It’s time for action – Pogu, Okwu, Shettima, others tell Tinubu

The Supreme Court has settled the disputes over President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, bringing an end to months of legal fireworks.

Remember that on Thursday, October 26, the Supreme Court upheld President Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election, which had been challenged by Peoples Democratic Party candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party candidate Mr. Peter Obi all the way to the highest court in the land.

Now that the Supreme Court has rendered its decision, President Tinubu can devote his full attention to running the country. It is also assumed that he will be free of interruptions, giving him no excuse not to play.

Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, their supporters, and indeed all Nigerians, have been waiting with bated breath to hear the outcome of the legal suits challenging his victory since he was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Many people who support the APC and some political analysts agree that this change has been a major factor in the government’s glacial response to the many pressing issues of poverty, inequality, and insecurity.

Many Nigerians hoped that Tinubu’s administration would be a radical departure from Muhammdu Buhari’s, which left the country more unsafe, poorer, and more deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines.

However, the promised results have not materialized. As the inflation rate rises to alarming heights and the cost of basic necessities like food rises beyond the means of the average Nigerian, the country’s economic situation worsens.

Since President Tinubu recently won his electoral case in the Supreme Court, many Nigerians are hoping he will finally begin to do something about the country’s many problems.

After starting to work on the economy through the removal of fuel subsidy and fighting over how to address the problem of Nigeria since then, the president should do everything possible to stabilize the naira, as stated by Dr. Pogu Bitrus, president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), in an interview with the media.

“I think he now needs to come forcefully and ensure that he stabilises the naira, and stop these palliatives and sharing of money.

The immediate positive impact of his announcement that “we will have at least three conversion centers in each state capital for a start to convert petrol engines to be able to use the LPG” would be felt if it were made today. If he initiates this and subsidizes the conversion (the price of the tanks and the kicks), you will see that thousands of vehicles will be converted to use the LPG in a matter of weeks.

Taking away the subsidy will have such a profound effect that people will start to believe that the man is serious. That’s one with regards to the economy,” he said.

He added that the President could issue a directive to all service chiefs regarding security, such as, “Look I am giving you one month or so, for all the bandits’ hideouts to be wiped out.” To ensure that all IDPs can return to their homes of origin by January, it is up to the bandits themselves to remain in hiding if they so choose.

“I am telling you that if he does that, you can be sure that Nigerians will begin to hail him, and say yes, this is the real president.”

Dr. Pogu said that President Buhari should go back over his actions and address the allegations of nepotism that have been made against him.

Because he is not planning on moving into the area where I live, the Yoruba man is not my enemy. He will not welcome a foreign invader from Togo or Lome to the Middle Belt.

“Our problem has always been the Fulani. We have nothing against the Fulani, but it is unacceptable that they have brought their brothers from outside the country and are using deception to take over our lands. So, our ancestral land is very significant to us, and I think that is true all over the country, not just in the Southeast, the South Central, and the South Western regions.

Let the President handle returning the IDPs to their original homes as quickly as possible after the military has cleared the area of these undesirables. The entire nation will thank him for that, I can guarantee you.

The revenue-generating sector includes many sub-sectors, such as Customs and the NNPCL. People from one part of the country have taken control of the NNPCL. You can go ahead and make a list of everyone in the company, from the Group Managing Director all the way down to the lowest-level employee, and you will find that the same people fill every single one of those positions. Have him take a look at it.

Yes, he should go there and do some serious research, but he also needs to keep a Nigerian perspective; after all, we’re losing a lot of money in that industry as it is. If he is serious, we can start fixing the damage that Buhari’s eight years in power have done.

Both the NNPCL and the Central Bank of Nigeria require his close scrutiny. Of course, with the arrest of Godwin Emefiele, I believe he must have got adequate information now to be able to guide him in terms of how to address the CBN problem, and the pilferages associated with those sections. These, I believe, will solve our economic problems, and the military and security issues will solve the rest, setting this country up for takeoff.

“We are so indebted that we don’t anticipate instant miracles. If he starts doing something, however, Nigerians will eventually conclude that God is to thank and that he is back on the right track.

We need leaders like Nyesom Wike, who God has blessed with the position of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Keep in mind that the FCT has been inactive ever since Nasir El Rufai left, and that it is Wike who is giving the impression that the area is still an FCT. Now that we have someone so energetic and the Supreme Court’s ruling in our favor, the President should back him up and let us get things done the right way, he argued.

He suggested the President give infrastructure its due importance.

