Tinubu took tough decisions past leaders avoided — Sunday Dare

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Chief Sunday Dare, on Thursday described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a reform-driven leader who deliberately embraced difficult economic and governance decisions previous administrations avoided, in a bid to reposition Nigeria for long-term stability and growth.

Dare stated this in an opinion piece titled, “Reformer-In-Chief: Reflections on Governance, Leadership, and Reform Across One Thousand and Ninety-Five Days of President Bola Tinubu,” released to commemorate the administration’s third anniversary in office.

In the extensive reflection, the presidential aide said Tinubu’s first 1,095 days in office represented a defining period in Nigeria’s democratic and economic evolution, marked by structural reforms aimed at correcting distortions accumulated over decades.

According to him, President Tinubu chose “difficult reforms for long-term stabilization” instead of preserving economic distortions for temporary political comfort.

“The easiest thing in governance is to drift with the tide. The hardest is to alter course in the middle of gathering turbulence,” Dare stated.

He argued that successive administrations before Tinubu recognised the dangers posed by fuel subsidies, multiple exchange rates, fiscal leakages and unsustainable public expenditure, but repeatedly postponed corrective measures because of political considerations.

“But Tinubu proved unusually willing to confront those deferred realities,” he said.

The presidential spokesman described Tinubu as the “Reformer-in-Chief,” “Tinkerer-in-Chief” and “architect of democratic survival and political reinvention,” saying the President consistently demonstrated an instinct for institutional redesign, strategic recalibration and structural reform.

Dare said his perspective was shaped by nearly three decades of close association with Tinubu, beginning long before the President occupied public office at the federal level.

“I have known Asiwaju for twenty-eight years, long before and in between power: in the trenches of opposition politics, through the difficult years of political reorganization and coalition building after office, and still with him now again amid the turbulence of economic reform and national rebirth,” he stated.

He recalled working closely with Tinubu during years of opposition politics, coalition building and political restructuring, describing the President as a patient strategist who built political structures, nurtured talent and assembled one of Nigeria’s most formidable political coalitions.

According to Dare, Tinubu possessed an uncommon understanding of governance systems, institutional architecture, fiscal policy and economic management long before assuming office as President.

“He approached politics not merely as a contest for power, but as a platform for the cross-fertilization of ideas, competencies, regional interests, and national aspirations,” he wrote.

The presidential aide noted that Tinubu viewed governance as a tool for reorganising society, expanding opportunities and repositioning the state toward productivity and competitiveness.

Reflecting on the administration’s reforms, Dare acknowledged that Nigerians had endured inflationary pressures and economic hardship associated with the adjustment policies introduced since 2023.

He, however, insisted that national transformation could not occur without sacrifice and difficult decisions.

“A country cannot sustainably subsidize inefficiency forever. A nation cannot endlessly postpone fiscal reality without consequences,” he said.

Dare maintained that many of Nigeria’s current economic challenges were the cumulative consequences of years of delayed reforms and policy inconsistencies.

He said President Tinubu recognised the need for urgent corrective action and chose to confront realities previous leaders avoided.

According to him, the administration’s reforms have generated intense public debate because transitions are naturally difficult, but history would eventually judge the period as the beginning of national correction and recovery.