Two years have passed since President Bola Tinubu mounted the saddle amidst a cloud of doubt over the fidelity of the election that brought him to power. It is now mid-term. As the nation prepares for 2027, how has he fared?

During the campaigns, Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, promised to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari. For sure, Buhari’s Three-Point Agenda – Security, Economy and Anti-Corruption – worsened after his eight years.

Tinubu announced, right at his inauguration at the Eagle Square, the immediate commencement of implementation of petrol subsidy. Petrol price shot from N180 per litre to over N1,200, over 600 per cent. Tinubu was unfazed by the ensuing economic bedlam. He went on to float the Naira which fell by over 300 per cent to N1,700. The partial freeze on electricity subsidy saw some consumers paying over 300 per cent more.

These IMF/World Bank-dictated policies threw Nigerians into extreme poverty, hardship and hunger never before experienced except in the former breakaway Biafra. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, recently disclosed that about 7.2 million medium and small businesses were lost to Tinubu’s draconian economic policies.

What riled Nigerians the most was that the regime created two worlds, one for the rulers and other for the ruled. The president bought himself a new presidential jet, travelled to Paris eight times, went on international assignments with his son Seyi, in tow, built a N15 billion new mansion for VP Kashim Shettima, bought super-expensive armoured cars for National Assembly members, offered lavish welfare packages to them and the Judiciary and generally continued to live in luxury.

The people on the other hand wailed in the streets of hunger, and many have died needlessly of hardship.

The economy has shown signs of positive responses, including the easing of food inflation from 34 per cent to about 23 per cent which is still too high. Government has been able to pay off some debts owed foreign airlines, international lenders and others. We now produce more crude oil and have resumed domestic refining of oil.

However, experts warn there is very little trickle-down effect on the masses.

Despite frequent Defence Headquarters bulletins of “neutralisations” of the sources of our insecurity, the Tinubu regime has visibly failed in that sector. Boko Haram has reignited. The bandits are roaming free. Fulani armed militias are still attacking everywhere unchecked. More jihadist terrorists – Lakurawa and Mahmuda – have entered the fray. Our Armed Forces appear unable to defend our territorial integrity and the safety of lives and property of Nigerians. The anti-corruption agencies have become a laughingstock due to their inability to do their jobs without fear or favour.

Tinubu is no further than Buhari in ability to tackle the nation’s problems.