Opinions

Tinubu: One Month of Pragmatic Solutions, Edifying Actions

Published

2 years ago

July 1, 2023

By Tunde Rahman

It’s now one month that Asíwájú Bola Tinubu has mounted the saddle as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. One month in office may be considered too short a period of time for any objective assessment of the impact of the decisions and policy options of a government on the nation and the people, but the period can at least give an idea of where the government is headed, as they say that the morning is a pointer to what the day may look like. The one-month of the Bola Tinubu administration in office has been marked by pragmatic solutions and ideas, decisive decisions and breath-taking actions at a fast pace such that some have nicknamed the President “Baba Go-fast”.

The media has been awash with reports of all the remarkable decisions taken by the government, notably the removal of the humongous fuel subsidy through which some greedy oil merchants were cashing out at the expense of the poor the subsidy was meant to help, the unification of the multiple exchange rates where arbitrage walked on all fours and the signing into laws of landmark bills like the new electricity and Student Loans legislation.

With the new electricity law, states, companies and individuals can now generate, transmit and distribute electricity, meaning this important power has been devolved down the ladder. Under the Student Loans law, indigent students will no longer drop out of universities on account of inability to pay school fees. They will now be offered loans to pay their fees and repay the government later.
During the period also, the President granted audience to important dignitaries like former military Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, state governors (he even inaugurated the National Economic Council headed by Vice President Kashim Shettima), humanists and philanthropists like Mr. Bill Gates and Alhaji Aliko Dangote who came to discuss issues around polio and malaria eradication, among others.

On the global stage, President Tinubu has also represented the country remarkably well. In his first official trip outside the country after assuming office, he attended the New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, France, where he announced to the whole world that Nigeria is back and ready for business. His administration will ease the structures and processes of doing business and ensure investors can repatriate their profits home anytime they want to. The President sounded a note of warning to unscrupulous civil servants and business people and other wayward Nigerians that it would no longer be business as usual in Nigeria.

On the sidelines of the summit, he met with Afreximbank President B. O. Oramah and AfDB President Akinwunmi Adesina among others during which he extracted commitments from them about using facilities in their institutions to aid Nigeria’s economic development.

I have taken time to chronicle some of the giant strides recorded within just a month by the Bola Tinubu administration in order to underscore the significance of these initiatives and point out that these evidently important decisions and actions did not come about by accident or by chance. No, they were properly planned and designed. Though some were part of the promises the President made to Nigerians during the electioneering and enunciated in his manifesto christened “Agenda for a Renewed Hope for Nigerians,” I dare say that these actions were born of courage, conviction, clear vision and empathy on the part of Mr. President.

The audacious courage and clear vision behind the solutions the President has offered in just four weeks and other remarkable decisions wherein he demonstrated good leadership remain largely clearly unstated by the media and it’s the focus of this piece.

For instance, only a bold and courageous leader with eyes on the country’s progress and economic development would frontally confront and remove the subsidy monster, which had sounded the death-knell of at least one president and defied the seemingly tough posture of another. Tinubu made the removal of the subsidy a campaign promise, telling the people that if elected, he would yank it off and free the money for the development of necessary infrastructure for the people. Many political aspirants in our climes would never toy with subsidy, talk less promise it’s removal before the election for fear that it may work against them at the poll. On assumption of office on May 29, the President removed the subsidy albatross on the nation’s economic neck, which gulped a whooping N3.36 trillion in the first half of this year.

The government is now moving speedily to put in place compensatory palliatives to cushion the biting effects of the subsidy removal on the masses. Some people reckon that the President should move a step further by going after the unpatriotic oil merchants and cabals who had turned the subsidy funds into their personal ATM. It is noteworthy that despite the inevitable and undeniable hardships the inescapable imperative of fuel subsidy removal has exposed the vast majority of Nigerians to, the people have obviously decided to exercise faith in the Tinubu administration and to give it the benefit of the doubt that its policies will ultimately turn out to manifest in the greatest good for the greatest number of the people.

