ASO ROCK WATCH: As Tinubu mulls unpopular path for Nigeria’s progress. Two other talking points

President Bola Tinubu, in the past week, vowed to lift Nigerians out of poverty, even if it requires that he has to take decisions that would make him unpopular.

This, and two other stories from the presidency were also reviewed for your reading delight.

1. Walking the unpopular path

On September 21, Tinubu expressed his readiness to become an unpopular President in order to create a better economic condition for Nigerians.

Tinubu stated this while meeting with the United Nations (UN), Secretary-General, António Guterres, in his office at the UN headquarters in New York, United States.

“We have arisen out of poverty as individuals, but until our people have arisen out of that, we will not rest, even if it requires decisions at home that make me temporarily unpopular,” the President said, among others.

Tinubu’s statement deepens conversation around Nigeria’s high poverty rate, and the inability of past administrations to fulfil recycled promises of lifting Nigerians out of poverty.

Hence, his words mark an acknowledgement of the rapidly growing economic hardship in the country, and the urgent need to address it.

The President’s resolve presents him as one who is under intense pressure to manage the worsening economic burden on Nigerians, a misfortune many have attributed to his poor reading of the economic scenarios shaped largely by the hasty removal of fuel subsidy and the coming of a unified exchange rate.

All these made worse by the absence of well-thought-out plans to cushion the harsh economic realities that would trail the moves.

Two other talking points

2. Maintaining harmonious relationship with legislature

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on September 22, promised to ensure that the friendly relationship between the executive, and the legislature was maintained.

“We cannot, therefore, afford to go to war. Not because we are going to overlook each other’s transgressions, but because you are going to engage with those who know the gravity of your work and would never take you for granted,” Shettima said at a retreat for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly in Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.

READ ALSO:ASO ROCK WATCH: Tinubu’s stance on underperforming ministers. Two other talking points

The Vice President’s statement throws light on the possible benefits derivable when the executive, and the legislature are not always at loggerheads, but work together to ensure the smooth running of democracy in the country.

His stand strengthens the perception that he and his principal, Tinubu, had exerted so much influence in ensuring that their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), installed a National Assembly leadership that would be loyal.

It remains within the confines of time to imagine if there would be future frictions and to decipher how such would be managed for the benefit of Nigerians.

3. That recent Zamfara kidnapping

On September 24, Tinubu decried the kidnap of 24 students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, and some residents of the school’s host community, Sabon Gida, including the employees of a construction company by terrorists, and directed security agencies to ensure their release.

A joint security team led by the Commander of 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Sani Ahmed, had seen to the rescue of no fewer than 13 students, and three construction company workers.

The kidnap event attests to the poor progress made in securing lives and property in the country, and reinforces the call for Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to rejig Nigeria’s security architecture for the better.

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