President Bola Tinubu featured in a live interview at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali showcasing his andacious tax and economic reforms as fast repositioning Nigeria for growth. He also spoke on the need for Africa to harness its abundant resources in accelerating development. NewsQuest brings the excepts;
Q: Thanks for joining us for this session today where we can talk a little bit about the reforms Nigeria has been underway for the last three years since you took power. There are some very difficult reforms, fuel subsidy, Naira subsidy removal, and I guess the question everyone wonders now is, especially when the progress lags the pain for the population, is the temptation, especially with elections just on the horizon, is the temptation just to open the taps a little bit?
Yes, that is the general thinking of some people who ordinarily didn’t expect the reform. The reform is a very difficult decision, but necessary for the country. We cannot continue to spend our future generations’ endowment where before they were born. It is very necessary to reset, recalibrate, and reform the economy.
It is a fake life to think you can, in a global economy, continue the subsidy that is wasteful, its an encouragement to falsification of papers, smuggling, and that is a very critical situation for the country. When you look at the economic problem of the country and you see that you are almost going bankrupt.
States, of the 36 States, 27 of them were unable to pay the salaries of the workers. Where is the money? You are oil producing, you are earning, you are giving fuel, you have no refinery that is functional. It is not possible to continue that trend.
It is difficult, it is painful, but it is just like the human reproduction process. A woman carries a pregnancy, enjoys the pain of labour, and with a very big smile when she sees a live child.
Q: The reforms obviously took more than nine months, and they are still very much underway. But you have some history in taxation. You have done tax reform in Lagos State when you were government there. So, you understand how important it is. You like tax so much that your new Finance Minister is the Architect of your recent tax reforms. In fact, he is sitting here in the front row. We had the opportunity to talk a little bit about it yesterday. But the problem about tax is that people become very demanding. Now my ancestors taxed the Americans and they ended up throwing all our tea into the sea, which is not how you make a cup of tea. The point is, the Americans demanded more. And if you start taxing Nigerians, they will start demanding more?
Nobody wants to pay taxes ordinarily. Nobody. Taxation is not friendly to the wealthy, to the middle class, and to the poor. Every human being expects development. But the question they don’t answer is, how do you pay for it? You want a very good highway, but you don’t want it to go through your land. How do you develop? You want a good hospital, well-equipped hospital, and you don’t want to pay taxes. How do you care for the vulnerable? And how do you protect the future of the children? How do you even research and develop? Pharmaceutical industry, we remember COVID-19, we remember what happened to the world at large.
So, in a world that you cannot predict what exactly will do, you must think from where the source and application of funds should be engineered. Tax is a priority. A citizen that pays taxe is a citizen, whether corporate or individual. If you are not a taxpayer, are not exempted, then you are not a citizen.
Q: So, let’s assume that you win a second term. You will be in your most politically potent moment. Clinton did his best work in the first two years of his second term. President Obasanjo in Nigeria did a lot of his deep reforms in the first two years of his second term. What would you do in the first two years of your second term?
Do more work. More challenges are there. The world won’t wait for anybody. You have to continue to research and rethink. Challenge the intellectual curiosity of you as a government. The philosophy I came with in governance is believing that the hallmark of a transformative leader is the ability to take decisions, do what you do, at a time it ought to be done on behalf of the people. If you miss that curve, you are not on the path to success. And that’s what I believe.
First term, I took hard decisions, regardless of pain. I stopped reading newspapers and commentary because I knew I was going to get a big pushback and I did. I was sitting on a hot burner. But, we made the curve. Today there is a very bright light at the end of the corner. The economy is stable, Nigeria is stable, predictable, planners can do a reasonable budget. They can plan their lives well. The children are in school, the vulnerable are being helped. We have directed transfers to very poor households, right now going on, and are able to support education. For those students, ordinarily who stay out of school because their parents cannot afford school fees, they are now, I am even giving them allowances and off-kips for their school.
Q: My favorite United States President is Theodore Roosevelt. He really protected the citizens – the consumers broke up. My favorite South Korean President is General Park. He really built up domestic national champions. He protected big businesses in South Korea. What do we need to do most? Who needs most protection in Nigeria? Is it consumers and citizens? Or is it big businesses?
