Former presidential aide and veteran journalist, Laolu Akande, has advised President Bola Tinubu to more actively engage Vice President Kashim Shettima in the coordination and implementation of government policies to improve the effectiveness of his administration.
Speaking on the My Take segment of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday, Akande urged the President to prioritize stronger internal coordination, crack down on indiscipline and corruption, and ensure that the tone of leadership matches the economic realities faced by Nigerians.
Titled “Policy Tips President Tinubu Can Still Adopt Two Years After – Part III,” Akande’s commentary reflected on the need for the Tinubu administration to course-correct and consolidate its policy direction midway through its tenure.
“The Tinubu administration will need to significantly up its game in the area of implementation and coordination of its policies. The president should consider engaging his vice president more to help him ensure coordination of some of the work of the government,” he said.
Akande also emphasized the importance of enforcing discipline and accountability across the government. Referring to President Tinubu’s own remarks at a recent APC summit, he stated:
“The president should impose consequences on indiscipline and the high level of corruption in Nigeria. Good thing, the president himself brought up the issue of indiscipline and corruption at the last APC summit.”
He further cautioned government officials against displays of extravagance, saying:
“The president should ensure that the government and its officials don’t showcase any kind of ostentation at a time when many Nigerians are suffering under the economic pace of some of the unavoidable and bold reforms that the president had to take.”
On national security, Akande called for a more aggressive approach to address insecurity, suggesting a mix of conventional and unconventional strategies:
“The president should ramp up the numbers of the boots on the ground, whether it’s for military or for the police. Number two, the federal government should consider the use of non-conventional fighting groups to help defeat and destroy the insurgents and the bandits in the land.”
He also called for urgent action on police reform and constitutional restructuring:
“We should promptly ensure the implementation of state police or ensure that we decentralize the Nigerian police force. Another part of number three is that the president should in fact go ahead and drive the process that will produce for us a new Nigerian constitution that all of us will be proud of. We can no longer blame the military after 26 years of unbroken civilian rule for the structure of our country.”
Akande urged the Tinubu administration to reinvigorate social investment programmes and accelerate efforts in energy reform:
“The Tinubu administration should reinvigorate the social investment program. Number six, we should implement the idea of mini-grids quickly so that we no longer have to depend on one singular strained national grid.”
He also recommended a decentralised electricity model:
“The federal government and states should urgently facilitate the emergence of integrated power companies who will generate and distribute electricity in specific localities and regions of the country by themselves.”
To tackle unemployment, Akande stressed the importance of driving productivity and investing in human capital development:
“The Tinubu administration should drive productivity in order to create millions of jobs. This should be specifically in three areas. The president should declare a state of emergency in the education and in the health sectors. That way, the federal government will become empowered to compel the state governors to implement significant reforms in education and in health.”
Closing his remarks with an optimistic appeal, Akande said:
“It is good enough a time to etch your name in the annals of Nigerian history positively. You can do it, Mr. President. And there are those of us who still believe that you will get it done.”
