By Stanley Nkwocha

The year 2024 is winding down; so also is the yuletide season and its festivities. But this particular year, unlike those of previous years, cannot be wished away so soon by Nigerians.

It was a year in which some issues of governance and national interest evoked the most tremendous controversies – from key decisions of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to the certain policy directions that have, obviously redirected Nigeria to the path of economic growth, widened revenue, increased gross domestic product (GDP), among other salient matters.

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It was the year 2024 which literally made it instructive for President Tinubu to prove his mettle as a firm and decisive leader who is resolute that delivering on key strategic priorities of security, economy and infrastructural revolution is the only way out. These key areas were well reemphasized in the President’s maiden presidential media chat on Monday, December 23, 2024, to the soothing relief of well-meaning Nigerians.

In 2024, the country was drenched in national debates over the impact of fuel subsidy removal, absolute autonomy for local government councils, tax reforms, food security and many more. However, the hallmark of presidential democracy is stewardship and accountability. Are Nigerians entering the new year without President Tinubu @officialABAT accounting for his stewardship in the previous year? Certainly not.

He demonstrated this reality during the presidential media chat which created the platform for him to share some insights into his administration’s efforts to address economic, security and infrastructure challenges, while puncturing misleading criticisms by the cynics in the opposition regarding the 2025 budget and the tragic stampedes that claimed innocent lives in Ibadan, Anambra, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The President also talked directly to the people who overwhelmingly elected him in 2023, acknowledging the challenges facing the citizens and promising to deliver on his Renewed Hope Agenda with commitment and focus in 2025. Nothing is more comforting than the acknowledgment of Nigeria’s difficult journey of nationhood. The President, as a father and captain of the nation, gave words of hope to Nigerians, assuring them that 2025 would usher in more economic prosperity and growth.

“I seek your understanding. I understand the trouble you’ve been through: the economic problems. It is just 18-month that I took the reigns. We’ll maintain focus. Let’s believe in ourselves and in our country. Tomorrow will bring a glorious dawn,” he stated.

Also, the media chat, for once, put paid to the debate as to President Tinubu’s candour, competence and charisma. In a deft display of craftsmanship, the president succinctly laid out the scorecard of his stewardship in the outgoing year, as well as his vision and next steps in the new year to the soothing relief of well-meaning Nigerians.

Together with his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima @officialSKSM, the President is definitely on a salvage operation for Nigeria’s socio-economic fabric. While President Tinubu is striving hard to see that the economy prospers, Senator Shettima has remained a dependable ally who is galvanizing ministries, departments and agencies of government, as well as the state governments to execute and actualize the policies of the administration in his capacity as Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC).

The revelation by the President that his administration is re-energizing and reorganizing the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police with a view to enhancing their capacity to keep engaging and dismantling the operations of extremist and criminal groups in some parts of the country is also a pleasant new year gift.

It is on record that under President Tinubu, traveling to states like Maiduguri, Katsina and Kaduna is now safer. The Abuja-Kaduna road is quite safe due to the deployment of security agents manning multiple sections of these routes. In this regard, he said the country’s security chiefs deserve commendation, not probe. “I’m not probing service chiefs. You cannot disrespect the institution because of the threat of war, without investment in technology, weaponry and training,” he noted.

Any nation that is not able to feed itself is vulnerable and living in a compromised security situation. This explains why the issue of national economic diversification agenda raised in the presidential media chat is apt. President Tinubu noted that his administration created the Ministry of Livestock and that over 2,000 tractors are expected in the ongoing agricultural revolution, all as measures to reduce the growing food-related inflation and ensure food security.

Corroborating the hope raised in the presidential media chat is the draft budget of N49.7 trillion for the year 2025 President Tinubu laid before the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. In the appropriation bill, the administration has a revenue target of N34.82 trillion to fund the N49.7 trillion budget, including N15.81 trillion for debt servicing. The Appropriation Bill has been described by economic experts as unprecedented in the history of Nigeria, largely because it aims to consolidate on the gains of the Renewed Hope Administration in 2024, a year that shaped the administration’s policy direction.

The proposed 2025 budget, as the President succinctly puts it, seeks to achieve restoration of macroeconomic stability, enhancement of the business environment, fostering of inclusive growth, including employment and poverty reduction, as well as the promotion of equitable income distribution and human capital development.

Tagged, “2025 Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,” the appropriation bill is, indeed, a categorical and exhilarating story of the direction the Tinubu administration is poised to take in 2025. After matching the grit of visionary and honest leaders who are courageous enough to reset their countries on the part of prosperity, with stringent policies in 2024, President Tinubu is set to revamp the nation’s economy in 2025 and wriggle Nigerians out of the socio-economic morass they had hitherto been enmeshed in due to years of misgovernance.

The 2025 appropriation bill received a deafening ovation. The thinking is that in modern Nigerian history, we have never had a national budget so prioritised crucial areas like security, education, health, job creation, poverty reduction, human capital development, infrastructure, and all that tend to improve the welfare of the citizens. This alignment with crucial national concerns will potentially address pressing issues and spur development in 2025.

