At least, the President and the governors managed to agree on the need to adopt a more organic security architecture, which takes the structure of each community into consideration, systems like community policing and giving better equipment to forest rangers. At the end of the day, committees were agreed upon to give finer looks at agreements. In fact, he rounded off urging that agreements be speedily considered and appropriate steps taken, in the interest of Nigerians, who are going through these harrowing experiences and who are almost turning into puns in the hands of devious politicians.
“My position at this meeting is that we must move aggressively and establish a committee to look critically at the issues raised, including the possibility of establishing state police.
“From Kano, we have read reports about large-scale hoarding of food in some warehouses. The National Security Adviser (NSA), the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services should coordinate very closely and ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow up action. We must ensure that speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers are not allowed to sabotage our efforts in ensuring the wide availability of food to all Nigerians.
“What I will not do is to set a price control board. I will not also approve the importation of food. We should be able to get ourselves out of the situation we found ourselves in, because importation will allow rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense. We would rather support farmers with the schemes that will make them go to the farm and grow more food for everyone in the country.
“We must also look at the rapid, but thoughtful implementation of our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others”, the President stated.
Meanwhile, the President had earlier in the week given a hint on his plan for the growth of the agriculture sector. He told the leadership of Global Tijaniyya Movement, led by Khalifa Muhammad Mahe Niass, who visited the State House after their annual Maulud in Abuja Sunday evening. The President said his administration’s agricultural plan is focused on expanding food production, through aggressive mechanized farming and make Nigeria a net food exporting country, outlining plans to bolster agricultural productive through various initiatives, including the expansion of farmlands, the provision of low-interest loans to farmers, and significant investments in irrigation infrastructure.
It was not all about dealing with the unpleasant parts, the week also saw Jagaban expressing Nigeria’s appreciation to our national football team, the Super Eagle. At a very elaborate ceremony on Tuesday, planned for ‘our boys’, who went through the 2023 CAF African Cup of Nation’s (AfCON) tournament in Cote d’Ivoire and were only short of winning the gold, President Tinubu delivered a massive message of appreciation to the heroic Eagles, letting them know that their compatriots appreciated their efforts and the fact that they could clinch the second best spot.
As part of the thank you message, Baba conferred the national honour of the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) on all team members, even the non-Nigerians among them, like their Coach, Jose Peseiro, who lamented not achieving his dream of delivering the AfCON Cup to Nigerians. There were other goodies like the promises of houses and lands from the federal government to the Eagles.
The most significant part of the hosting for the Eagles was actually not the gifts and conferment of national honour, but the unvoiced messages to the various categories of citizens and to us all, collectively, as Nigerians. One, no effort put into making the nation great will go unnoticed under Tinubu’s watch. Two, every young Nigerian has the room to express himself and show what he can do, in whichever field, to be a star and be celebrated, both home and abroad.
“You started the tournament as if Nigeria would not assert itself, but you progressed to the finals. Through all the challenges and dealing with great humidity in the host country, you left your clubs and honoured your country. You gave us great excitement. You were determined. We salute your resilience. You lifted our spirits, and you made us proud. You made us smile as Nigerians”, was how he encouraged us to make sacrifice to the fatherland.
He had other engagements during the week also worth noting. For instance, on Wednesday, he received the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at the Villa. While NANS, led by its President, Lucky Emonefe, thanked him for his sharpened focus on making education easily accessible, he assured them that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) will start in about two weeks.
Then on Thursday he appointed new management leaderships for agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. On Friday, he approved immediate upgrade for sixteen healthcare facilities across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Remember he left for AU Summit in Addis Ababa on Thursday. Well on Friday, his appointment as the AU’s Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership, in recognition of his outstanding investments into the health sector in the country. At least, there is something to clink glasses on. Congratulations to the Jagaban Borgu.
