JAF Berates Tinubu’s Mid-Term Scorecard

Pius Nsabe

Oyo State Chapter of the Joint Action Front (JAF) on Thursday came very hard on President Bola Tinubu’s mid-term scorecard, describing his administration’s performance as a monumental disaster.

President Tinubu clocked two years in office on Thursday 29 May after winning the 2023 presidential election.

Oyo JAF, in a press conference held at the University of Ibadan, called for an immediate end to attacks on democratic rights and the reversal of what it called anti-people policies which it named as the removal of fuel subsidy, naira devaluation, and the commercialization of social services, “which are the primary drivers of the current hardship faced by Nigerian working people”.

In a text of the press conference signed by its state coordinator, Comrade Ademola Aremu, and made available to the Journal, Oyo JAF accused the Tinubu administration of intensifying its assault on democratic rights, particularly the rights of workers, youths and ordinary people to organize, protest, and demand accountability and reversal of anti-poor policies.

It urged workers, youths, and the general public to begin grassroots mobilization in workplaces and communities, to compel the leadership of organized labour to initiate a nationwide mass action.

The group called for immediate reversal of fuel pump price, re-regulation of currency exchange rates, improvement of power, among other areas of concern.

Below is the full text of the press conference:

TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE CONVENED BY THE JOINT ACTION FRONT (JAF), OYO STATE CHAPTER, ON MAY 29TH, 2025, AT ASUU-UI SECRETARIAT, MELLANBY HALL, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Protocol
We wish to first extend our fraternal greetings to all media representatives, leaders, and members of JAF-affiliated civil society organizations present this morning. We sincerely thank you for attending this crucial press conference, convened to:

1. Categorically declare that the two years of the Tinubu regime have been a monumental disaster for Nigerian workers, youths, and the general public.
2. Call for an immediate end to attacks on democratic rights and the reversal of anti-people policies—namely the removal of fuel subsidy, naira devaluation, and the commercialization of social services—which are the primary drivers of the current hardship faced by Nigerian working people.
3. Urge workers, youths, and the general public to begin grassroots mobilization in workplaces and communities, to compel the leadership of organized labour to initiate a nationwide mass action. Introduction
   As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration marks two years in office today, May 29th, 2025, the Joint Action Front (JAF), Oyo State Chapter, unequivocally declares that the regime has been a catastrophic failure for Nigerian workers, youths, and the broader public. Rather than delivering on its so-called “Renewed Hope” agenda, the government has unleashed a wave of anti-people policies that have exacerbated economic hardship, deepened inequality, and continued to trample on democratic rights.

Over the past two years, we have witnessed:

1. Removal of Fuel Subsidy

Announced unilaterally during the President’s inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, the removal of fuel subsidy triggered a dramatic surge in petrol prices. This, in turn, led to skyrocketing transportation costs, food inflation, housing crises, and soaring living expenses. The excruciating burden has fallen squarely on the working class and the poor.

2. Reckless Devaluation of the Naira

The floating of the naira has resulted in its free fall, leading to high inflation and a sharp decline in purchasing power. This policy has benefited currency speculators and profiteers while severely impoverishing workers, artisans, farmers, and low-income earners.

3. Commercialization of Social Services

Public services—especially education, healthcare, and transportation—are being increasingly commercialized. This shift has led to widespread fee hikes in tertiary institutions and made essential services inaccessible to the vast majority of Nigerians. What should be basic rights have been transformed into luxuries for the privileged elite.

These policies, designed to appease foreign financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank, have pushed millions into deeper poverty, unemployment, insecurity, and social despair.

4.Assault on Democratic Rights

Beyond economic oppression, the Tinubu regime has intensified its assault on democratic rights, particularly the rights of workers, youths and ordinary people to organize, protest, and demand accountability and reversal of anti-poor policies. The government has fostered an atmosphere of fear and repression, frequently criminalizing dissent.
A glaring example is the continued persecution of Michael Adaramoye, Daniel Akande, and nine other #EndBadGovernance activists, who are currently standing trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Their only “offense” is that they held placards with the message “End Bad Government.” They now face trumped-up charges, including treason—a capital offense.

This pattern of repression is aimed at crushing resistance to the regime’s anti-poor, exploitative policies. JAF commends the bravery of Nigerian youths and workers who have continued to resist in the face of state intimidation. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals detained or prosecuted in connection with the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests or any other actions against economic hardship.

JAF’s Demands
In light of the escalating crisis, the Joint Action Front (JAF) puts forward the following urgent demands:

1. Immediate reversal of pump price of petroleum products and transparent and democratic control of the sector by elected representatives of the working people in ensuring it serves public interest—not private profiteers.
2. Re-regulation of the foreign exchange market, to protect the national economy from speculative attacks and safeguard workers’ livelihoods.
3. Provision of free, quality, and publicly funded education, healthcare, and other essential services.
4. An immediate halt to the commercialization and privatization of social services, which marginalize the poor and deepen social inequality.
5. Renationalisation of the power sector and placing it under democratic control of workers and consumers. Adequate power supply, reversal of criminal hike in electricity tariff and an end to the exploitative crazy billing.
6. Immediate reversal of all fee hikes in public tertiary institutions across Nigeria.
   Call to Action: Build a Mass Resistance Movement Now

JAF calls upon all Nigerians—workers, students, youths, market women, artisans, and the general public—to initiate grassroots mobilization in their communities, workplaces, schools, and markets. This mobilization must aim to:

1. Build independent, democratic structures of resistance;
2. Pressure the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to organize mass resistance against all anti-people policies;
3. Build a coordinated nationwide mass protest and general strike, to halt these destructive policies and reclaim our nation from the grip of hardship and injustice.

Conclusion: The People Must Rise
Two years under President Tinubu have delivered nothing but widespread suffering and hopelessness. JAF unequivocally rejects the false narrative that the people’s suffering is a “necessary sacrifice.” We challenge the elite consensus that there is no alternative to the exploitative system of capitalism.

As far as the Joint Action Front is concerned, there is an alternative—a just socio-economic order that places people over profit. We reject the failed neoliberal policies of privatization, deregulation, devaluation, and debt peonage, promoted by both local elites and their foreign backers. These capitalist policies—advocated by Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, and their ilk—have only entrenched poverty, corruption, and inequality.

The viable alternative is Socialism—a system founded on justice, equity, and democratic control of the economy by the working people. Under socialism, Nigeria’s wealth can be harnessed and distributed to benefit the many, not the few.

We therefore call on the Nigerian masses to rise, resist, and organize for the enthronement of this alternative system, and to ensure that the wealth of our nation is judiciously used for the benefit of the working people and the poor.

Signed
Comrade Ademola Aremu
State Coordinator