The resounding acclamation that greeted the fiscal document as well as the presidential media chat notwithstanding, opposition elements have – true to type – descended on the budget, claiming it is anti-people and inadequate to address Nigeria’s structural and economic challenges. They went further to claim that the presidential media chat confirmed the administration’s insensitivity to the hardship being faced by Nigerians.

This, of course, is to be expected because different shades have different interests to protect. While self-serving opposition actors continue to carpet the presidential media chat and the 2025 appropriation bill as a result of their pedestal interests, notable economic experts have praised the proposed budget, suggesting the best ways it can be implemented to meet the demands of the citizens.

Unfortunately, what has become of opposition politics in our clime is heartrending. What we have today is blind criticism without offering a better way out. This is crude opposition, and it must be disregarded. In other climes, the voice of opposition offers constructive criticism of government policies and programmes aimed at providing alternative solutions. This way, the quality of governance is enriched.

A balanced outlook of the 2025 budget devoid of partisanship shows how ambitious the Tinubu administration is to turn around Nigeria’s economic fortune for good. Total proposed expenditure: N49.7 trillion; Non-debt recurrent expenditure: N14. 21 trillion; Debt servicing: 15.81 trillion; Capital expenditure: N8.7 trillion; projected deficit: N36.35 trillion (3.96 percent of GDP).

Key allocations in the budget include N4.92 trillion for defence and security, N4.06 trillion for infrastructure, N4.48 trillion for health, and N3.52 trillion for education. The idea of giving highest priority to these sectors is to increase investment in defense and law enforcement to address internal security challenges, creating a safer environment for business and investment.

It also aims to complete some legacy projects the administration has embarked on, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Road. Others are rail, and power projects, which are key to reducing business costs and enhancing economic growth. Also, social services such as education and healthcare funding are significantly increased in order to improve access and quality to strengthen Nigeria’s human capital.

The 2025 budget is targeting a fiscal deficit of 3.96 percent of GDP and projected revenue of N36.35 trillion. This affirms President Tinubu’s resolve to strengthen the nation’s economy to pave the groundwork for a prosperous future for Nigeria. It signifies some remarkable progress towards fiscal consolidation and reduced reliance on borrowing.

Additionally, the 2025 budget places emphasis on job creation. Its focus on job-rich economic growth suggests a commitment to tackling unemployment, a major challenge in Nigeria. Any effort aimed at mopping the army of our jobless youths off the streets should receive unalloyed support from all Nigerians.

Simple security intelligence is enough to draw a correlation between unemployment, poverty, and insecurity. As a time-tested truism goes, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Nigeria has witnessed a steady rise in youth restiveness, characterised by protests, in the last two decades owing to the inability of successive governments to properly implement job creation initiatives. That is why the Tinubu administration does not take youth empowerment for granted.

The draft 2025 budget is premised on a base crude oil production assumption of 2.06 million barrels per day (mbd) which was adopted after a careful review of global oil market trends. A Naira to U.S. Dollar exchange rate of N1,500 to a dollar was adopted for 2025 as well.

We must not take for granted President Tinubu’s avowed commitment to broad-based and shared economic prosperity as he pointed out in the presidential media chat. This, he has demonstrated by the ongoing comprehensive review of human capital development, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Expanded National MSME Clinics, as well as the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion, all spearheaded and executed by the Office of the Vice President.

Other initiatives being spearheaded by the office of the Vice President to this effect include the State Action Plans on Durable Solution to Internal Displacement, a United Nations Secretary General’s solution agenda on Internal Displacement; the plan to improve nutrition across Nigeria under the National Council on Nutrition and the Nutrition 774 Initiative; the Light Up Nigeria Initiative, and the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises Program (iDICE), a federal government initiative aimed at promoting investment in digital and creative industries as well as creating more sustainable jobs for its youthful population, among others.

The 2025 Budget of Restoration is specifically designed to actualize all these things. Before now, one of the biggest hurdles to attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Nigeria was a difficult business environment, and poor infrastructures. But under the current administration, we have witnessed a gradual paradigm shift. There is a growing confidence among international partners in Nigeria’s economic potential. President Tinubu and VP Shettima have deployed their marketing skills to restore investors’ confidence in the country’s business climate.

The battle cry of the Tinubu administration in the year 2025 is a significant cut-down on insecurity and poverty, and in their stead ensure enhanced transparency in the conduct of government affairs and management of the nation’s commonwealth, increased provision of infrastructures as well as the enhanced economic condition of Nigerians.

Of utmost importance is the understanding that instead of listening to critics in the opposition who blindly condemn every action of the government without offering constructive alternative views, Nigerians will do well to hold President Tinubu by his promise to “contain financial leakages through the effective implementation of key public financial management reforms.”

With words of hope from President Tinubu at the presidential media chat and the target of the 2025 budget, Nigerians can also be rest assured that the Renewed Hope administration is set to take the country by storm in the coming year, as it consolidates on its reforms and the gains of 2024.

Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Office of The Vice President), wrote in from Abuja.