President Bola Tinubu has presented the top ten of his renewed hope policies and planned reformations for 2025 to salvage Nigeria’s economic nosedive. The proposed policies, though not quite different from what politicians often presented at the beginning of the year, are poised to bolster the country’s socio-economic welfare for an average Nigerian.

At the inauguration, the president took the giant step of removing the fuel subsidy and devaluing the Naira in the foreign exchange market. These policies have not sat well with Nigerians, who are experiencing economic hardship and a high cost of living as a consequence of the new policies.

While the president and members of his administration have insisted at various fora that the reform is best for Nigeria’s economic viability, the majority of Nigerians have disagreed, particularly given that the political class is barely making sacrifices or bearing the economic brunt like the rest of the citizens.

Despite the calls from different angles for the reversal of the fuel subsidy removal, the President has maintained the status quo saying that the policy has come to stay. On the other hand, the government has reeled out the top ten of its policies that could shape the economics and welfare of the people in the year 2025.

Although there is growing scepticism among Nigerians about the implementation of the said policies and how they will ease the hardship in the country, here are the ten most prioritised policies by the President Tinubu administration for 2025.

1. The National Youth CONFAB: scheduled for early 2025, the Tinubu administration said the  National Youth CONFAB is expected to “strengthen the synergy between its young population and the leadership. The Ministry of Youth is expected to announce, soon, the modalities for selecting the conference’s representatives from across the country.”

2. National Credit Guarantee Company: proposed for  launching before the end of the second quarter of 2025, the government said it will create  the National Credit to “assist the administration to consolidate further and increase access to credit for individuals and critical sectors of the economy to boost national economic output”

3. Tax Reform Bills Implementation: Even though it is currently stonewalled by political interference, the government said it is not taking no for an answer on the implementation of the tax reform bills. According to President Tinubu’s policies, the tax reform will “ fix many basics of the economy which will in turn tackle poverty, inflation, unemployment, poor revenue as well as strengthening the ease-of-doing business rating of the country.”

4. Consumer Credit Phase 2: tagged as an initiative to expand its implementation beyond the first phase of the scheme which has already “ benefited tens of thousands of civil servants, will now be extended to the general public as the administration completes to increase access to consumable goods, which will help drive industrialisation, reduce corruption and improve the standard of living of the populace.”

5. Infrastructure Commissioning: The government also proposed to commission some of the Several infrastructure projects across the country

6. Special Agro Processing Zones/Green Imperative: The government in partnership with the African Development Bank seeks to “improve food production on a large scale in the country with six states pencilled down for the first phase. Large farming clusters will be set up across the country to ensure farmers at the grassroots get access to extension services including mechanized farming, training on the use and maintenance of modern equipment by establishing centres across the 774 Local Governments”

7. Full Implementation of the Local Government Autonomy: Local government autonomy was one of the major political issues that caught the attention of many political pundits in 2024.  Meanwhile, President Tinubu’s has promised to implement the policy in 2025 “to improve governance at the grassroots as it enables the FG to send allocations directly to the Local Governments without interference from the states as currently obtainable”.

8. National Livestock program: Following the introduction of a new Ministry of Livestock by President Tinubu’s administration, a National Livestock Program is billed to commence in the new year as Nigeria seeks to harness the potential in the livestock sector. 

Northern Nigeria is a major player in the development of livestock and with a new operational framework in place, the sector is expected to contribute significantly to the economic growth of Nigeria, eliminate issues of farmers-herders crisis, and reduce poverty in the country.

9. Introduction of New National Identification Card: the government is proposing a “card which also offers payment solutions that will help in improving the financial inclusion situation of the country, provide access to government services and also restore confidence in the identification system of the country”.

10. Renewed Hope Creative Village: According to the government, the creative village will serve as an establishment that will “ help the government to harness the potentials of the sector to create thousands of jobs, preserve monumental sites across the country, and develop a sector that could contribute immensely to economic growth.”

Trust Deficit, a Doubt Raising Factor to the Implementation

While the sound of the proposed policies from Tinubu’s administration is delightful to the ears, there is a question of implementation of the intended programmes on the part of the government.

Much emphasis has been placed on how successive governments have made promises in the past and failed to accomplish them, leading to eroding public trust in governance and credible democratic practices. 

The public perception of the government’s ambitious plans and their impact on average Nigerians has been a concern since the current administration took office in 2023. More specifically, there has been scepticism regarding the president’s pre-election campaign pledges to improve everyone’s lives, but this has not been the case ever since he took office.