We concluded the first part of this piece last week with reference to Mr Tunji Bello, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Consumer and Competition Protection Commission (FCCPC), as a key member of President Bola Tinubu’s first eleven. The Commission, under its current leadership, has come to occupy a prime place in public consciousness in carrying out its role of protecting consumer rights and promoting fair business and corporate competition, as shown by its prompt and proactive response to the exit of e-hailing service provider Uber from Nigeria.
Explaining the Commission’s investigation of the exit of the company from the country, Tunji Bello told Bloomberg, the New York -based international business media organization last week that “The commission was particularly concerned about customers whose services may not have been completed before Uber ceased operation. Officials of the commission are looking into the manner of their exit, particularly in respect of unfulfilled services to customers.” It is this kind of passion and commitment that has endeared the FCCPC to millions of consumers across the aviation, banking, electricity, telecommunications, digital television, cement and other sectors.
In a manner that can be likened to the clinical striker, Mutiu Adepoju, popularly adored as ‘headmaster’ for his spectacular headed goals, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), has scored outstanding goals for team PBAT in achieving major safety, regulatory and infrastructural milestones in the country’s aviation sector over the last three years. During this period, Nigeria attained an extraordinary 91.45% rating in safety compliance with global standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Similarly, the country’s compliance rating with regard to aircraft leasing and finance rose dramatically from 49.5% to 75.5%, resulting in a reduction of insurance costs and easing the path for local airlines to lease aircraft. Keyamo approved a 30% discount on accumulated debts owed by local airlines to aviation agencies such as the FAAN and the NAMA to ease financial pressures on them as well as stabilize and stimulate their businesses. Meanwhile, aviation facilities have continuously been upgraded across major hubs such as Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu. Thanks to these and other policy initiatives, the aviation sector is pulling through a harrowing period.
Playing a critical role in central defence has been none other than the National Security Adviser(NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, coordinating the Service Chiefs, Ministry of Defence, intelligence agencies, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu, among others. Sanity is gradually being restored to a security sector previously characterised by chaos, anarchy and plunging morale. Humongous resources authorized by the President, far-reaching re-organization and expansion of the armed forces, and reinforced international collaboration have contributed to enhanced efficacy in protecting Nigeria’s internal and external security.
Another key member of the defensive force of Team PBAT’s first eleven is the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede. A lawyer by training, he is the first non-police officer to head the Commission, even though he had gained tremendous experience working in several capacities within the organisation before his appointment. Within its first 34 months of operation under Olukoyede, the EFCC recovered over N1.23 trillion in total funds and assets.
During this period, the EFCC secured over 10,872 convictions, secured the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List in 2025 due to rigorous enforcement of anti-money laundering measures, while deepening international collaboration with global partners like the FBI, INTERPOL and the UK’s National Crime Agency to repatriate stolen assets. The EFCCs preventive capabilities have been strengthened by the creation of new directorates, regional offices and specialized units such as the Department of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control, while approximately 60% of the Commission’s operational processes have been digitalized to improve efficiency and minimize red tape.
It is instructive that substantial amounts of recoveries by the EFCC have been channelled into funding social programs like the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Consumer Credit Scheme on the directive of President Tinubu. Another key player in the defense structure of Team PBAT is the ever dynamic Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) under the mercurial and indefatigable leadership of General Mohammad Buba Marwa.
In the last three years, the NDLEA has arrested over 40,000 drug offenders nationwide, intercepted and recovered more than 5.5 million kilograms of assorted illegal drugs, destroyed over 700 hectares of hidden-cannabis-dense forest farms and secured over 8,600 successful convictions of drug traffickers and kingpins. The agency has persistently and consistently thwarted, with ever increasing sophistication and dexterity, attempts by drug barons and their foot soldiers to erode and weaken the sinews of Nigerian society’s immunity to this menace.
Refusing to accept the legitimacy of the outcome of the 2023 presidential elections, an exercise they lost fair and square, the opposition has subjected the Tinubu administration to the most scurrilous attacks ever in the history of governance in the Fourth Republic. Even huge sections of the media have cast off any pretences to objectivity or detached professionalism and donned partisan gloves.
Standing like a yeoman at the goalposts is Information Minister, Alhaji Mohammad Idris Malagi, warding off dangerous shots, thwarting attempted offside goals and making daring saves with an inscrutable and unflappable mien. He is supported by a backroom cast of astute polemical and media points men including Mr Bayo Onanuga, Dr Sunday Dare, Daniel Bwala, Mr Tunde Rahman and Mr Temitope Ajayi.
The Tinubu administration is implementing historic reforms at an epochal moment in the country’s socio-economic and political evolution. Picking Team PBAT’s first eleven can be nothing but a Herculean task. Donning flying colours in the team must also, no doubt, be Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, Chairman of the National Revenue Service (NRS), Dr Zachaeus Adedeji and Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, to name a few.
It is also impossible not to mention the efforts of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Rt Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Arowolo Verheijen, for exertions that are yielding considerable results. But it will always be a tentative and continuous exercise.
NOTE: Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Theliberationnews
