A well-known human rights attorney and activist from Nigeria has harshly criticized President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office, charging him with inconsistent policy reversals and poor planning for significant projects. Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu made the suggestion that, given the frequency of about-faces thus far, Tinubu would be remembered as “the president with the most reversed policies in the history of governance” in a post on his X (previously Twitter) account.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
“He – @officialABAT – will probably go down in history as the president with the most reversed policies in the history of governance at the rate he’s going,” Odinkalu wrote.
The respected rights activist, who previously chaired Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, cited the administration’s messaging around a proposed new Lagos-Calabar highway as an example of haphazard planning and overpromising.
“Even the construction Lagos-Calabar highway, announced with fanfare, hadn’t been fully thought through,” he stated.
Odinkalu’s broadside captures growing frustrations from critics who accuse Tinubu of being a policy flip-flopper without clear strategic direction for addressing Nigeria’s myriad challenges.
In his first year, the 71-year-old former Lagos governor has reversed course on issues like fuel subsidies, cash policies, and economic plans – leading to charges he is making decisions via knee-jerk reactions rather than methodical long-term thinking.
The perceived lack of foresight and coherence behind initiatives like the proposed Lagos-Calabar highway project, which would reshape regional infrastructure, have only fueled such criticisms of Tinubu’s governing style.
While every new administration is expected to adjust some policies once in office, Odinkalu’s assessment taps into a broader narrative that the Tinubu presidency has been sending mixed signals through a rapid succession of uncoordinated policy resets in its fledgling months.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>