Indeed, appraising the policy options and initiatives of President Tinubu in just one month, @Reuters (Reuters news agency) said in a tweet during the week: “New Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has moved at lightning speed in his first one month in office implementing a raft of radical changes aimed at finally unleashing the full potentials of Africa’s sluggish economic giant.”

There are, however, other aspects where Mr. President has demonstrated good leadership. One is in the appointment of the new service chiefs. When the appointments were announced, some unashamed ethnic jingoists, uninformed analysts and commentators had gone to town, particularly on social media, saying the South-east was left with no representation, implying this might be because the Igbo largely went with their kinsman, Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party, during the election. But President Tinubu who knew he had done justice to all would not flinch. The new Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, hails from Enugu State, though some of his kinsmen now want to deny him his claim to genuine Igbo ancestry in the name of politics, claiming he is from the northernmost part of Igboland.

No less important in this regard is the appointment of the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major-General Christopher Musa, a Christian from Southern Kaduna. News of his elevation reportedly elicited keen excitement and applause especially in Christian circles which, before the presidential election, had been misled into perceiving the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket as signaling an imagined ‘Islamization’ agenda should the Tinubu/Shettima ticket emerge victorious. And the appointment of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, from the South-West, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice -Martial H.B. Abubakar, from the North-West, the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Taoreed Lagbaja, from the South-West and the Chief of Defense Intelligence, Major-General E.P.A Undiandeye, from the South-South, the long expressed grievances at the perceived lack of balance in the composition of the country’s top security hierarchy has been laid to rest. The Service Chiefs will thus surely enjoy greater pan-Nigerian trust, confidence and support to succeed in their challenging assignments.

Two, and perhaps more remarkable, is the case of the new Acting Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Caroline Wuraola Adepoju, because her case is intriguing. She had served meritoriously and waited patiently for her time to be CG to come, having enlisted in the service as Deputy Superintendent of Immigration Service in 1988. One of her immediate-past bosses, Mr. Mohammed Bandede, was to have retired in September 2020 but he was left in office till September 2021. Mr. Isah Jere Idris who took over from Mr. Bandede (though a DCG Non-Operations) was to retire in May 2022, but was given an extension of tenure twice to remain in office until May 29, 2023. When Mrs. Adepoju was eventually given a letter to become acting CG, it was a few days to her retirement and in fact the Monday, May 29, 2023 she was to assume duty was also the day she was due to retire from service. That was the day President Tinubu assumed office.

When the matter was brought to his attention in his office that day, the President placed a call to the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Folashade Yemi-Esan, urging her to investigate the case of Mrs. Adepoju. She was then granted a three-month extension. President Tinubu was apparently moved by empathy and the need to ensure a woman who had served her country excellently got a deserving icing on her career cake. It was also a service to the womenfolk and a motivation to others that all hope is not lost when you serve your country well. Needless to point out that by the President’s commendable gesture, Mrs. Adepoju thus became the first from the South-West to emerge CG in the 60-year history of Nigeria’s Immigration Service. It is significant that all appointees of President Tinubu so far including those of Service Chiefs, Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants feature men and women with impressive academic credentials and the requisite rich cognate experience while also fulfilling the President’s pledge to actively involve women and youths in his administration.

There is no doubt that President Tinubu’s mastery of the political terrain including the strategies and tactics of alliance-building and networking played a key role in the ruling party’s ability to ensure that its preferred nominees emerged as the leaders of the National Assembly. With Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Jubrin Barau, emerging as President and Deputy-President of the Senate, respectively and Honourable Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the stage has certainly been set for a harmonious working relationship between the Executive and the Legislature in the making and implementing of laws and policies for the benefit of the people.

The order given by the President right from his first day in office for men of the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately vacate the premises of the EFCC in Ikoyi, Lagos, which the former had invaded and cordoned off, was an early indication that the new administration would not tolerate the kind of inter-agency rivalry and conflicts that had been prevalent in the past. In the same vein, the suspension from office of the former Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, and the former Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, pending investigations of serious allegations against them is a clear indication that in the new dispensation, public office holders will be kept on their toes and be held accountable for their actions and inactions at all times.