Pogu is also convinced that the President must make Nigeria’s restructuring a top priority if he is serious about fixing the country’s many ills.

It is our hope that President Tinubu will have the intestinal fortitude to tackle the problem of restructuring head on. The 2014 National Conference report, which attempted to address many of Nigeria’s problems, was swept away as games were played for sectional reasons.

Let him have the nerve to fix America, he said, and he’ll be remembered as “the man who made it happen.”

Former All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman Maxi Okwu agrees that the economy is in shambles and bleeding badly, calling for immediate action.

“The economy is in such a state that if care is not taken, we will go comatose,” he warned.

He is demanding that President Tinubu take swift action to restore unity in the country.

There is disagreement in the land,” Okwu told the press. The populace is dissatisfied. When we were in the Alliance for democracy (AD) and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Tinubu used to be or was a progressive. The 2014 National Confab shouldn’t be interrupted because of him. If we don’t reorganize Nigeria, we’re going to meet our maker soon enough.

Critical and immediate action is required on the national question. People are unhappy and the country is divided. The problem must be fixed because only by reviving national pride can we begin to repair the damage done by Buhari’s administration.

The long-term projection, he argued, must be based on national cohesion and the willingness of the citizenry to work for their country in building a nation, and he suggested that the President take on the economy to at least stop the slide in the short-term.

“That has to be done by confab when we agree on how to live together, failing which we will continue to bleed as a nation,” he submitted.

Alhaji Yerima Shettima, president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), has two pressing concerns that he believes Tinubu should address right away.

“First, I have no doubt that he knows that people today are helpless on their own. Because of the extreme poverty, people no longer have any assurance that they will have food the following day. Therefore, that needs to be dealt with right away.

He can’t just talk about helping the people, he has to come up with a plan to end their suffering. That is very fundamental because without that, Nigeria cannot overcome the security challenge. I have no doubt that he is aware that people are suffering.

People have voted for him and made sacrifices in the hopes that he will lead them out of the poverty and despair they experienced under the previous administration.

Second, we are more divided now than we were in 2015, so he needs to implement policies that bring the country together. As the father of the nation, he is responsible for uniting the country’s citizens regardless of their political affiliation, race, or religion. Those are the most important questions I need him to investigate and resolve as soon as possible,” he told the press.

He also thinks President Tinubu should do something about the allegations of nepotism, which he says are evident in the high-profile appointments that have been made so far.

The ministerial appointments are not the only ones still up in the air, he said, to his delight. If he wants to dispel the notion that he is only a champion for his own ethnic group, he should do the right thing and appoint people from different backgrounds to the remaining key positions.

“He should rejig the appointments so that everybody can have a sense of belonging and he must be seen to carry every section of the country along, otherwise if he goes one way, I don’t think it is going to be a smooth ride for him.

Rather than appointing people solely on the basis of balance or federal character, he should be looking for the brightest minds to represent all parts of the country.

There are world-class thinkers in every corner of the country, and it’s important to bring them on board so that it doesn’t appear that all the smart people live in Lagos. This will unite the country’s population and propel it forward. Anything less than an improvement over the previous government would be disastrous for Nigeria; may God forbid that this should happen.

An ex-member of the Katsina State Assembly named Hon. Shehu Yusuf has said that President Tinubu must now do whatever it takes to reconcile with the opposition in order to bring about Nigeria’s progress.

He argued that this was crucial because, despite their differences in ideology, there are talented individuals among the opposition who could advise and work with the President.

“I am also appealing to the opposition that if they are approached genuinely to advise or participate in the project Nigeria, they should endeavour to give advice for the development of all.

Politics is a numbers game, and only one player can come out on top. Nigeria needs unity, economic development, peace, and stability now that the court battle is over and Tinubu’s four-year tenure is set to begin.

The opposition put up a valiant fight, but in the end, the Nigerian people spoke, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged victorious. They went through the proper legal channels, and the Supreme Court has now upheld Tinubu’s election as well. All of them have our best wishes. He told the media that all of the major political parties in Nigeria had good intentions and should work together to bring peace to the country.

Regarding the nepotism allegations against Tinubu’s administration, he suggested that the President do what he could to include all parts of the country in the national agenda.

So far, the current administration’s appointments have favored the South West at the expense of the South East.

It’s completely unbalanced, but I think the government and the opposition can get along now that the legal processes have concluded. If the Igbo are contacted, he says, they should cooperate wholeheartedly and work to resolve their differences so that Nigeria can move forward.