Nigeria at 65 and the Renewed Hope Agenda

Babajide Sanwo-Olu

In his memoir, My Life, Sir Ahmadu Bello writes of visiting Lagos for the first time in 1949 with his friend, the Wali of Borno. The visit sparked a political awakening in him and gave him a greater appreciation of the sheer complexity of Nigeria.

He wrote, and I quote: “When I went to Lagos in 1949 I met for the first time, and saw in action, Nigerian politicians of the calibre of Dr Azikiwe. I began to see that we in the North would have to take politics seriously before very long. If we did not do so we should be left far behind in the future governmental development of Nigeria.”

One very striking feature of the late Sardauna was his hunger and desire for the development of Northern Nigeria. He paid close attention to what was going on in other regions of Nigeria, and even abroad, and allowed himself to be challenged and inspired by these developments to offer even greater leadership.

This spirit of healthy, vigorous competition is one that we as political leaders of today need to imbibe more seriously. When we push ourselves in this way, it benefits everyone — development happens faster and at greater scale, and never slows down.

In just three months from now, we will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the January 15, 1966 coup d’état, which not only truncated the fledgling democracy of Africa’s most populous country but also tragically cut short the lives of several leading politicians, in the most horrible circumstances possible.

On that fateful day, January 15, 1966, Arewa House became the site of a violent invasion that left death and destruction in its wake. But to the credit of the people of Northern Nigeria, they did not allow the Sardauna’s compound to fall into ruins or to be converted into something else entirely. Instead, it was turned into Arewa House — a permanent memorial to one of the greatest Africans of all time.

Today, we are able to gather here, surrounded by physical and emotional reminders of the life of Sir Ahmadu Bello, to discuss the journey of Nigeria since 1960. Let me take this opportunity to commend the board of trustees, the governing council, and the executive director of Arewa House for keeping the flag flying and remaining committed to intellectual inquiry and engagement.

As we approach this significant 60th anniversary of the passing of Sir Ahmadu Bello, as well as the 66th Independence anniversary of our dear nation, Nigeria, we are challenged to reflect on the journey of nationhood and the lessons from the architects of our self-governance.

Sir Ahmadu Bello’s generation of politicians were people of great ambition — bold and vocal in their convictions. They made decisions that were sometimes deemed controversial but were necessary for growth and development. They planted seeds for future generations, even when the people they led did not always have the patience to understand what was being done or the long-term benefits.

The risk of being a bold political leader is, of course, that you will be misunderstood and misinterpreted — but this was a risk they were willing to take. Indeed, anyone who wishes to play in the political arena must be ready to be misunderstood, stereotyped, and attacked.

These qualities — bold vision and action, doing the right thing for tomorrow even if it seems difficult today — are deeply shared by the man who now leads our country as President  Tinubu.

In his politics and vision, President Tinubu taps heavily into the audacious foresight that defined Sir Ahmadu Bello’s generation. The President’s Renewed Hope Agenda is a clear testament to this foresight—and he has faithfully implemented its pledges and commitments since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.

Let me briefly highlight what this Renewed Hope Agenda is all about. It is the governing vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, upon which he campaigned vigorously ahead of the 2023 presidential election. The Agenda — an “Action Plan for a Better Nigeria” — comprises eight pillars:

•               Reform the Economy for Sustained Inclusive Growth

•               Strengthen National Security for Peace and Prosperity

•               Boost Agriculture to Achieve Food Security

•               Unlock Energy and Natural Resources for Sustainable Development

•               Enhance Infrastructure and Transportation as Enablers of Growth

•               Focus on Education, Health, and Social Investment as Essential Pillars of Development

•               Accelerate Diversification through Industrialization, Digitization, Creative Arts, Manufacturing & Innovation

•               Improve Governance for Effective Service Delivery

1.             A comprehensive agenda focused on economic growth and diversification, security in all its ramifications (national security, energy security, food security), national infrastructure, human capital development, and governance reform.

2.             Anchored on progressive thinking and solutions, the Renewed Hope Agenda is in full alignment with the founding ideals and long-term direction of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At the State level, APC Governors are encouraged to draw from and align with these pillars in our various governing agendas. In Lagos State, for example, our THEMES+ agenda is fully aligned, emphasizing infrastructure, human capital development, diversification through entertainment and tourism, security, governance reform, and social inclusion. This unity of purpose, across tiers of government, is an essential foundation for fast-tracking development in Nigeria.

