Currently, the Federal Govern­ment keeps 52.68 percent of all incomes in Nigeria. Some pundits are making the case that no matter how difficult, President Tinubu should let go of some of the 52.68%. That would certainly happen if the state policing initiative of Mr. President becomes a reality.

That line of reasoning is validated by the reality that it would be required that some funding currently going to the Federal Government be allocated to the states to support state police as soon as the current central police is rejigged with less power.

Put succinctly, perhaps the NPF would be reverting to the way it was in the pre-independence days with pro­vincial police taking charge of man­aging local crimes and the NPF only getting involved if the crime was com­mitted across state boundaries, which was the prevailing order of things.

The third silent restructuring sign on the horizon is the ongoing negotia­tions between organized labor and the Federal Government on the national minimum wage.

By the time it concludes, the identi­fied aberrations in the National Mini­mum Wage Act 2019, which imposes a uniform minimum income for workers nationwide (a law that some of us have argued breaches the principle of true federalism which guarantees a rea­sonable level of autonomy of each of the federating units) may likely be re­versed to allow each state to negotiate the minimum wage that it can afford to pay depending on the state’s capacity and ability.

If such a likely scenario were to manifest as a product of the intensive engagements between organized labor and the Federal Government, it would require the parliament to amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2019 in the manner that the National Anthem Act 2024 was amended as part of the activities marking the first anniversa­ry of the incumbent administration on May 29, this year.

In my column of June 18 titled: ‘Min­imum Wage, President Tinubu And The Cow Milk Family’, I made a case that the best option open to President Tinubu is to accept to pay the negoti­ated minimum wage of N62,000 agreed with the organized labor union leaders by his team of negotiators before the workers’ strike of June 3 was suspend­ed.

In suggesting that government should go beyond offering Nigerian workers a fabulous minimum wage by tinkering with the debilitating increased electricity tariff, I recom­mended that some negotiating wisdom should be drawn from the famous ne­gotiation book: ‘Getting To Yes…’, by the pair of Roger Fisher and William Uri, who played prominent roles in ne­gotiating the end of apartheid regime in South Africa.

While the increase in the minimum wage to N62,000 from N30,000 would di­rectly impact the members of NLC and TUC which are unions that constitute organized labor union workers which surveys reveal are about 8% of Nigeri­an worker’s 92% of Nigerian workers in the informal sector are suffering un­der the yoke of the recently increased electricity tariff, which has risen by nearly a whopping 300%. These work­ers will continue to be crushed unless the new tariff regime is reversed and adjusted.

To ensure that the intended relief from the tough and bold reform mea­sures undertaken in the past 13 months of his administration positively im­pacts all Nigerians, not just organized labor, the electricity tariff increase that is choking the masses must be reevaluated. Although it applies only to consumers on Band-A tariff (an es­timated 15 million people/12 million households), it, along with a similar 300% increase in the petrol pump price, is contributing to the increasingly un­bearable high cost of living.

The tariff must be repealed or re­viewed downward because it is an over-ambitious policy decision by the technocrats in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) that imposed it without fully weighing its ramifications. They did not consult the operators of the distribution compa­nies (DisCos) and generation compa­nies (GenCos) for practical advice, de­spite these operators being responsible for last-mile service delivery.

For instance, due to the astronomi­cal tariff increase, some major hotels nationwide are receiving monthly electricity bills as high as hundreds of millions.

In turn, they charge their guests about N400,000 per night per room. Since hotels are patronised by business people, such as manufacturers, the high cost of accommodation is factored into production costs, which are then passed down to consumers on Band B electricity tariff, who were supposed to be shielded by keeping charges at N68.00 per kilowatt hour.

The high electricity tariff paid by hotels also applies to goods manufac­turing firms that require significant electricity for production.

In light of the cost of living crisis it has triggered, the ideal solution is to bring down the tariff increased by 300% (from N68.00 to N225.00) for Band A consumers to between N150 and 180.

This would reduce the current scramble by consumers on Band A to move to Band B. Simultaneously, the rate for lower-end consumers on Band B, currently N68.00 per kilowatt hour, should be marginally increased to be­tween N80.00 and N100.00. This adjust­ment would replenish NERC’s revenue base, as the government can no longer afford the N1.5 trillion monthly subsi­dy on electricity which is the motiva­tion for the dramatic tariff increase.

If implemented, this price modula­tion would reduce the cost of living by eliminating the skyrocketing cost of essential commodities that manufac­turers pass on to consumers and im­plication including Band B consumers, who were thought to be protected from the 300% increase in Band A tariff, but who are indirectly bearing the brunt of the high cost of consumer goods.

Without a doubt, the concept of tax­ing only the rich via an increase in their Band A electricity tariff has had a boomerang effect. So, President Tinu­bu must intervene by reversing this poorly thought-out policy, much like he reversed the planned cash payment of a meager N8,000 to the vulnerable, which he increased to N25,000 upon re­alising the insufficiency of the original amount.

By and large, it appears that Presi­dent Tinubu is restructuring Nigeria piecemeal rather than attempting a one-fell-swoop approach that has failed in the past, as seen with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The PIA, critical for the Nigerian petroleum industry, took over two decades to pass, delay­ing much-needed reforms and invest­ments.

As such, President Tinubu’s gradu­al and pragmatic approach to restruc­turing is likely influenced by lessons from previous administrations. His actions in that direction suggests that he might be laying a solid foundation as promised. This is evident in his care­ful changes since taking office and his long-standing advocacy history for re­structuring Nigeria.

In conclusion, as Ralph Waldo Em­erson wisely said: “Without ambition, one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”

President Tinubu is undoubtedly a man of robust ambition as reflected by his ‘emilokan’ charge when his po­litical future seemed bleak after all the odds were stacked against him during campaign and elections.

From the legislative branch, some 50 House of Representatives members are pushing for a return to the parliamen­tary system, but this seems unlikely owing to the incongruity in that system which was used in justifying the coup by the putchists and the subsequent civil war of 1967-70. In view of Presi­dent Tinubu’s political leaning which is more American than British, Nige­ria is more likely to adopt a hybrid sys­tem between the British parliamentary and American presidential systems, to produce what we can call our own home made constitution. But the deci­sion which lies in the womb of time ul­timately rests with President Tinubu.

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