During the period under consideration, the President, apart from the former Heads of State as well former and incumbent governors mentioned earlier, has also played host to frontline politicians, students union leaders, repentant militant leaders, civil society groups among others who visited him at the Presidential Villa. It has been an exceedingly busy and productive one month in office for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and Vice-President Kashim Shettima (GCON).

Rahman, former Editor of Thisday on Sunday, is a Presidential Aide

Opinions

President Tinubu and Baba Adebanjo: A ‘Ringside’ Story

Published

3 weeks ago

February 22, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Tunde Rahman

Since Afenifere leader Pa Ayo Adebanjo passed away on February 14 at 96, many have praised his significant contributions to Nigeria as a frontline nationalist, a key role player in the politics of the first and second republics, and an uncompromising devotee of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Active in the First Republic Action Group, the Second Republic Unity Party of Nigeria, and Alliance for Democracy from 1999, Baba Adebanjo fought tirelessly for democracy. He consistently advocated for true federalism and the country’s political and economic restructuring based on the 1963 Republican Constitution.

Pa Adebanjo was also a well-known activist who stood for equity, truth, and justice. He fought against all forms of injustice and oppression including military dictatorship.
In this respect, I recall his relationship with President Bola Tinubu.

When Asiwaju Tinubu, then a founding chieftain of the defunct AD, decided to run for Lagos governorship, Pa Adebanjo fully supported him, championing transparency in the process that produced him as the candidate of his party. Despite the initial opposition within the party, Baba Adebanjo and other young party members opted for open party primaries, helping Tinubu to emerge as the candidate. Tinubu went on to win the governorship election and was inaugurated on May 29, 1999.

Grateful for the support, Asiwaju maintained a strong relationship with Baba Adebanjo. Even when their political paths diverged, Tinubu held Baba in high regard. The President said this much in his incisive tribute to Pa Adebanjo, which I quote in part thus:
“In moments of national crisis, Baba’s courage shone brightest. When democracy hung in the balance after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, he joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) as one of the leading voices against military dictatorship, helping to galvanise a movement that became the bedrock of our collective struggle to reclaim democratic governance.

“His unwavering commitment to truth and justice extended to my journey as a governorship candidate in 1999. Baba Adebanjo’s steadfast support was instrumental in my election as Governor of Lagos State under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy.

“Though our political paths diverged in later years, my respect and admiration for him never wavered. Until his death, I shared a deep personal bond with Baba Adebanjo; he was like a father figure.”

Many in Tinubu’s position might have taken issue with Baba, who sometimes openly criticised him. But not Asíwájú. As an Omoluabi—a person of good character—Tinubu respects elders and institutions, giving honour where it’s due.

How do I know President Tinubu highly regarded Baba Adebanjo? As a journalist and editor, I was well-known to Baba Adebanjo. I interacted with and interviewed him on many occasions during my active years in journalism. So when I became Asiwaju’s Media Adviser, I became the envoy of sorts, the message-bearer for both. Baba Adebanjo would telephone me, saying, “Rahman, Rahman, so fun Oga e pe mo fe ri. To ba wu yin ke wa, to ba wu yin ke ma wa. Tie na la fe so fun,” meaning “Tell your Principal I would like to see him. If he likes, let him honour my invitation. It’s to his benefit if he comes.”

We visited Baba at his residence in Lekki, Lagos, several times. On other occasions, Baba called at Bourdillon, the Ikoyi residence of Asiwaju, along with his entourage.

There is, however, a hilarious and instructive story about the two, which speaks to the admiration and high regard President Tinubu had for Baba, which essentially is the focus of this article. It was during the 90th birthday of Baba Adebanjo, sometime in April 2018. I remember vividly that that particular birthday fell on a Sunday. But a birthday colloquium came up on a Thursday, three days before the actual birthday. We had lodged in our dairy for Asiwaju, the birthday lecture, as well as other activities and events lined up to celebrate the distinguished elder statesman. While focusing on the birthday date, I forgot the preceding Thursday event at Landmark Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Luckily for me, around 9am that Thursday, the traditional ruler of Oke-Ila in Osun State, Oba Dokun Abolarin, telephoned me, saying he was in Lagos and asking if Asiwaju was coming for the birthday lecture. Knowing I had failed to alert Asiwaju about the lecture the previous night, I smelled trouble.

