Some days ago, President Bola Tinubu crossed the symbolic 100 days in office. But there was no fanfare because the day coincided with the delivery of judgment on the petition against his victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
After 13 hours of judgement, the court ruled that Mr Tinubu, who is in far-away India, remains the president. The panel dismissed all the petitions against him and his vice, Kashim Shettima.
With the tribunal judgement settled and all ministers fully in place, Newssphere will review some of the promises contained in the Renewed Hope Manifesto. The attention will be on low-hanging fruit promises.
Although President Tinubu did not put a specific timeline to achieve some of the promises, this review seeks to monitor the implementation of the promises.
The president has already removed the fuel subsidy regime, and Nigerians are still waiting for measures to cushion the removal’s effect. He has equally signed the student loan bill into law, but students are yet to get the loans while some schools are increasing fees.
Ending Almajiri and out of school
Across some of the major cities in the North, children with bowls in their hands roam the streets, begging for food and money. They are called Almajirici—students sent to leave with Islamic teachers.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan tried to reform the Almajiri system by building schools for them; however, the schools have been abandoned due to the inaction of the Buhari administration. According to several reports, there are over 13.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria.
In the manifesto, President Tinubu promised to set up a task force headed by a special czar to address the problem of out-of-school.
“A task force headed by a special czar will be created to address this problem,” the portion reads.
Schools are resuming in September, and Nigerians are still waiting for the special czar to address the problem of out-of-school children.
Setting up of special anti-terror battalion
According to data from SBM Intelligence, over 600 have been killed within the first 45 days under Tinubu. Most were killed by bandits, Boko Haram insurgents, ethnic militias, armed robbers and other non-state actors.
President Tinubu had promised to set up an anti-terror special battalion to deal with terrorists. In the manifesto, the battalion will have special forces units.
“Highly trained and disciplined anti-terrorist battalions (ABATTS) with special forces units will be created,” the portion reads.
While Nigerians are waiting, different groups continue to kill across the country.
Freeing police from VIP services
Nigerians have experienced different Inspector Generals of Police making pronouncements of withdrawal of police as escorts to VIPs. All the pronouncements have failed to yield the desired outcome.
Again, in the manifesto, Tinubu promised that police would be freed from such duties, while such responsibilities would be for the men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Surprisingly, in July, Acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olukayode Egbetokun, ordered the withdrawal of the Police Mobile Force, popularly known as MOPOL, from VIP guard duties.
The directive of the IGP seems not to tally with the promise of President Tinubu, who promised the withdrawal of all police personnel.
Nigerians are still waiting for the fulfilment of that promise by President Tinubu.
Ending oil theft
In the past couple of weeks, Nigerians have witnessed accusations and counter-accusations between the military and the men of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a company owned by ex-militant Government Tompolo.
It would be recalled that the Federal government contracted the firm for oil pipeline surveillance.
However, President Tinubu had promised Nigerians that he would “establish a Special Enforcement and Monitoring Unit.”
Nigerians are yet to see that special monitoring unit; they are left with Tompolo and the Navy making accusations and counter-accusations.