Nigerians have expressed divergent views on Monday’s nationwide broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The broadcast centred majorly on his policies on fuel subsidy removal, revamping the nation’s battered economy, education, the labour force and infrastructural development of the country.
In Ilorin, Kwara State capital, some residents who spoke with newsmen expressed doubts over the positive results of President Tinubu’s interventionist policies during the trying period of the country’s history.
Reacting to the president’s broadcast, Professor Moyosore Alao, Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Ilorin chapter, said “the union’s position on students education loans has not changed.
“This is not the first time we have had one student’s education plan or the other. What befell the fates of the earliest ones? he queried.
Professor Moyosore cautioned Nigeria not to lose her sense of history and advised the government to learn from what is happening in developed countries such as America, Germany and others in respect of educational loans.
“It is a doomed project especially, because of the attached conditions. What the government needs to give is grants and scholarships to brilliant indigent but poor students, so that they are not disadvantaged,” he declared.
The ASUU chairman said the grant should be administered by the universities or a board with proper management to ensure compliance with global standards.
In his reaction, Professor Hassan Salihu, in the Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin, said “My impression is that he is feeling the heat and he is working hard to change the narrative about the situation in the country.
” However, I insist that President Tinubu should realise that the support he is seeking, he is getting it for now but the cry is still very loud. I pray he gets the message and thinks through his Western economic theory.
“My personal view is that the president does not seem to have the luxury of time to engage in trial and error. He has to do an out-of-the-box policy mix to get us out of the woods.
“Much of his policy initiatives will have a long gestation period whilst the immediacy is imperative for Nigerians. This is the crux of the matter for the country,” he added.
Professor Hassan noted that while the good intentions of the president are not hidden, “the point being made is that all his proposed policies or interventions were seen before and they never worked out as contained on paper.
“How will they be different and avoid the usual Nigerian now? Fundamentally, Nigerians want a regime of immediate relief from the harsh socio-economic environment, but that they may not happen from the broadcast speech, ” he asserted.
Also reacting, another resident, Segun Adebayo, said he believes that the palliative programmes of the Federal government may not work because greedy politicians will hijack the policies to their advantage.
He advised the federal government to adopt the Malaysian system of distributing palliatives to the people in a bid to reduce fraudulent practices.
“The way we going, only God can save the country, we need to choose the right leaders to lead the country aright,” he added.
A former federal civil servant, Mr Bashir, noted that the president had fulfilled his promises of renewed hope for Nigeria.
He commended the provision of buses for state governments and the relief granted to students with the approval of education loans.