When Nigeria’s new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, praised Morocco

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party in Nigeria, won the first round of the presidential election on Wednesday, according to official results announced by the National Electoral Commission (Inec).

He will succeed 80-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari, who has overseen the fate of Nigeria for two terms under the constitution of Africa’s most populous country. Morocco has become one of Nigeria’s major economic partners in Africa under his regime, notably with the agreement for the construction of the Nigeria-Morocco-Europe gas pipeline among other major bilateral cooperation projects.

The new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 70, is a multi-millionaire Muslim with the eternally traditional “Yoruba” hat, so he signed on to ascend to the pinnacle of power in the 1990s through a career spent battling General Abacha’s ruling junta. Deportation from Nigeria. He will now have to work to ignite the Nigerian economy (the first in Africa) despite the country’s wealth in hydrocarbons. Nigeria is the continent’s largest oil producer, not counting gas reserves.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu assured that his priorities as president would be security and economic recovery. For this redemption, he takes the kingdom as an example and example. We remember that during the presidential campaign last June he had this line regarding Morocco:We can restore our economy. A country like Morocco can be created. We can, and by God’s grace we will.».

For this staunch defender of democracy, however, economics seems to be his most mastery. His profile gives a glimpse of his promising roadmap. He lifted Nigeria’s economic hub, Lagos, out of its doldrums during his eight years (1999-2007) as its mayor. He immediately took credit for the spectacular transformation of the megalopolis of 20 million inhabitants during his two terms, marked by the influx of foreign capital, huge investments in the education and transport sectors (construction of new roads …). He reshaped Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.

He is considered to be one of the richest people in the country. An accountant by training, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Chicago State University in 1979 before pursuing a career with Mobil Oil Nigeria and then into politics after returning from exile on Abacha’s death.

Ahmed Tinubu Ball cDubbed “Jegaban” by his supporters, he will seek to unify a country that is now folding along regional lines and sectarian camps, as election results show. Tinubu, a Muslim from the south, chose Kashim Shettima, a Muslim from the north and a former governor of Borno state, as vice president. The decision to choose a running mate during the presidential campaign was controversial and was seen as appeasing Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, which has the country’s largest electoral constituency.

Ahmed Tinubu Ball AAfter winning the election, he will have to deal with many problems from his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari such as widespread insecurity, high unemployment, rising inflation and a nation divided along ethnic lines. It is not impossible, but the task ahead is difficult.