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Nigerians look forward to May 29th when the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be inaugurated to bring hope to more than 133 million people, most of whom live in extreme poverty.
There are already high expectations that the incoming president must strive to meet in the areas such as the economy, education, health, security, infrastructure and employment creation for the country’s teeming youth population.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate is projected by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to reach 40.6 per cent this year, from 37.7 per cent in 2022.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1, pronounced Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the controversial February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu reportedly got a total of 8,794,726 votes cast, the most of the 17 candidates who took part in the election.
Before the election, Tinubu made a number of promises in his official manifesto dubbed “Hope Renewed”, where he unveiled his plans for the country in nine priority areas, including national security, economy, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, transportation and education.
The President-elect has promised a Nigeria where there would be enough jobs with decent wages, especially for young people and a better life for all.
He promised to “produce, create and invent” more of the goods and services required in the country so that Nigeria can move from being a consumer to a producer.
According to the manifesto, Tinubu plans to upgrade and expand public infrastructure so that the rest of the economy can thrive, as well as encourage and empower youths and women to leverage emerging sectors such as digital economy, entertainment and tourism.
“We seek a Nigeria where no parent is forced to send a hungry child to bed wondering if there will be food tomorrow,” the manifesto read in part.
Tinubu has also expressed commitment to generating, transmitting and distributing enough affordable electricity to provide Nigerians with the energy they need to light up their lives, their homes and their dreams, and to provide healthcare, education and make basic housing accessible and affordable for all citizens.
Despite the controversies surrounding the election which has resulted in court cases, some prominent politicians, even of the opposition, have thrown their weights behind the President-elect and have encouraged others to do same.
For example, the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesome Wike, expressed optimism that the President-elect will live up to the expectations of the Nigerian people and appealed to citizens to lend their support to ensure the success of the Tinubu-led government.
“The election is over and a victor has been declared, so all Nigerians must unite and give him (Tinubu) the support he needs,” Wike said.
Similarly, the Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde, also pledged his support for the Tinubu government.
On the other hand, criticisms have begun to trail Tinubu’s leadership style which a section of the country say is not inclusive, judging by the appointment of a 16-man Presidential Transition Council.
Leading Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, have pointed out that the absence of an Igbo person on the team and accused the President-elect of being a “tribalist”.
Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Damian Okeke-Ogene, said: “Igbophobia is in his (Tinubu) veins and by not including Igbo people in the handover committee, he is only trying to reopen old wounds.
“He inherited the hatred (Muhammadu) Buhari has against Igbo, especially when the President-elect has said he will continue from where the incumbent president stopped,” Okeke-Ogene was quoted as saying.
He stressed that Ohanaeze had not accepted Tinubu’s emergence as the president-elect “because any house built on a faulty foundation is bound to collapse. We believe that the process of the 2023 presidential election is still on”.
However, the Executive Director of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, slammed Abubakar for presenting himself as a friend of the Igbo people, saying that the PDP presidential candidate had done the PDP’s Igbo members a disservice by deciding to wrest the presidential candidacy from the party, contrary to his party’s rotation rule.
“I make bold to state that the former vice president had long lost the moral high ground to parade himself or even pontificate as a friend of Ndigbo. It’s sheer hypocrisy which cannot wipe out the injury inflicted on Igbo members of the PDP by our dear brother-in-law,” Okechukwu said.