It takes time for reforms to grow – Sunday Dare

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said that reforms do not grow overnight.

Dare argued that Nigeria’s present challenges cannot be divorced from the PDP’s long stay in power, during which, he said, opportunities to invest in critical infrastructure were missed.

“Somebody was in charge of the shop for 16 years,” he said. “Somebody was supposed to provide rail transportation, fix electricity with $16 billion, improve airports and schools. That somebody failed, and that somebody is the PDP.”

According to him, although the APC has been in power for 11 years, recovery from years of poor governance takes time, especially when reforms are deep and structural.

“It takes time for reforms to grow,” he said, adding that while Nigeria has made democratic progress, institutional reforms, including in the judiciary, have been long overdue and are not exclusive to the APC era.

Dare also rejected claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is intimidating or coercing opposition politicians into defecting, arguing that Nigeria operates a multi-party system that guarantees freedom of association.

“There is a fear being pushed around that the APC wants a one-party state,” he said. “Nigeria practises a multi-party system. The APC is a dominant party, absolutely, but those who want to cross over can do so freely.”

Drawing from his experience in opposition politics, Dare dismissed allegations of bullying as a familiar narrative. “I have been in the opposition before, and I know the swan song of the opposition. We have many ventriloquists who claim to be visionaries, and there is a difference,” he said.

He urged opposition parties to focus on offering superior ideas and credible alternatives rather than accusing the ruling party of intimidation.

“Bring better ideas and push those ideas through superior conversations instead of crying foul all the time,” Dare said. “History will teach us. For 16 years, the PDP was the dominant party. When governors moved from one party to another then, nobody blamed the ruling party for incursion. So how do you now blame the APC?”

Dare also addressed the broader theme of the dialogue, noting that Nigeria’s Fourth Republic has endured because it has continued to learn from the failures of previous republics.

He said Nigeria’s future depends on leaders willing to confront historical grievances, reform institutions and build an inclusive democracy that works for all citizens.

“Nigeria’s future depends on leadership willing to reform systems, confront historical grievances with honesty and build a democracy that works not for some, but for all Nigerians,” he said.

Reviewing the trajectory of the Fourth Republic, Dare said successive administrations, from former President Olusegun Obasanjo through Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Goodluck Jonathan and the late Muhammadu Buhari, made incremental contributions to nation-building.

“Every leader falls on his own sword of performance,” he said, adding that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the country is witnessing economic renewal driven by what he described as robust macroeconomic sequencing.

He defended the administration’s reform agenda, saying reform should not be mistaken for authoritarianism. “Reform is not anti-democratic. Reform is democracy’s insurance policy,” he said.

Dare acknowledged that insecurity has remained a persistent challenge in the Fourth Republic, citing insurgency, kidnapping, banditry and farmer displacement as factors that have eroded public trust in government.

Quoting Afrobarometer surveys, he said fewer than 35 per cent of Nigerians consistently trust the federal government, while trust in political parties often falls below 25 per cent.

“This deficit is experiential and rooted in lived economic hardship,” he said, adding that government must do more to ensure citizens feel the impact of reforms. He also pointed to sub-national governance failures, noting that many states spend over 70 per cent of their revenues on recurrent expenditure despite increased allocations.

On claims that the 10th National Assembly is a rubber stamp, Dare dismissed the assertion as unfair.

“Just imagine saying that 109 senators and 362 House of Representatives members are entirely rubber stamps,” he said. “These are representatives of the people, and in the last two to three years, they have passed laws that have benefited Nigerians.”

He also defended the government’s borrowing profile, noting that borrowing is a global practice. “The United States is heavily in debt,” he said, adding that the Tinubu administration is taking loans tied to specific, justifiable projects.

Dare urged critics to assess reforms based on facts rather than rhetoric, citing foreign exchange unification, subsidy removal and increased revenues for sub-national governments as key policy shifts.

“Look at where we were in 2022 and 2023 and look at where we are now,” he said. “Let’s stay with the facts and leave the noise aside.”

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