President Tinubu's decision to toll everyone at the airport is commendable.
It's never heard that a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting ran for two days. The last FEC meeting which President Bola Tinubu presided over and which held on Monday and ended on Tuesday, rolling out 21 major policy initiatives, was unprecedented.
It showed the president is in full grasp of what is needed to railroad the country into full gear for the task ahead. In fact, many commentators are astonished as to how the president held himself for two consecutive days, carefully listening and making key contributions and decisions on the issues brought by his cabinet members.
For instance, the president listened to the memo from the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on key reforms intended at the nation's airport and overruled the Minister for exempting VIPs including him and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, from paying access toll and parking lots levies.
"Our memo says with the exception of the President and the Vice President. But the President overruled me and said he and the Vice President would pay. He said everybody must pay," Keyamo, one of the shining lights of the administration, said after the FEC meeting.
The president realised the revenue haemorrhage, which runs into billions of naira it would have generated from e-tags sold to VIPs and government officials for easy airport access must stop. The president deserves commendation. The target is to raise N10bn from airport toll annually. The airports need all the money to keep them in top shape.
Also, the president agreed that there must be continuous investment in the airport and approved a memorandum seeking N4.2bn for the maintenance and supply of aircraft recovery equipment. The equipment was designed to respond to occasions of aircraft breakdown on runways to bring it at par with international best practices.
As the administration continues to make concerted effort to reverse the misfortune in the economy, foreign direct investment is key. It's in the realisation of this that it is initiating reforms in the visa regime, aimed at granting visas to those who wish to invest in Nigeria within 48 hours.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, lamented that the FEC realised "our visa processes are becoming cumbersome and this is not encouraging investors to come in easily because, as the President has indicated, the ease of doing business is also tied to the ease of visa application.
"Therefore, the FEC has set up a committee to look at our visa processes to reduce the cumbersome nature of these visa processes, meaning that those investors or tourists who want to come into Nigeria will find it a lot easier to go into this country provided they follow all the laid down processes."
The expected reform is in line with several moves the president has made since assuming office to attract foreign investment. The president is actively engaged in attracting investments through a series of strategic international engagements and high-level meetings aimed at boosting Nigeria's economic profile. In all of these meetings, the president has led the line like the Chief Executive Officer to deepen FDI into the country.
The council also approved a N2trn mortgage initiative, N51bn transport terminal hub in Abuja and banned sand-dredging 10km from federal bridges pointing out that $7m US property would become Nigeria's tech hub. This as it also approved a new revenue platform for gaming and lottery businesses as well as N546bn for roads in Lagos, Kwara, Edo, Kebbi and Sokoto.
Similarly, it approved about N72bn for the construction of a new transmission line and emergency restoration systems for other transmission lines to enable quick repair of vandalised and damaged power infrastructure.
The N72bn project covers the 93-kilometre transmission line at Oji River/9th Mile for the 132 KV double circuit transmission line, costing $33.9m (N50.93bn) and N10.1m.
After that, it would shift gear to the next stage with the approval of supply and installation of 15 units of emergency restoration systems costing $14m (N21.04bn) for 330 KV and 132 KV transmission lines, to expedite the repair of damaged power infrastructure.
The new 93 km transmission line is expected to stabilise the national grid and expand its capacity, in line with the national grid expansion plan and the Presidential Power Initiative to increase its end-to-end capacity.
In fact, the administration will procure 10 transformers and 10 reactors for the Transmission Company of Nigeria costing $4.8m (N7.2bn) and N102m, to enhance the optimal performance of the national grid, reduce the risk of electric shock and equipment damage, and protect personnel from the effects of high voltage.
The government resolved to tap into N20trn pension funds to fund key infrastructure such as housing and providing long-term mortgages as part of the president's macroeconomic reforms.
The council also approved strategic investment in the transport system in the FCT with the approval of N96.2bn for the development of bus terminals and other transportation facilities.
Key deliverables include the construction of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, contract for the provision of Security operation and maintenance of back-up generators for the street lights along the Presidential routes and Villa Gate 8, as well as upgrading roads in Kwali Area Council.
What the Tinubu administration has shown is that it's matching reforms with strategic investment despite the revenue shortfall. Knowing that the government is running on a budget deficit, a sad development it inherited, it's opening channels for foreign investors to cash in through reforms in ease of doing business and visa policy.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
It's also essential to note that one of the key areas is the reform in the power sector which the administration is steadily investing in to ensure the power problems are solved once and for all.
It realised businesses are suffering leading to loss of jobs and suffocating business owners who are losing their investments thus impacting negatively on the country's economy.
As the council reiterated the government's infrastructure initiative especially the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, movement of goods and services is very strategic for any country's development.
While investment into the coastal highway appears huge, the benefits like new emerging businesses along the highway, short travel time, tourist attraction and others will create employment and boost the economy.
The administration has not downplayed the enormous task ahead. Despite inheriting a broken system, it has set about reforms and strategic investment to unlock the potential to spur growth and create a viable economy.
Put succinctly, it's work in progress, in the words of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun. If there's anything, government reforms and investments are to create "a stable economy, growing more than the population growth, with low inflation, stable foreign exchange to enable investments in productive activities".
· Mark writes from Abuja