I immediately raced to Bourdillion in Ikoyi. When I went upstairs to see Asiwaju, he was reading newspapers, oblivious of any early morning engagement that day, particularly that of Baba Adebanjo. I informed him about the event and apologised that I had my mind set on the birthday date on Sunday. The lecture was slated for 10 am, and time was already 10 am. Asiwaju, livid, sprung to his feet. By this time, my colleague Ademola Oshodi had joined me in Asiwaju’s room. Without any prompting, we prostrated and apologised again.

Those close to President Tinubu know he is a very proficient politician in Yoruba as he is in English, complete with street lingo. Still seething in anger, Asiwaju said in Yoruba, “Hen hen, idobale yin yen ni emi ma te’ bati. Ma de ibi lecture, won a ma so pe mo moo mo pe de ni ki nba le da ijoko won ru,” meaning, “So it’s this your prostrating that will now count. I will get to the event now, and they will allege that I deliberately came late so I can cause a stir and disrupt the lecture.”

Somehow, Asiwaju quickly prepared to attend despite our tight schedule as we were meant to travel to Abuja that same day. We got to the occasion around noon after the program had been on for about two hours. One important personality I could not readily remember was on the podium.
Though we arrived late, Tinubu’s presence stirred excitement, and he delivered a heartfelt speech.

As President Tinubu predicted, his arrival caused a big stir and a temporary halt in the programme. As we made to leave, another commotion that did not subside even after our departure ensued. I suspect Asíwájú’s departure might have signaled the virtual end of the program.

That was not the end of the story, though. A couple of days later, I heard Uncle Jimi Disu, a known Asiwaju critic, on his regular programme then on Classic FM, talking about Baba Adebanjo’s birthday lecture, alleging that Asíwájú ‘sauntered’ into the programme uninvited and disrupted the birthday lecture of the nonagenarian. I could not believe my ears. I went on that program afterward to debunk what he said. I narrated what happened, that Asiwaju had tremendous respect for Baba and that he would have avoided the kind of situation that played out if I had briefed him of the timing of the programme.

This incident underscores the critical role of aides in supporting leaders to function effectively. Aides must guide them accurately, as their actions and inactions can significantly impact leadership outcomes. An oversight on my part unintentionally fueled what would have resulted in animus between Baba Adebanjo and Tinubu.

-Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media, Publicity and Special Duties.

Opinions

Between Japan’s Kaizen philosophy and Nigeria’s National Values Charter

Published

1 month ago

January 31, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Two days after DeepSeek took the world by surprise, a Financial Times report warned that the West should be worried by how China appears to be leading the Artificial Intelligence race.

Financial Times says the emergence of DeepSeek from the shadows, catching the West unawares, is a strong indication that China has mastered the art of ‘Kaizen’.

I recall that my first encounter with Kaizen, the philosophy that underpins the rise of Japan as the Asian economic powerhouse, is about 10 years now.

Societies like China, Japan, and South Korea that anchor their development models on their culture and value systems continue to break new grounds and are far ahead in innovation and human advancement.

At the heart of Japan’s success, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors, is the work ethics that are firmly rooted in the Kaizen philosophy. ‘Kaizen’ is a Japanese word that means continuous improvement or change for the better. The quest for excellence and attention to detail have been weaved into the social and moral fabrics of Japanese society as a matter of obligation.

It is this philosophy and social imperative that the Japanese take into product designs and execution. It is, therefore, not surprising that the world sees continuous improvement in every new edition of Japanese products like Toyota automobiles.

The concept of Kaizen became popular in the United States by the 1980s when it was discovered that the performance of Japanese companies was much better than their American counterparts. It became apparent that the difference between Japanese and American companies in terms of effectiveness and operational efficiency was the application of the Kaizen principle.

Kaizen philosophy is similar to the Yoruba Omoluabi ethos. Every major ethnic group and subculture in Nigeria and Africa has its own equivalent of such value systems.

