Nigerians say they are fatigued from reading embellished press statements and watching presidential broadcasts that have little to no impact on their current economic realities, buffeted by soaring inflation, a cost-of-living crisis, and insecurity.
Peoples Gazette spoke to more than 10 Nigerians in Abuja, asking about their expectations, particularly what they hope to hear on June 12, the nation’s Democracy Day commemoration.
“We are tired of the speech,” said John Adole, a line manager who works in the hospitality sector. “Every year, the same speech. The same ‘we will do this, we will do that’.”
Mr Adole said he regarded Mr Tinubu’s speech as only bluster, which lacks any actual substance, noting his administration had become fond of shifting blame to the opposition rather than delivering results.
Ezekiel Daniel, who works as a commercial driver, said his only expectation from the broadcast was to hear Mr Tinubu say “Emilokan” (It’s my turn [to become president]), which became his defining catchphrase during the 2022 campaign.
Mr Tinubu, according to the driver, appears more focused on securing a second term in 2027 than addressing current economic hardship.
Still, opinions varied as a few individuals said they would continue to support Mr Tinubu, saying he had done a fair job in ruling the country.
Among the few voices expressing optimism was Ose Inalegwu, a media technician, who acknowledged recent tax reforms and the dismissal of underperforming cabinet members, including former humanitarian minister Betta Edu, former finance minister Wale Edun, and former women’s affairs minister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.
Mr Inalegwu said he hoped to see more changes in the power sector and how the new tax reform will generate more funds for the government while protecting low-income earners.
Kene Emmanuel, a plumber in his 20s, said he is not looking forward to the annual June 12 presidential broadcast to commemorate Democracy Day because Mr Tinubu’s last three years were nothing to go by.
“I’m tired, abeg,” Mr Emmanuel told The Gazette. “Wetin he wan talk again wey he never talk before? I don’t have a president.”
Mr Emmanuel said he would not bother watching the broadcast, insisting there was nothing new the president could say that Nigerians had not already heard.
The scepticism is rooted in unfulfilled expectations dating back to the beginning of the administration.
In 2023, Mr Tinubu christened his campaign slogan, ‘Renewed Hope’, saying his administration would bring succour to the people and restore public trust in the government.
Mr Tinubu announced the fuel subsidy removal minutes after he was sworn in on May 29, 2023, a move that triggered a sharp rise in inflation, currency depreciation, and landed the country in its worst cost-of-living crisis.
In his first Democracy Day Speech as president, he called the fuel subsidy removal a painful but necessary sacrifice for the survival of our country and promised, “Your sacrifice shall not be in vain.”
“The government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of life,” said Mr Tinubu in the June 12, 2023, broadcast.
Three years later, citizens are lamenting that the promised benefits remain out of reach. Prices of goods and services had yet to return to their pre-Tinubu era levels. Instead, they doubled and quadrupled in price.
But not Friday Eke.
A waiter at a top hotel in Abuja, Mr Eke, still believes in Mr Tinubu’s administration and the president’s ability to turn things around.
Mr Eke’s colleagues teased that he had always viewed Mr Tinubu as a messiah who would save Nigerians from the economic woes brought by the then-President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Mr Eke said Mr Tinubu could do more to improve the nation’s security while acknowledging that the Nigerian leader must be having sleepless nights over the current state of the nation.
“We are looking at the security aspect as the most important so that we don’t live in fear in our own country,” said Mr Eke. “The situation is alarming, as everyone, including the president himself, who has said he loses sleep sometimes. I believe at present he’s also losing sleep because no part of the nation is safe now.”
Julianah Adeyori, in her mid-forties and mother of two sons, said she was unimpressed with Mr Tinubu’s performance and that his years-old rhetoric of a Renewed Hope Agenda no longer holds water for her.
“We want concrete action,” she said.
Ms Adeyori described housing costs as a nightmare in Abuja. Ms Adeyori said she paid about N3 million and over N100,000 in fuel weekly. According to her, these figures do not match her monthly earnings.
No matter what the government has done, the fact remains that people are still hungry and getting taxed in all forms of ways,” she said. “Life is unbearably hard.”
She explained that she had no expectations for Mr Tinubu’s broadcast because “no government will paint itself black.”
Ms Adeyori said Mr Tinubu has surrounded himself with sycophants who would not tell him that Nigerians were suffering under his administration. She advised him to take a leaf from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“Obasanjo used to disguise himself, go into the streets to feel the pulse of the people,” she said.
She said Mr Tinubu’s supporters are in denial about admitting that his leadership has plunged many Nigerians into extreme poverty.
Ms Adeyori said soaring inflation had swallowed up what was supposed to be an increase in her earnings (the new minimum wage), leaving her struggling to survive.
Michael Akinlade, who earns N80,000 monthly as a cleaner, said the salary was insufficient to cover his transportation, food and rent. He said the fuel hike had driven up transportation costs, adversely affecting his daily commute to work.
He said his family was bereaved when bandits slit his uncle’s throat on his farm in Ondo state last year.
Insecurity was a priority on the scale of preference, Mr Akinlade said, and Mr Tinubu should urgently address it.
“Killing innocent souls is the issue on the ground,” Mr Akinlade said. “A lot of people are afraid to vote because they don’t want to travel back home to the location of their polling units.”
Joseph Awuya, a security guard who earns about N75,000, told The Gazette he had no faith in an administration he didn’t trust enough to give his vote to.
He bemoaned the current price of cooking gas, which he said he bought at N2,000 per kilogramme.
