Mr Basejè Lalaçe

The story of Nigeria and her States, is like that of Mr Basejè (Yoruba word for Spoiler) Lalaçe (the Hausa word for Spoil), who imported an almost new second-hand car from abroad. It had one or two fundamental problems which appeared to have been fixed before it was exported to Nigeria, and the Owner’s Manual was there in the glove compartment, complete with maintenance details and milestones for the different types of car service appointments, from oil and filter change to the first service, to checks on specific components like the brakes, major service, periodic service and so on. Mr Lalaçe had several drivers, and mostly, they were not particularly skilful drivers; some were reckless, while others were not concerned about the condition of the car - just as long as it moved!  

Over the years, Mr Lalaçe failed to continue with the maintenance of the vehicle after the first major service, and eventually the car started breaking down regularly. Each time the car broke down, no matter how many parts were affected and required replacement, Mr Lalaçe would either buy a ‘Tokunbo’ (second hand) part to replace the part that was most seriously affected, or replace only the one which the car couldn’t function without, or simply tell the Mechanic to manage it if he could get away with it! Eventually, aside from the body of the car being battered as a result of a series of accidents, the car engine knocked, amongst other serious faults, including the prior fundamental ones that appeared to have been repaired before the car was imported, and Mr Lalaçe was given a huge bill to overhaul the car to get it back on the road. 

The blame for this misfortune was then heaped on Ali, the current driver of the car who was employed months before it finally broke down completely. Of course, everyone ignored/forgot Mr Lalaçe’s total neglect of the car, and the role the string of careless drivers had played, as major contributors to the car’s complete breakdown; they blamed it all on Ali! How could that be?!!!

In this scenario, the car is Nigeria; Mr Lalaçe is successive Governments; the drivers are the various leaders, be it from the First Republic, or the Military, down to the Fourth Republic. Ali is the incumbent, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The story of the car, is also replicated in the case of the States and Governors, lest we forget them as we always do when it comes to accountability and scorecards. Though the car can be fixed, the repairs would be extensive and possibly time consuming, not just an oil change that will only take a few minutes. Obviously, the services of a capable Engineer/Mechanic is required, or it would be impossible to get the car up and running properly, reasonable fair wear and tear excepted. 

The Fourth Republic 

Interestingly, even previous drivers, who didn’t drive the car properly and were careless with it, have become the greatest critics of Ali! The other day, I couldn’t help but laugh and snigger, when Abubakar Malami, SAN, who goes down in history as one of the worst Attorneys-General of the Federation, joined the circle of critics, after such an inglorious career! Their criticism resembles a variation of the Self-Enhancement Theory in Psychology; where people run others down in order to boost themselves, their self-esteem, or to cover up their own failures, or simply make themselves feel better about themselves. While Nigerians have every right to show their displeasure about the state of the nation, I don’t think that contributors to the failure are in any position to complain or give advice that they themselves didn’t take when they were in office! 

One cannot say for sure when the first major service of the car was done, but, by the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the civil service had become a shadow of its former self, corrupt and inefficient; there were hardly any functioning manufacturing industries and Nigeria had become highly dependent on imports, while many institutions like NEPA (National Electric Power Authority, subsequently, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, and now, GenCos, TCN and DisCos) and the Oil Refineries were broken. Over the years, Electricity Generation capacity hadn’t been significantly expanded, despite the population explosion and consequent rise in demand for electricity, nor were the existing facilities properly maintained. Even at the time late President Shagari was campaigning for his second term in 1983, he promised electricity for all towns and villages, which means that, even as at then, electricity supply was inadequate. Nigeria had been importing fuel since the 1970s, as right from the start, her refineries’ capacity had never been enough to satisfy the rising demand for fuel. Fuel subsidy was introduced during the regime of General Obasanjo in 1977 or so, to control the price of fuel in light of the sharp increase in oil prices, and this subsidy policy was subsequently converted into a criminal enterprise from which government officials and business men made obscene illegal profits at the expense of Nigeria, as we were also subsidising neighbouring African countries since our fuel was being smuggled out and sold cheaply to them. 

Rule of law? That didn’t really exist under the Military, and unfortunately, it hasn’t fared too much better during the Fourth Republic. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution) and the laws of the land, are often observed in their breach by Government and the people.

President Tinubu: Two Years On

And so, when we are looking at President Tinubu’s 2 years scorecard, we cannot look at it in isolation, without taking into consideration the context of Mr Lalaçe’s broken down car, and all that needs to be done to repair the country. President Tinubu’s performance comprises of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’. I usually use the things that affect the everyday life of the people, to make my evaluations that creates my scorecard. Today, I find myself writing similar things to what I wrote in the past about Government’s scorecard. The driver before Ali was Yinka (President Buhari). 

In President Buhari’s January 2018 new year message, he had stated inter alia that, as at December 8, 2017, 5,155 MW of Electricity had been delivered to consumers, the highest amount that had ever been achieved. When I googled for an update on this information, the AI Overview stated that as at May 2023, Nigeria’s power generation capacity reached 5,313 MW, and on May 31, 2025, “Nigeria’s power grid recorded a peak generation of 5,372.30 MW at 4pm….”. This means that there has been no significant improvement in power generation, in the first two years of the Tinubu administration, and the very low amount of electricity being generated is shameful. See for example, South Africa, with a population of less than 70 million, over 58,000 MW of electricity is generated! What’s Nigeria’s excuse? Though the national grid has collapsed a good number of times since the inception of the Tinubu administration, the records show that in the first 2 year period of President Jonathan, President Buhari and President Tinubu, it has collapsed the least number of times under President Tinubu. Yet, it’s still an F9 in the electricity sector. 

