Folarin Kehinde

President Bola Tinubu has advised Nigerians to step up their management skill in reducing electricity bills.

“It’s not negative to learn to manage. You learn to control your electricity bill, switch off the light, let’s learn to manage,” Tinubu said on Monday in a chat with reporters at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos State.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain also said he does not believe in price control and he won’t go that path. “I don’t believe in price control, we will work hard to supply the market,” he said.

After his inauguration in May 2023, Tinubu, former Lagos governor, energy costs skyrocketed, especially with the removal of petrol subsidy and electricity tariff hikes. Petrol prices more than quadrupled, soaring from less than N200 per litre to over N1,100 in many parts of the country. The naira also took a nosedive, wobbling from around N700/$ to N1,600.

On April 3, 2024, the electricity regulator raised the tariff for customers said to be under the Band A classification, with customers now paying N225 kilowatt per hour from N66, a development that has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians, considering the immediacy of the tariff hike and the current hardship in the land.

Food and commodity inflation have skyrocketed as Nigerians battle what can pass for the worst cost of living crisis since the country’s independence over six decades ago but Tinubu has insisted that his reforms are necessary to set the country on the path of prosperity.

President Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu has been named as The Will newspaper’s choice for 2024 Man of the Year.

The newspaper stated that the decision to honour President Tinubu was unanimous among its editorial team.

According to them, the president’s reform policies over the past year have profoundly impacted Nigerians in ways unseen in recent history.

The newspaper wrote in its editorial: “President Tinubu’s reform policies in the past one year have significantly impacted every Nigerian negatively, old or young in business, employed or unemployed as never before in the country’s recent history.

“Government’s removal of subsidy and floating of the local currency, the Naira delivered a big blow to the already fragile economy as the resultant increase in fuel prices drove logistics and the prices of food items through the roof.

“Nigeria’s annual inflation rate jumped to 34.60 percent in November, from 33.88 percent recorded in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report last Monday.

“According to the Bureau, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.40 percentage points higher than the 28.20 percent rate recorded in November 2023.

“This shows that the year-on-year headline inflation rate increased in November 2024, compared to the same month in the preceding year of November 2023.

For the yearly average Consumer Price Index, CPI, the result shows an increase. It said the percentage change in the average CPI for the twelve months ending November 2024 over the average for the previous twelve-month period was 32.77 percent, showing 8.76 per cent points increase, compared to 24.01 per cent recorded in November 2023. The yearly Urban/ Rural inflation rate is also high.

“In November 2024, the urban inflation rate was 35.07 percent, indicating 9.62 percentage points higher compared to the 25.45 percent recorded in November 2023. Rural inflation rate average in November 2024 was 30.71 percent on a year-on-year basis. This was 8.00 percentage points higher, compared to the 22.71 percent recorded in November 2023.

According to the Bureau, the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of Yam, Water Yam, Coco Yam, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Guinea Corn, Maize Grains, Rice, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Beer, Pinto (Tobacco Class), and Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil, etc (Oil and Fats Class).

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in November 2024 was 2.98 percent, which shows a 0.05 percentage point increase compared to the 2.94 percent recorded in October 2024.

For the past one year, therefore, Nigerians across all social strata, business and professional calling, have felt the pain and hardship of the ongoing reforms.

“Little wonder, many of them took to social media to deploy the moniker T-Pain (Tinubu Pain) in describing the harsh realities of government’s reform policies, though his media handlers rechristened it Temporary Pain while National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, says it should actually be T-Gain (Tinubu Gains).”

President Bola Tinubu has approved free train rides nationwide from December 20, 2024, to January 5, 2025.

This is part of measures to ease transportation costs during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told State House correspondents in Abuja.

Idris explained, “As we did last year, there will be free train service to all Nigerians from December 20 up until January 5, free train service nationwide.

“This is consistent with the President’s desire to cushion the effect of transportation, especially to the most vulnerable Nigerians.

“Recall that this also happened in the last Christmas period and the Sallah period. And the President has also approved that this year.”