Comrade Razaq Olokoba, rights activist, Chartered Public Administrator (CPA), and member, Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM), has critically examined the situation in the country aftermath of the withdrawal of the petroleum subsidy by President Bola Tinubu and pleaded for patience and understanding, assuring Nigerians that things would beging to take better shape very soon.
The renowned activist and public analyst said what is happening presently is expected reminding that just before the inauguration of the President he has granted a press interview in which he prepared the mind of the citizenry for what to expect whenever a new government is coming in with a set of new policies.
According to him, it is not always hitting the ground running sort of thing because there would be a cause for adjustments from all angles and so, “it cannot be an Eldorado from the first minute after the inauguration.”
In the interview, Olokoba reminded that he recalled he said Nigerians would need a lot of patience with Tinubu to get his bearing, warning that, “Any assumption that there is going to be an Eldorado immediately after his inauguration, is nothing but deception.”
He asserted that that Nigerians should bury the thought that, the shape of what to expect would be rosy and smooth reminding that gestation is a natural phenomenon at the commencement of a new administration for the new comer and members of his team to get their bearing and to acclimatise with the new environment.
“All what we need to do to enjoy Tinubu is just patience and support to allow him put his acts together. Going by his antecedent, and pedigree, he is a born performer more so when the terrain he has now found himself is a familiar one. This Tinubu we all know would not disappoint us because he knows what is at stake. The gestation we are talking about can never be as brief as even two months,” Olokoba declared with note of finality.
We have gotten to a time in our life, Olokoba continued, “where we must prepare our mind to look towards where the truth and reality would come from because there is no magic to what President Tinubu could do immediately as he took over office on May, 29, 2023 because it is going to take him a two year gestation period before we could start to see the sign of good things he will start to do for the country.
Speaking further, the political observer and Convener/National President of the Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG) said, “placing our experience side by side with any other countries in the world, if you study their history to see how they came out of crises of this nature they had, there was none of them that did not go through a lot of sacrifices.”
He continued, “China was shut out from the rest of the world for decades. They later emerged stronger. Even Japan that took a short cut to development had its personal sacrifice by the people of Japan-the Japanese. And in Africa we have very close examples too of some countries that also went through what we are passing through now and they overcame it. In essence, what I am saying is that, we Nigerians should prepare our mind that there is no gain without pain.”
The present hardship, he pointed out, is just some sacrifices the citizenry has to pay briefly before the bountiful dividends would start to rain, enthusing that, “the expected relief is around the corner going by the character of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The N8000 palliatives he has reviewed is on the way which is just one of the numerous of its kind lined up for the people is a testimony of different shapes of palliatives to be expected, he said, adding that, it is just a prelude of rain in the pipeline to fall.
Concluding, Convener and National President of the CDG asserted that, “we are speaking from strength of knowledge and not on opinion,” saying, “Tinubu’s trademark is walking his talks.”