While Ali has a better understanding of cars, and is a more skilful driver than his predecessor, Yinka; he also has more focused goals, and some may say President Tinubu is recording better achievements in the area of the Economy, the effects of some which may not be immediately felt, things still seem pretty grim for the average Nigerian - this is one of the bad and ugly parts. This has been attributed to bringing an end to the criminal fuel subsidy scam with its removal, and the simultaneous unification of the Nigerian foreign exchange regime, carried out without any proper preparations for the inflationary after effects on the people, which plunged Nigerians into severe economic hardship. Food prices are still relatively high, and majority of Nigerians are still finding it hard to survive. The high level of corruption, unemployment, lack of accountability and exorbitant cost of governance, are also part of the bad and ugly. The common man is not happy with this administration and indeed, APC, as their living conditions have suffered rather badly since they took over the reins of leadership in 2015. However, Nigeria that was declared the poverty capital of the world in 2018, with highest number of people living in abject poverty, has since moved up during the Tinubu administration. For this, in this sector, we can move from F9 to a low pass of between P8 and P7. When Nigerians start to see the positive impact of the economic reforms in their daily lives, then the score will improve. 

The Security situation in the country, which seemed to be improving during the first year of the Tinubu administration, also appears to have deteriorated again, at least in some parts of the country. See Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, on the security and welfare of Nigerians being the primary purpose of government. Though incidents of mass kidnapping seem to have declined, newer terror groups such as Lakurawa have emerged, and many are still being slaughtered, particularly in North Central zone. Even though President Tinubu’s approval of the establishment of Forest Guards, is a step in the right direction, as Nigeria’s expansive forests have become a haven for criminal activities - terrorists live there and most kidnap victims are kept in the forests, I am unable to give the Tinubu administration a pass mark for security. From an F9 in the Buhari administration, Nigeria is still hovering between an F9 and P8, as far as security is concerned. So much more needs to be done.

There is still a huge Infrastructure deficit, and for instance, regularly, we see videos in which communities showcase their dilapidated roads which haven’t received attention in decades. And so, there is the argument that the infrastructure development going on in Nigeria, is one of ‘eye service’, in which it is only in the most visible areas that some improvement is noticeable. The new Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, has also generated a great deal of controversy. While some argue that it would have made more sense and cost much less to repair all the existing major connecting highways and roads in Nigeria first, instead of embarking on this new project which may not be completed in the foreseeable future, in which the bidding process was opaque and the cost of completion, allegedly inflated, Government has insisted that this coastal highway is a game changer that will boost job creation and economic growth. This is left to be seen.

There is an improvement in the Health Sector, and I can’t help but feel that the current Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate could do much more if he received necessary, adequate funding. There has been a shortfall between the budget allocation for healthcare and the actual amount received. The Nigerian Doctor-Patient ratio of about 1:4,000/5,000 instead of the WHO’s recommendation of 1:600, is extremely low. Due to the harsh working conditions, many Doctors have left the country to seek greener pastures. Additionally, the less privileged are also having serious challenges, as they cannot afford to pay the bills of even Government Hospitals, and price of medication is prohibitive. Unfortunately, even if we give Professor Pate A3 for effort, he needs more than the P8 support of Government to achieve better results. 

The educational objectives listed in Section 18 of the Constitution, are far from being achieved. Nigeria has over 18 million out-of-school children, possibly the highest in the world. President Tinubu’s administration has instituted the ‘DOTS’ Policy to overhaul the Education Sector in Nigeria. Millions of out-of-school have already benefited from this programme; there are also Teacher Training Programmes and the NELFUND Student Loan Scheme for indigent students attending Tertiary institutions. Again, even if we give the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, C4 for effort, he also requires more than the P8 support of Government to achieve optimum results. 

Conclusion

Though President Tinubu’s administration, in pushing his Renewed Hope Agenda may have recorded some positives, the truth of the matter is that, their performance still leaves a lot to be desired. The performance of many Governors, is below par, and this, particularly that of the APC Governors who belong to the same party as the President and should have some type of cohesive joint agenda, necessarily reduces President Tinubu’s overall score. Apart from a handful of States, we don’t know what most Governors are doing. 

From the point of view of the masses, if they are not enjoying a decent dose of security and welfare, nor are they seeing enough dividends of democracy, they won’t believe that an administration is doing well, whether or not the administration has taken ‘bold’ steps to reform the economy for the benefit of all and so on. The living conditions of today, which are extremely harsh, must necessarily be a determinant of the scorecard. The truth must be told, so that Government will see things in the right perspective and do more of the needful. 

Unfortunately, instead of the truth being told, we have a mounting political unification driven by politicians’ self-interest and sycophancy, the height of which we are seeing with the mass defections to the ruling APC, not because of any ideology or APC’s wonderful performance, but to keep and get positions, and to make money. Even though we all love a bit of flattery here and there, I see President Tinubu as one who is too smart and experienced to be deceived by insincere glowing reports of ‘Yes Men’. He also said, ‘power isn’t served à la carte’; now that he has it, President Tinubu must appreciate the opportunity he was able to get to serve, a feat he was able to achieve as a result of his struggles to get there, by putting more effort into governance, and ensuring that the Governors do the same. Many believe that, he can do better. As an Economist by training, I can understand some of this administration’s initiatives, but on behalf of Nigerians and their current living conditions, my overall mark, can only hover between a P7 and C6.