POLITICAL PYROTECHNICS

Tinubu’s first 100 days: Strong start gives way to uncertainty

By Eniola Akinkuotu

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Posted on September 5, 2023 15:48

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu arrives for the venue of the 5th mid-year coordination meeting of the African Union, at the United Nations (UN) offices in Gigiri, Nairobi, on July 16, 2023. (Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP)

Nigeria has high hopes for its new president, and the markets have rewarded his reforms with a ratings upgrade. But criticism over his cabinet selection and the divided ECOWAS response over the Niger coup have cast a pall.

Ending fuel subsidies at a stroke and calling for an end to the chaotic forex policy made everyone sit up at Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration speech a hundred days ago. It showed him as a bold risk-taker, even a serious reformer – quite contrary to the image of a shadowy political godfather cultivated by his opponents.

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