Let Tinubu Breathe, Let Him Build’ – Banji Alabi Urges Nigerians to Be Patient with Reforms

There has never been a time in the last 50 years that Nigerians did not complain of hunger. This problem did not start today.

If you are old enough to remember, go and check the archives. In 1974, under Gowon, Nigerians complained of hunger. Under Murtala and Obasanjo in the 70s, they complained. Under Shagari in 1983, there was hunger and essential commodities were scarce. Under Buhari and IBB in the 80s, Nigerians queued for rice and sugar and complained of hunger. Under Abacha, under Abdulsalami, under Obasanjo again from 1999, under Yar’Adua, under Jonathan, under Buhari for 8 years – in every single government for 50 years, Nigerians have complained of hunger, high cost of food, and high cost of living.

So why are we now acting as if hunger was invented on May 29th, 2023?

For 50 years we have been subsidizing a lie. We have been running an economy built on fake cheap fuel, fake cheap dollars, and borrowing to consume. Every government knew the truth but was too scared to act because they wanted to be popular. They kept printing money, paying trillions for fuel subsidy that only the rich and smugglers enjoyed, defending the naira with our reserves until we had nothing left, and sharing FAAC allocations for states to loot.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the first President in 30 years with the courage to say the truth: WE CANNOT CONTINUE LIKE THIS.

Yes, the reforms are painful. Removing subsidy is painful. Floating the naira is painful. But what is the alternative? To continue borrowing to pay subsidy until Nigeria becomes Venezuela?

Let Tinubu breathe.

He met a dead economy. He met $7 billion unmet FX forwards, met a debt service that was consuming 97% of our revenue, met NNPC that was not remitting a dime, met crude oil production at 900,000 barrels when we should be doing 2.2 million, met an educational sector on strike for 8 months every year.

In two years, he has started the hardest job: laying a real foundation.

The subsidy is gone and the money is now going to states – FAAC is now triple. The refineries are coming back – Port Harcourt, Dangote is producing. The FX backlog is being cleared. Foreign investors who ran away are now returning because for the first time we have one honest market. Our Debt Service to Revenue has dropped from 97% to under 70%. Students are now getting NELFUND loans – something that has never happened in Nigeria’s history.

Was Rome built in a day? How can you destroy the economy for 50 years and expect one man to fix it in 20 months?

This problem did not start today, so it cannot end today.

The same Nigerians who complained under Jonathan that rice was N8,000 and under Buhari that rice was N30,000 are the ones shouting that rice is now N80,000. But they forget that minimum wage was N18,000 then. Today minimum wage is N70,000. FAAC is 3 times. There is now a student loan. There is now a consumer credit scheme. There is now a CNG initiative to cut transport cost permanently.

We must be honest with ourselves. Tinubu did not create hunger. He inherited a hungry nation and he is trying to cure the disease, not just treat the symptoms like others did.

Every developed nation went through this pain. Britain went through it under Thatcher. India went through it. Today they are stronger.

And for the first time in a long time, I can truly say, *Nigeria is now in the hands of excellent managers.*

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not a noise-maker. He is a builder. A master planner. Look at what he did with Lagos. When he became Governor in 1999, Lagos was a jungle, a mountain of refuse, insecurity everywhere, no one wanted to come. Today Lagos is a mega city, the 5th largest economy in Africa. That is what excellent managers do. They build from ruins.

This is what Nigeria is going through now. *Nigeria is undergoing construction.*

And let me ask you, have you ever seen a construction site that is clean? Never! When a building is under construction, there is dust everywhere, there is noise, there is cement, there is block, there is confusion. People passing by will say “What dirty place is this?” But the owner of the house is not worried, because he has seen the drawing. He knows what is coming.

Nigeria today is that construction site. Yes, it is dusty. Yes, it is noisy. Yes, there is temporary pain and discomfort. But after darkness comes light. After construction comes beauty.

*Nigeria will be great again, let us support Tinubu.*

I see a new Nigeria and I want you to see it with me.

I see 8-lane expressways all over Nigeria with beautiful trees and boulevards everywhere. I see a light-up express road, lined with trees and streetlights shining like diamonds from Owo to Lagos, from Lagos to Abuja, from Abuja to Owerri, to Aba, to Enugu, to Kano, to Sokoto, to Maiduguri, all over Nigeria.

I see a Nigeria where our children will not Japa because opportunity will Japa to them here.

I see a safe and secure nation, where a farmer can go to farm in Benue and sleep with both eyes closed, where a trader can travel from Onitsha to Kaduna without fear.

I see a great and safe nation under President Tinubu.

This is not a dream, it is a vision. And with a builder like Asiwaju in charge, that vision will become a reality.

So I beg you, fellow Nigerians, let us be patient. Let us be patriotic. Let us support our President.

Let Tinubu breathe. Let him build.

God bless President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Banji Alabi Esq