If you examine the Renewed Hope Agenda closely, you will find its roots in the experiences and lessons learned from Lagos State — Nigeria’s most populous state and biggest subnational economy — where President Tinubu served as Governor two decades ago and laid a solid foundation that continues to be strengthened to this day.

The President’s political journey of course did not begin as Governor of Lagos State in 1999; he had served as a Senator six years earlier, and then spent the intervening years fighting for the actualisation of June 12—the freest and fairest presidential election in our country’s history, uniting Nigerians across ethnic and religious lines—a fight for which he paid a very heavy price, as we all know.

Over the decades, his political vision has been shaped and nurtured by his experiences, culminating in the Renewed Hope agenda. That Lagos has, despite being a subnational government, shown national leadership in many key areas, is largely due to the reform credentials of the President, which he honed and sharpened as Governor between 1999 and 2007.

As Governor of Lagos, his signature successes included civil service reform, judicial reform, urban transport reform, tax reform, land administration reform—all of these underpinned by impressive levels of digitisation and automation. Far-reaching reforms are at the very heart of the Renewed Hope agenda.

As you all know, the very first decision the President took upon assuming office, right there at Eagle Square, was removing petrol subsidy. It was a difficult decision to make, and one with significant cost-of-living implications for the Nigerian people, and the President himself has always acknowledged this. But it was necessary—we were not going to survive for much longer as a country if we carried on with that level of fiscal burden that was rife with abuse and corruption.

Another major decision was the unification of exchange rates, to close another area where the country was losing billions of dollars in revenues every year, and with no outcomes that were productive for the economy.

A third major fiscal reform has been the introduction, passage and presidential assent to four tax Acts, unprecedented in scope in our recent history. The goal of these new tax laws is to grow our tax revenues without imposing additional burdens on the most vulnerable Nigerians.

For example, the turnover threshold at which MSMEs are exempted from Company Income Tax (CIT) and Capital Gains Tax (CGT) has been increased from 25 million Naira to 100 million Naira. This means that all companies with gross annual turnover of 100 million or less are exempted from CIT and CGT. In addition, annual incomes of N800,000 and below are also exempted from Personal Income Tax; while the list of goods and services exempted from Value Added Tax has been expanded.

Collectively, these fiscal reforms represent a hard reset of the Nigerian system. A reset away from dysfunction, to efficiency, away from wasteful consumption, to productivity. The country now has a new engine on which it can run and operate at full potential.

The reform foundation of the Renewed Hope Agenda has not just been about blocking leakages, even more importantly it is about increasing the quantum of resources available to drive real and sustainable growth and development.

Nigeria has so many urgent and important needs: roads, rail lines, power plants, dams and irrigation, world-class schools and hospitals, well-equipped and motivated security agencies, and many more. For too long, the resources that should have gone into these cornerstones of development were lost as leakages to fiscal systems that we had built, that were serving only a privileged few.

Today that story has changed. Ask any State Governor or Local Government Chairperson today, and they will tell you just how much revenues have surged under watch of President Tinubu. There is now more money to do more that benefits the people of Nigeria.

Having been Governor, President Tinubu not only knows what it is to run a subnational government—he also understands very deeply the role that State and Local Governments play in actualising national development.

This is why he has put so much focus on empowering those two tiers of government. Between 2023 and 2024, federal allocations to State Governments grew by a whopping 62 percent—i.e. almost two thirds, while those to Local Governments grew by 47 percent—i.e. almost half.

That pattern has continued till date, and is set to grow even further from 2026, with the new Tax Laws which have reduced the Federal Government’s share of VAT from 15% to 10%, while raising the share for States and Local Government Areas to 55% and 35%, respectively. Yet another demonstration of the lengths to which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR will go to take decisions for the collective good, and not personal gain.

For the local governments, he took the matter of their financial autonomy to the Supreme Court, and made a convincing case that secured a historic judgement in favour of Local Governments. He is equally committed to ensuring the full implementation of this financial autonomy for this tier of government that is closest to the needs and aspirations and desires of the Nigerian people.

The tireless reformer that he is, the President is now on a quest to extend the reforms and restructuring to Nigeria’s security architecture, in a manner that has never been seen since 1960. I’m referring here to the issue of State Policing—which is most accurately described as an arrangement that empowers State Governments to have a greater say in the security of their States and local communities.

Just last month, while receiving a delegation of eminent Katsina leaders, led by Governor Dikko Umaru Radda, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR said, and I quote, “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create a State Police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, people, livelihood, places of worship, and recreational spaces.”

When the President sets out to achieve a fundamental reform, we know that, regardless of all the odds and challenges, he will—working with and carrying along all stakeholders—achieve his objectives.

His life’s mission is eloquently captured in his 2024 New Year’s Address to the nation, where he said, and I quote, “Fellow Nigerians, my major ambition in government as a Senator in the aborted Third Republic, as Governor of Lagos State for eight years and now as the President of this blessed country is to build a fair and equitable society and close the widening inequality.

While I believe the rich should enjoy their legitimately-earned wealth, our minimum bargain must be that, any Nigerian that works hard and diligent enough will have a chance to get ahead in life.”

The President is a veteran unifier and a bridge-builder, and this is self-evident from the breadth and vastness of his personal and political networks across Nigeria and even Africa. And I can very boldly say that bridge-building is what the Renewed Hope Agenda is all about, as well.

The agenda seeks to build bridges—bridges of impactful reform, of enduring development, of collective prosperity, and of equity and national unity—in Nigeria. And it is doing this with the understanding that Nigeria is a large and diverse country, comprising various regions that must be allowed to advance in a way that is compatible with their specific contexts and circumstances.

On Saturday, March 27, 2021, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress as then was, chaired the 2021 Sardauna Memorial Lecture, held in this same place, Arewa House, Kaduna.

In his remarks on that occasion, he said, regarding the design and implementation of unique and tailored development models for Nigeria: “What I advocate is something that can be applied to both the common and unique developmental challenges of the North and South so that the nation moves in unison without any group or region feeling left out or estranged from national progress.”

This nuanced appreciation of the unique differences across Nigeria on account of geography and culture is a key element of the philosophy underpinning President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda; and it is also something he shares with the late Sir Ahmadu Bello and his generation of independence-era statesmen. They understood that development is never a one-size-fits-all conversation.

For example, as the question of Nigeria’s independence from Great Britain gained momentum, Sir Ahmadu Bello envisioned a time when Nigeria’s regions would be able to, I quote, “[sink] their differences, grievances, prejudices, both tribal and political, suspicions and fears and agree on the fundamental principles of self-government.” Whether this happened or not before October 1, 1960, or whether it has happened since then, is up for historians to discuss and debate.

As I said pointed out above, the late Sardauna was someone who deliberately allowed himself to be challenged by the development he saw in other regions of the country. Whether it is state policing or local government autonomy, or presidential legacy infrastructure projects connecting our cities and opening up our rural areas, any development that will endure must be home-grown, local, and bottom-up.

I am reminded of these words of Sir Ahmadu Bello, on the vision of the Northern Peoples Congress, the political party that he ran as President from 1949 until his death: “Our aims were very simple. To develop the country to the fullest extent in the shortest time; to preserve the peace, good order, and friendly relations between all our different peoples; to conduct an efficient and impartial administration; to ensure for all, freedom of thought and religion; to do good to all men.”

More than six decades later, these words still ring with truth and power. They stand as an eloquent and timeless challenge to those of us striving to build on the legacies of those who walked ahead of us. We must study their lives and their examples and learn from their successes and especially their shortcomings.

No one is perfect, and politics and public service are not about perfection. Instead they are about constantly improving, finetuning, reforming—planting trees we might not be around to enjoy, building to leave behind a better country and a better planet than the one we inherited.

I will close with a strong message of hope and unity for these times that we are in, against the backdrop of the challenges that we are confronting as a nation, including false and baseless claims from the United States government about religious persecution and intolerance.

We will continue to affirm that Nigeria is a proudly multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural country, where the things that bind us together are far weightier than whatever seeks to separate or divide us.

We stand together as citizens and compatriots, firm in our conviction about our common destiny. God has put us together for a purpose, and we shall achieve that purpose without distraction or division.

We shall defeat every challenge: poverty, hunger, and insecurity.

As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu  reminded us earlier this week: “The task ahead is immense, but it is our resolve to move forward with unity and purpose, guided by the Renewed Hope Agenda to build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient Nigeria.”

•Above are Excerpts from a lecture delivered by Governor Sanwo-Olu at the Invitation of the Arewa Think Tank to Mark the 65th Anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence