Nigeria’s new President, Bola Tinubu, on Monday took steps to unify the country in his inaugural address to the nation.
He also made key promises promising to railroad the country from its current predicament.
Below are the top 10 promises he made during his inaugural speech soon after being sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th president, assuming the status of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
1. Affirmative Action
He also promised to create an inclusive government giving roles to women as he said, “In our administration, Women and youth will feature prominently.”
2. Corruption
As one of the campaign promises of his predecessor which critics say was never successfully dealt with, Tinubu said, “Our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.”
3. Economy
On the economy, he promised to “target a higher GDP growth and to significantly reduce unemployment,” through “budgetary reform” to “stimulate the economy without engendering inflation,” and create an “industrial policy” where he will “utilise the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing and lessen import dependency.”
4. Power
On power he said, “electricity will become more accessible and affordable to businesses and homes alike. Power generation should nearly double and transmission and distribution networks improved. We will encourage states to develop local sources as well.”
5. Agriculture
To protect wastages usually experienced from agricultural harvests, the president promised to create “commodity exchange boards” to guarantee storage and enact a “nationwide programme for storage and other facilities to reduce spoilage and waste will be undertaken.”
He also said, “Agricultural hubs will be created throughout the nation to increase production and engage in value-added processing.
“The livestock sector will be introduced to best modern practices and steps taken to minimise the perennial conflict over land and water resources in this sector.”
6. Infrastructure
While hailing the progress made during the Buhari administration on infrastructure, he stated that “Progress toward national networks of roads, rail and ports shall get priority attention.”
7. Removal of Fuel subsidy
The knotty issue of fuel subsidy would get the needed attention. He said, “Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
8. Monetary policy
Another difficult area which was left untouched but has been said to have drained the nation of the needed wealth is the exchange rate.
Tinubu said, “Monetary policy needs thorough house cleaning. The Central Bank must work towards a unified exchange rate. This will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment and jobs that power the real economy.”
9. Security
He said, “Security shall be the top priority of our administration” with a promise “reform both our security doctrine and its architecture,” and also “invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide better training, equipment, pay and firepower.”
10. Jobs
Tinubu vowed to “create meaningful opportunities for our youth. We shall honour our campaign commitment of one million new jobs in the digital economy.”
