Last weekend, the Nigerian electorate, in their thousands, trooped out to cast their ballots in the 2023 general elections. This was the seventh cycle of general elections held in the country since 1999.
It was a general election that was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission to get a replacement for President Muhammadu Buhari, whose tenure as Nigeria’s leader will elapse by May 29, 2023.
Buhari’s successor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was declared as the winner of last Saturday’s poll, already knows that his plate is full. The task of salvaging The Giant of Africa now rests squarely on his shoulder.
Never in the history of our dear nation have insecurity, dire economic strait, youth unemployment, poverty, and corruption, among other societal ills and developmental challenges, become so menacing.
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Hence, citizens will be expecting that Jagaban, as Tinubu is fondly called by his political associates and teeming admirers, hit the ground running immediately after taking the oath of allegiance on May 29.
The Nigerian masses will not wish that the president-elect waste time assembling a visionary cabinet after assuming office in two months’ time.
There is a need for Tinubu to start thinking of how to tame terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and oil thieves, among other criminal elements, who are holding the country to ransom.
It is time residents of the North East and West, together with school children and farmers stop sleeping with just one of their eyes closed. There should be justification for our farmers not to engage in their agricultural activities, and students fleeing their classrooms because of terror merchants.
One fervent wish of many Nigerians is that poverty should no longer be their companion. Already, over 130 million citizens are multi-dimensionally poor, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
As Mr President from May this year, Tinubu will do well to put in place necessary mechanisms that will improve the masses’ living standards, which in the long run will greatly reduce the poverty rate in the country.
About two weeks ago, Tinubu, before the election which he just won, accused the federal government of plotting to scuttle his presidential bid. Hence, it rolled out the naira swap policy on the eve of the general elections.
Now that he has fulfilled his life-long ambition of becoming Nigeria’s leader, he and his team must find a way to review the naira redesign policy, that is, if he decides not to abrogate it – in order to cushion the pain the Nigerian populace is facing as a result of naira crunch.
As a young northern lady, the almajiri syndrome and The Girl Child are two issues that trouble my mind, regularly. Hence, I wish to call on Tinubu to prioritise the aforementioned issues.
It is time the beautiful streets in our northern states are free of young almajiri children and girls hawking to eke out a livelihood, at the expense of attending schools.
Talking about the education sector itself, Tinubu will be deluding himself to say that all is well with the sector.
Therefore, Nigerians expect that his presidency will usher in an era where ASUU strikes will become anathema, and where the lost glories of most Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions are restored.
Henceforth, Nigerian lecturers and teachers should not wait to die before receiving their rewards in heaven. The rewards and every necessary entitlement accruing them should be given to them here, in this world.
Globally, Nigerian youths are considered to be creative, brilliant and talented. But it seems as if successive leaders in the country care less about harnessing the potential of the youth.
Tinubu should be thinking about changing that ugly narrative. Aside from hoping that he will unveil beneficial socio-economic programmes that will empower our youths, Tinubu’s incoming administration should assiduously work towards addressing, permanently, the menace of youth unemployment.
At a time when the country is bleeding from ethno-religious polarisation, Tinubu should be magnanimous in victory. Though he has extended an olive branch to his fellow contestants, the task of uniting every segment of a fractured Nigeria remains arduous.
But it is not an impossible mission. All that he needs to achieve that, and many other grand plans he has for our dear country, is a firm sincerity of purpose, patriotism and political will.
We earnestly hope his administration will usher in a dawn of national prosperity, growth and accelerated development for Nigeria and its enterprising citizens.
Khadijah Ahmad Ado is a student of Skyline University Kano, Nigeria, [email protected]
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