S unday March 30, 2025 will remain remarkable not just as the day President Bola Tinubu clocked 73; it also turned out to be a Sunday when Christians were celebrating Motherhood. The Muslims were also excited following the end of Ramadan. It is more than mere coincidence that Tinubu’s birthday fell on that day of joy.

And what more can Nigerians ask for but more celebrations of joy. These past nearly two years of ‘Renewed Hope’ have changed the narrative. Things grew from bad to worse. Life has become so difficult that even the blind can see darkness in the sky. The world evolved through ages, from the Stone to the Dark Age.

There was the Medieval Age, long before the Jet Age landed. Let us hope that those who continue to defend the Tinubu Regime will create opportunity for a new dawn in the country. The President loses nothing by loosening the poverty belt, for citizens to enjoy a whiff of fresh air. Many beneficiaries of the administration took out newspaper pages to celebrate the president. We saw the high and mighty at Aso Villa.

Those photographs of the haves did not really tell the story. The erstwhile Giant of Africa is now dwarfed by biting hardship. Tinubu may mean well but the road to desired results is still far away. His supporters believe their benefactor knows how to take risks. However, being bold does not mean that policy makers must necessarily become undertakers.

Those who give this government a very bad image should turn a new leaf. There is a lesson to learn from the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu. While bootlickers had gone to work ready to squeeze students of Delta State College of Nursing for singing what sounded like uncomplimentary songs when she graced an occasion in Asaba, Madam rose in defence of the students.

hat singular act by Mrs Tinubu and her Media team, led by Busola Kukoyi, brought that office more garlands than the President’s team had earned since May 29, 2023. The First Lady quickly clarified the issue emphasising that, obviously, the nurses tried to remind her of the preferential treatment she accorded midwives.

President Tinubu’s greatest enemies are those who surround him. Some of them believe that propaganda is the best weapon to defend and manage their principal. Where the First Lady used wisdom, they would apply intimidation, like Nineteenth Century imperialists. There are things that Tinubu’s New Age must change.

Nigerians want a New Deal. It is possible. Let Tinubu’s New Age bring the long awaited good news

The mad rush to 2027 is sickening. In just two years of this administration, every activity is centred on a second tenure. This is distractive. The people have to survive and the nation needs healing before talks of reelection consume our collective good Tinubu became popular as an activist who fought dictatorship.

The taste of the pudding, they say, is in the eating. Signals coming from Aso Villa show that the great fighter of the NADECO battles may have joined the other side by looking beyond the constitution to fight nascent battles.

The greatest birthday gift Nigerians expect is true separation of powers, as enshrined in the constitution. There is worry that the Legislature and the Judiciary are not doing enough to safeguard this democracy. While we do not suggest that they should engage Aso Villa in a boxing duel, the other arms do not need to be sleeping dogs.

To write his name in gold, Tinubu must look beyond the Yorubanisation of key appointments. It is unthinkable that the president would try to outdo his predecessor in this unholy trend. There are as many qualified Nigerians from other Geo - Political Zones as there are in the South -West. Many are wondering how the same man who gave non-Yoruba a place in his Lagos cabinet changed at the Federal level.

One obvious difference is that while Buhari punished the South - East with irrelevance, Tinubu has tried to make a little difference. Under the Daura General, the South - East was denied service and paramilitary chiefs’ appointment. Today, that region has Christopher Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff and Ndidi Nwakuche, Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Proudly standing, too, is the South East Development Commission. It must be said that credit goes to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, for elevating Nwakuche who was good enough for that position three years earlier but was frustrated. Tunji - Ojo is working.

Tinubu deserves commendation for fishing him out. The minister has destroyed Passport Officer racketeers and is doing much more using technology to ease transactions in all Nigerian Immigration Services facilities. With ministers like this young man, the president is home and dry. This is part of Tunji-Ojo’s score card.

"All inherited promotion backlogs for Paramilitary officers have been cleared, with over 50, 000 officers across agencies under the ministry promoted within 18 months. Since its establishment in 1986, the Civil Defence Correctional Fire and Immigration Services Board never commenced and completed promotion exercises in a calendar year."

Tinubu’s birthday gift should be to drop all propagandists around him, bring back our lives through a robust economy, be more of a true statesman and keep 2027 prone politicians away from policy decisions. Nigerians want a New Deal. It is possible. Let Tinubu’s New Age bring the long awaited good news.