Devendra Kumar
Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu has been sworn in as the country’s new president, succeeding Muhammadu Buhari, at a time when the nation is grappling with unprecedented challenges. Despite being contested in court by opposition parties, Tinubu has pledged to reunite the country and deliver democratic dividends to its citizens. His manifesto prioritizes job creation, local production, and investment in agriculture and public infrastructure, as well as creating better security architecture to tackle insecurity.
However, analysts are skeptical about the new government’s ability to overcome the country’s numerous challenges, including insecurity, poverty, and public discontent. Tinubu’s plans could be threatened by a mountain of challenges in his first 100 days in office, including a fiscal crisis, deepening public discontent, and the need to address widespread poverty and hunger.
Some analysts have compared Tinubu’s promises to those made by Buhari when he first took office, but ultimately failed to meet expectations. Dr. Seun Kolade, a Nigerian development expert, noted that no Nigerian president has wasted as much goodwill as Buhari did, and that Nigeria’s development has slowed under his rule due to poor governance and endemic corruption.
Locals in Abuja identified economic hardship and insecurity as the biggest challenges they struggled with during Buhari’s eight-year rule. The country has been plagued by record unemployment, inflation, and rising debt, despite having the highest oil production in Africa. The lack of opportunities and a strong youth population that is frustrated has been a ticking time bomb, according to Dr. Kolade.
Tinubu’s emergence as president-elect has also drawn concerns about transparency, given that he comes from the ruling All Progressives Congress, which has been dogged by corruption allegations. The new government must act quickly and decisively to tackle Nigeria’s security crises, analysts said, or risk further eroding public trust.
For example, villagers in north central Plateau state’s Mangu district are contemplating self-protection after gunmen killed over 100 people in a late-night attack earlier in May. The situation is critical, and the new government must act quickly to restore public trust and address the country’s deepening security challenges.