Characteristic Audacity Of A President, Without Being Afraid Of The Unknown!
Sunday (Afor) 05-07-2026.
By the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, occupants of the Presidency, and Governorship have rights to be reelected. That is to say, each occupant, all being well, has two constitutional tenures.
Naturally, there are elements of selfishness in the hubby or business called Politics. Many Politicians say ‘Yes’ when, as a matter of reality, they inwardly mean ‘No’. They do this because of their consciousness of the next election. This is why there is a common saying in Nigeria that Politicians, rather than think of the next generation, place all emphasis on the next election.
But a paradigm shift has noticeably been made manifest through the Presidency of Distinguished Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
Sequel to the obnoxious introduction of Unitary Federalism by the first Military Head of State, Major-General Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, on May 24, 1966, by promulgating Decree 34, which he called ‘Unification Decree’, and which abolished the existing Federal Structure, dissolved the Four Regional Governments of; (1) Eastern Nigeria, (2) Mid-Western Nigeria, (3) Northern Nigeria, and (4) Western Nigeria, and centralized administrative powers in Lagos, Nigeria became a Unitary Federalism.
Many items that were in Concurrent Legislative List in the First Republic, such as Police, Electricity, and Solid Minerals, were completely but abnormally taken over by the Federal Government. So, there was and still is, an over-concentration of Power in the Centre. That alone, affected developmental initiatives amongst the Sub-nationals.
No President had had the gut to place the outrageous imbalance on Nigeria’s front burner. To add salt to injury, the Northern-teleguided Military Government of the last Military Head of State of Nigeria, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, imposed on Nigeria the 1999 Constitution that was simply meant a Unitary Federalism.
Nigerians have been suffocating under the weight of Unitarianism since after the Nigeria/Biafra war. One of the most devastating consequences of imposition of Unitary Givernment in Nigeria is Insecurity. Nigeria, courtesy of Boko Haram insurgents, bandits of Islamic States of West Africa, and many other islamist jihadist terror gangs in the North of Nigeria, has become highly unsecured. That has paralysed the country’s economy and, therefore, created frustration and hopelessness.
Addressing a catastrophic situation like Nigeria’s requires a lot of Political Will which many leaders do not possess. However, the Man of the moment, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, true to his characteristic antecedents, which saw him address the menace of surging Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, has simply but systematically risen to the occasion.
Mr President has established Regional Development Commissions for special speedy development purposes in the Regions. Under his watch, the National Assembly has made some constitutional amendments, including removing Electricity from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List. State Governments are now free to establish and manage their own Electricity Corporations. The mother of it all is the recent constitutional amendment that has made it practicable for State Governments to establish their own Police Force.
There has never been any problem without a solution. State Police is the elixir to challenges of widespread bloody insecurity in Nigeria. To arrive at an administrative junction of this magnitude could not have been easy. It was achieved because President Tinubu has the will and tenacity to pursue an uncommon goal in the overall interest of the citizens.
Equity Global Reporters Ltd, having taken cognizance of the exceptional vision and political will of Mr President, urges Nigerians of good conscience and patriotic disposition to help mobilize maximum support for him in 2027 election.
A President that could do the much he has done in a very complex country like Nigeria, within a short space of time, will certainly record a lot of accomplishments in his second tenure.
Sir Don Ubani is a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State, and Publisher of Equity Global Reporters Ltd.