We can only imagine our pace of development and progress as a country if we develop a national value system around the virtues of excellence, honour, and integrity. This means our workmen and women will pursue excellence as second nature in everything. Politicians will embrace public service as a matter of honour, and citizens will accept integrity as an article of faith in undertakings.

Our society is hemorrhaging as a result of value degradation. It is heartbreaking how badly we have drifted because we neglected our cultural values and practices that served as the guiding principles of society.

It is the responsibility of leaders at all levels to direct society to embrace enduring values that edify and promote human development. I believe we can still recover lost grounds. This is why the efforts being made by the Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu-led National Orientation Agency to re-ignite a new wave of consciousness through the National Values Charter should be appreciated and promoted. The values charter has already been approved by the Federal Executive Council. President Bola Tinubu is leading this renewed effort to push value re-orientation to the forefront of public policy and national development agenda.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity

Opinions

Tinubu’s quest to overcome the power sector gridlock

Published

2 months ago

January 20, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Angered by the appalling situation of Nigeria’s electricity supply sector over several decades of doing the wrong things by successive governments with no remedy in sight, even after hundreds of billions of public funds had been expended, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 chose a different path that had worked in other jurisdictions.

He reached out to the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help solve the protracted power gridlock in Nigeria. The discussion between the two leaders gave birth to the FG-Siemens Energy AG Presidential Power Initiative in 2019. Under the terms of the agreement of the Nigerian Electrification Roadmap, Siemens Energy would ramp up electricity generation in Nigeria to 25,000 megawatt in six years, in three phases, from an average of 4000 megawatts the country had been stuck with for decades.

President Buhari was quite bullish about the project such that he put it under the direct supervision of his office with his Chief of Staff, late Abba Kyari, as the directing officer. The former president who didn’t want the project to be derailed by bureaucratic bottlenecks and red-tape made sure all man-made obstacles and deliberate obstructions were bulldozed with Abba Kyari in charge.

The unfortunate demise of Kyari in 2020 arising from Covid-19 while in Germany to get the power project underway rolled back the speedy implementation of what would have been a game-changer in Nigeria’s elusive quest for a stable and reliable power supply. Nigeria’s economy had been blighted by years of poor electricity supply. From available records, Federal Government has spent over $30 billion dollars to revamp the sector in the last three decades without any substantial progress. The economy is run on generators with Nigerians spending a staggering $10billion dollars (N7.6 trillion) annually on petrol and diesel to run their generators including the cost of maintenance, according to a 2024 report, “Beyond Gensets: Advancing the energy transition in Lagos State” published by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

True to his campaign promise to build on the achievements of his predecessor across all sectors and improve on governance performance in areas where it is required, President Tinubu, in demonstration of his unshaken believe in continuity of governance, took on the FG-Siemens Power Project as part of his priority projects in the energy sector.

It is necessary to state that this all-important power project had suffered undue delays since July, 29, 2020 when the Federal Executive Council approved the payment of €15.21m and N1.708bn as part of Nigeria’s counterpart funding for the offshore and onshore components of the project.

Managing Director, Siemens Energy Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, was quoted as saying then that, “Siemens Energy is committed to working with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the FGNPowerCo to see a successful implementation of the presidential power initiative. We have successfully carried out a similar project in Egypt.

“This project will transform the energy landscape of the country, and we are grateful the government has entrusted us with this notable initiative. We are capable, and we will deliver excellent results.”

In 2021, FGN Power Company, the Special Purpose Vehicle established by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the implementation of the PPI, announced the commencement of the grid network studies and power simulation training for technical experts in the Discos, TCN, NAPTIN and NERC, including provision of specialized power simulation softwares for TCN, NERC and all Discos. By December 2024, more than 100 experts across the sector have been trained on power systems simulation and network planning with skills to better manage the grid operations at various levels.
In the same year 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the contract for the supply of 10 mobile substations and 10 power transformers by Siemens Energy for quick reinforcement of the grid as part of the pilot Phase of the project. Reports by FGN Power Company indicate that all the equipment have since been supplied and installed across the country.

However, the overall pace of the project delivery in terms of meeting timelines has not been impressive.