Protection. I will remove the word protection. I will classify it and say support. Support for the big businesses. For them to be able to make revenue and create the jobs necessary. For example, a Dangote, a BUA, and others. And how can I simulate the production process? Okay. I decided to be audacious with infrastructure. Things that were planned 47 years, 45 years back, and they couldn’t do. I am back upon that. Hopenned 800 kilometers of waterfront road- Calabar Coastal Road, so that I can create opportunity for those who will stay in and enjoy tourism in Nigeria. It’s a beautiful country if you know how to use it. That’s one area.
Then, what do I do with that road work? I chose to use cement being produced in Nigeria, a concrete road, so that I don’t have to import bitumen and give foreign exchange to a non-productive sector of the economy. The steel being used is made in Nigeria. So, my philosophy is Nigeria first.
And then to go forward, when, even before the advent of this crisis that could have created instability, look at what a Dangote refinery is doing. He is a risk-taker. He has invested in an audacious refinery. What should my government do? Support him. Encourage him. So, for that, crude being produced in Nigeria is Nigeria dominated. Is Nigeria crude. Give him crude in Naira. You don’t have to go through letter of credit and bureaucracy and make foreign exchange difficult for him. Give it to him in naira.
Q: The coastal road, let’s talk about that because it opens a lot of possibilities. Obviously, the South-South region, historically marginalized because of the Civil War, the traces of which can still be felt. Is this a chance, a little bit like connecting Manchester to London? You can connect the eastern part of the country, which has so many vibrant entrepreneurs, which no one knows about, to the financial muscle of Lagos. You are really creating a new country in a way?
To me, that is the interpretation, and that is the philosophy behind it. Inclusiveness, all of us together as Nigerians must be patriotic to understand that you have no control where you are born. Your parents could be evil. My parents could Ibo, your parents could be Yoruba. You have no control of that. Where you find yourself is your home. This country is ours. We must build it together.
Q: We are in a very turbulent time geopolitically. I can’t be alone here to have woken up on Christmas Day very surprised to see that the United States had bombed northern Nigeria. There are more pragmatic French military partnerships happening where states in coastal West Africa, concerned about what’s happening in the Sahel, are reaching out now to the French, Benin in recently in December also to foil a coup attempt. Is this an era of pragmatic partnerships? How are you working with the US? How are you working with France? How are you working with African partners to guarantee the security which is so badly needed not just in northern Nigeria but in the region?
Those are things. Security challenges will always be there. Those are things you cannot do alone. You can’t operate the world in isolation. Even Trump, as bold as he is, he’s in China. He is talking about them on Taiwan.
So, who am I in Nigeria to say I will do it alone? I must embrace my neighbors. I must pursue pragmatic collaboration and partnership, which is very necessary to assist and make progress and enhance the security of life and properties of our people. And that is what is very, very necessary for the region.
And in ECOWAS, Nigeria is a big brother. In Africa, we are the fat lady. We must sing the tune. We must sing the right tune for others to pay attention to. And that is what we are doing.
Q: There was a period, obviously, the intervention in Liberia when people really sort of respected Nigerian military muscle. And as you say, you were considered the big brother in the region. I think maybe over the last decade, Nigeria has lost some of that diplomatic heft. How can we bring it back?
It’s there. It’s there. People might think because, you know, the narrow path of the challenges that we face today because it was an indoor programme for us. We were helping Zaire in crisis. You have Sudan in crisis. We have stabilized West Africa to some extent.
And that was quick action for any intruder in Benin Republic. And I didn’t waste time for that. I didn’t even have to ask anybody. So, you have to be quick and fast. Nigeria is still there.
Collaboration with trainings and support. Yes, challenges will always be there. There are troublemakers all over. And when you are making changes, you are getting some people out of work, or food, or corruption, and all of that. You’ll be challenged. But, you have to just be focused and be alert. Nigeria is ready.
Q: and gentlemen, please, put your hands together for His Excellency President Bola Tenobu, the oga at the top.
