by Ayo Akinfe
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte became France’s first consul and declared: “A newborn government must dazzle and astonish.” Here are ten things Bola Tinubu can announce within the next week to dazzle and astonish
[1] We will establish a special anti-kidnapping squad of the Nigeria Police Force headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police with a mandate to eliminate what has become a banditry pandemic of late
[2] We will build the world’s largest hydro-electric power plant at Lokoja, Kogi State with a capacity to generate 15,000MW of electricity
[3] A 10th mechanised division of the Nigerian Army will be established in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital. It will be a specialist anti-terrorist division
[4] As from July 1 2023, the federal government will no longer subsidise religious pilgrimages
[5] As from October 1 2023, open grazing of cattle will be illegal across Nigeria. All cattle must be moved to secure ranches by this date or they will be seized
[6] Domestic airlines led by Air Peace have been invited to take a 30% in the new proposed national carrier Air Nigeria. Foreign airlines will have a 20%, Ethiopian Airways will have a 20% stake and the Federal Government will have a 20% stake.
[8] On October 1 2027, Nigeria will abolish its current federal allocation formula. Between now and then, there will be a gradual move towards resource control
[9] The Federal Government will be accepting bids for the NNPC. It remains an albatross around our collective necks as it bleeds Nigeria dry with its petrol subsidies, so we will sell it to those who can make it work and maybe get its refineries functioning again
[10] We shall be sending a bill to the National Assembly linking the salaries of senators, House of Rep members and governors to grades in the civil service
