Despite economic hardship and hunger induced by the petrol price hike, Dele Alake, spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu, says Mr Tinubu has given Nigerians a new lease of life in just two weeks in office.
Asked to assess the performance of the new Nigerian leader in the past two weeks in an NTA (a state-owned TV station) interview Thursday night, Mr Alake said, “It’s been exhilarating. It’s been very exciting. It’s been refreshingly different for Nigerians. In fact, President Tinubu has broken all myths in this country. This man, President Tinubu, has demonstrated that public trust and confidence can be won.”
The presidential spokesman added, “This afternoon, when we were reviewing policies — that’s what we do; that’s what he (Tinubu) does; he monitors very effectively and efficiently — we concluded that the title of his action plan, ‘Renewed Hope’, has actually come to reality because Nigerian have been given a new lease of life.”
Mr Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023, announcing the immediate removal of the fuel subsidy, which saw the petrol pump price skyrocket to N540 from N195. The president did not mention plans to cushion his decision’s adverse effects on the Nigerian masses.
Thursday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 22.41 per cent amid an increase in food prices. The bureau noted that within a year, the rate had accrued a difference of 4.70 per cent from May 2022, where the inflation was 17.71 per cent, until May 2023.
Items like food and non-alcoholic beverages (11.61 per cent), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel (3.75 per cent), clothing and footwear (1.71 per cent), transport (1.46 per cent), among others, contributed largely on the divisional level to the increase in the headline.
Also, the report on the food inflation rate showed that the food inflation rate quickened from 24.61 per cent in April to 24.82 per cent in May and, on a year-on-year basis, was 5.33 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in May 2022 (19.50 per cent).
Wanton violence and killings have not subsided since Mr Tinubu assumed power. At least 80 innocent Nigerians were reportedly killed in Mr Tinubu’s first week in office, forcing Amnesty International to issue a statement urging the Nigerian leader to be alive to its responsibility of securing lives and property.
The ruling APC disagreed with Amnesty’s comment on spiralling widespread fatal violence in Africa’s most populous nation, accusing the organisation of hypocrisy, pointing out that more deadly violence has been happening in the U.S. under President Joe Biden in the last five months.
OsunDaily confirmed 19,411 deaths due to gun violence in the United States as of Thursday noon. Out of that figure, over 10,956 of the deaths were by suicide. Eight thousand four hundred fifty-five were recorded as homicide, murder, unintentional and defensive gun use.
Amidst the economic conundrum Nigerians face, Mr Tinubu ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to float the naira (resulting in the national currency’s value heading further south at the official forex market), allowing banks to determine exchange rates to the dollar and other foreign currencies. Amid this, he suspended CBN governor Godwin Emefiele and EFCC chair Abdulrahseed Bawa and ordered investigations into their respective tenures.
Mr Tinubu also signed a student loan law with stringent conditions, allowing eligible students in higher institutions access loans for their education.