On assumption of office, President Tinubu saw the need to continue with the project and how timely delivery can transform the power sector for a country that desperately needs a reliable power supply for industrialisation and grow its economy. The status of the project came up at a bilateral meeting between President Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the latter’s working visit to Nigeria in August 2024 in Abuja. At a follow-up engagement in Dubai in December 2024 during COP28, the Nigerian Government and Siemens Energy AG signed an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve electricity supply in Nigeria. The agreement that was signed by Kenny Anuwe, Managing Director/CEO of FGN Power Company and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, was witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.

Under the accelerated performance agreement, Siemens Energy will see to the end-to-end modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid with the full supply, delivery, and installation of Siemens-manufactured equipment.

Furthermore, the agreement will ensure project sustainability and maintenance with full technology transfer and training for Nigerian engineers at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

In a major demonstration of President Tinubu’s commitment to the power project and a positive shift towards execution, the President led the Federal Executive Council on December 16, 2024 to approve €161.3 million Euros for the execution of the contracts in the first batch of the Phase one of the projects across the country following earlier approval of the transaction by the Bureau of Public Procurement.

Addressing journalists after the FEC approval, an enthusiastic Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, with the renewed vigour to deliver on the project said, “at the Federal Executive Council meeting, there were basically two approvals for the Federal Ministry of Power, as I presented. The first was actually an approval for the award of contract for engineering, procurement, construction and financing for the implementation of the 331 32 KV And 132 33 KV substations upgrade under Phase One of the Presidential Initiative, popularly known as the Siemens project consequent upon completion of the pilot phase of this project.

“So, the Federal Executive Council considered it necessary for us to move forward as promised by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at a meeting he held with the President of the Republic of Germany.”

The latest FEC approved scope of work includes upgrade of TCN substations in five locations of Abeokuta (330/132/33kV), Ayede (330/132/33kV), Offa (132/33kV), Onitsha (330/132/33kV) and Sokoto (132/33kV). These substations were carefully selected as Batch 1 of the brownfield scope of the Phase 1 projects to increase the wheeling capacity of the transmission network grid.

In the same vein, FGN Power Company will implement assets upgrade and enhancement in the distribution networks, in collaboration with the Distribution Companies (Discos) to ensure last-mile delivery of the evacuated power to industrial customers and residential consumers. These locations are load centres that are currently underserved and require swift enhancements. The execution of the project will be fast tracked and completed under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

It’s important to state that the FGN Power Company has started working on other priority brownfield and Greenfield projects in target load centres across the country. Special attention is also being paid to the execution of systems and products to enhance grid resilience and stability to reduce the frequent occurrences of grid disturbances.

In December 2024, Minister of Power Adelabu commissioned the mobile substation in Saapade, a suburb of Shagamu in Ogun State. This has enhanced power evacuation and delivery to industrial customers within the Shagamu hub. Similarly, another mobile substation was commissioned at the Ajibode area of the University of Ibadan to enhance power delivery to the university community and adjoining areas. Before then, mobile substations and power transformers have been commissioned and energized in Ajah Lagos, Mando Kano, Jebba Kwara State, Okene Kogi, Amukpe Delta, Potiskum Yobe, Apo Abuja and Ihovbor Edo.

While the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative is going on, President Tinubu has equally inaugurated the Presidential Metering Initiative, which aims to increase the rate of smart metering of all customers in a commercially sustainable manner. The roll out of the metering solutions has started. It is expected that the combined impact of assets upgrade through Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and metering through the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), coupled with efforts of subnational electricity markets will bring lasting solutions to the challenges of electricity supply in Nigeria.

With President Tinubu’s committed leadership, the parlous state of the power sector will be reversed, and Nigerians and the economy will experience a new lease of life with reliable electricity supply that will geometrically increase productive activities. Indeed, the president’s strategic approach to resolving the multifaceted challenges in the power sector is yielding visible results. The restructuring of the tariff regime, intervention in the commercial imbroglio on gas supply, additional investments in infrastructure through PPI, enactment of the new Electricity Act which provides legal framework for further decentralisation of the sector and devolution of more responsibilities to the subnational governments, are all part of the renewed hope agenda for the power sector to bring sustainable solutions.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity