Home And Abroad, Tinubu’s Nigeria is Taking Its Rightful Place

Written By Mohammed Idris, Minister Of Information And National Orientation

Having hit the ground running at home, with a series of very bold and unprecedented reform decisions, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gone ahead to seize the opportunity offered by September 2023, to make a grand entry onto the global stage.

In what has been his busiest month on the global stage since he assumed office, President Tinubu traveled to India for the G20 Summit on the special invitation of Prime Minister Modi, made a stopover on his way back home for a crucial meeting with the leadership of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on lingering issues of concern between UAE and Nigeria, and then traveled to New York to make his debut at the most important annual gathering of Heads of State, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

At every engagement, he has taken the time to remind the world of just how significant his first four months in office have been, in terms of laying the foundation for unlocking levels of economic growth and prosperity that the nation has always been capable of, but has sadly remained a pipe dream.

He ended a costly and wasteful fuel subsidy regime that has, over the decades, deprived the country of tens of billions of dollars in potential infrastructure and human capital investments.

He also commenced an overhaul of the Central Bank of Nigeria, shaking up the leadership of the bank and supporting it to abolish an inefficient system of multiple exchange rates.

President Tinubu has also assembled a cabinet with an impressive representation of young people and women, while also creating new Ministries and ministerial portfolios to reflect the pressing realities of the 21st century.

On the regional level, President Tinubu has, in his role as recently-elected Chairman of ECOWAS, shown great commitment to stemming the condemnable wave of military takeovers that have rocked the sub-region.

The President is being supported in his many onerous assignments by a very energetic and committed Cabinet.

The cabinet has a very busy last quarter of the year ahead as the administration will unveil its inaugural budget.

Nigeria will also take part in the annual global gathering for Climate Change, COP28, in Dubai. Other priorities include a tax policy reform to a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transition for petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles, to the full implementation of a comprehensive relief package to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy.

The President understands how important it is to engage with the world to achieve his objectives. He has met with Presidents and heads of State from the United States, India, Germany, South Korea, South Africa, Angola, and Jordan, among others.

The global business executives he has held meetings with this month include Exxon Mobil, Bharti Enterprises, Oracle, Hinduja Group, Indorama, Skipper Seil, and others—receiving pledges amounting to several billions of dollars in new investments in the process.

The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation will be very critical to the success of national messaging and is committed to giving it everything required for the right narratives to succeed.

The Ministry has a vision that includes redesigning how the Federal Government of Nigeria engages with the Nigerian people at home and abroad, and with the world.

As part of this, the Ministry will scale up its engagements with stakeholders, modernize tools and platforms of information and communication, and work to craft credible and believable narratives that Nigerians will be proud of and delighted to share with the world.

In a few days, our dear country will celebrate its 63rd Independence Anniversary.

This will offer an opportunity to further reflect on our nationhood journey, and the expectations of the citizens, and for the leaders to rededicate themselves to delivering on the bold and dynamic leadership that will enable Nigeria to fully assume its rightful place on the global stage.