Contemptous rulers and docile people

Tinubu’s vague overseas trips reveal a presidency more obsessed with image than accountability, leaving Nigerians in the dark while crises rage at home.

Tinubu, Now That You’ve Your Full Mandate, What Are You Going To Do With It? 

The suffering in the land is approaching Armagedonian dimensions, yet legislators are distributing newly minted posh SUVs for their personal use. Governors are enjoying their jumbo retirement packages. Many of them are double dipping by collecting second salaries as ministers and senators. The way official vehicle acquisition is done in societies that value transparency, probity and prudence is to purchase fleet of vehicles into a pool from which officials including legislators could request service.  We all know what happens during change of government, officials almost always cart away official vehicles and government properties.  Ours is an insane asylum where decency, decorum and normality have been turned upside down.   The insensitivity of Nigerians in position of authority is repugnant, disgusting and appalling.  Yes, the Nigerian citizenry has docilely kept mute anesthesized by religion that preaches “suffer-suffer for world enjoy for heaven”.  Yet behold the day of judgement and reckoning not in heaven but on the streets and neighbourhoods of Nigeria is at hand unless our politicians take quick action to pull the brake before our country descends into a state of anarchy pushed there by unbearable suffering and depravation.   Now that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has his full mandate, he and his team had better go to work to turn the ship of state away from the iceberg it is heading towards.   Financial palliative, and the few grains of rice per family will not do the job.  Major structural realignment is needed. First on the dock is to reduce the crippling cost of governance. The insanity of retired governors collecting their pension while collecting salaries as ministers and senators needs to be put a stop to, even if only to send the signal that this government feels the pain of the longsuffering citizens. The insane jumbo emolument package for our legislators needs major review.  Our civil service is beyond bloated. It needs massive purge. Yes, it will cause short term pain, but government can ameliorate that pain with severance package.  Go to any ministry in Abuja, it is like a day in Jankara market with civil servants milling around with no offices and contributing absolutely nothing to governance other than as leeches sucking the life out of our commonwealth.  We need a pruner to cut down the size of the civil service at all level, to improve efficiency while reducing cost. Too many civil servants create clogs and corruption-ridden bureaucratic inertia to slow down the delivery of services so people are forced to pay bribe to get their constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizenship like driver license and international passports.  Just like the banks and the private sector are moving toward digitalization of service, government needs to move in the same direction.  Many of the services that are currently been stalled in human created bureaucratic lock-jam could be automated. Nigerians are now conversant with online banking.  They can adapt to online access to government services.  Our recurrent expenditure heavy budgeting is crippling our ability to make the necessary infrastructure investment to move our economy into the 21st century  In order to stimulate industrial production in our country, the ministry of power should be absorbed under the presidency and declared as a national emergency and priority.  The president must set as his top priority to achieve uninterrupted power supply by the end of his first term.    If he achieves just that one feat, he would be leaving a legacy for which Nigerians will be eternally grateful. Our foreign exchange crisis, the devaluation of our currency and the pauperization of Nigerians are all tied to the de-industrialization of Nigeria related to its epileptic power supply and our economy becoming import dependent.  With a population of 200 plus millions our economy could self sustain based on internal demand for locally manufactured good. Hence, the health of our economy, our currency valuation and our insatiable appetite for foreign currencies are all tied to our poor power generation and distribution: Fix that and our economy will take off like a super-charged rocket:   The notion that Nigeria can go back to the immediate post-independence regional constitution of the 1960s is a pipe dream. There is too much over-romanticism of the glorious 1960s which lasted only six years before the military struck.  What was our population at that time? How many secondary schools and universities did we have as a country? What percent of our citizens were admitted to the few secondary and tertiary institutions even in the southwest where free education was a policy? What was our national GDP in 1966? This urban myth of Nigeria, especially the West, as a rich global economy at par with South Korea has gone on way too far for too long.  It’s about time we debunked it.  As children, many of us lined up outside the few homes who owned televisions.  Only the smartest of the smartest gained admission into the very few secondary schools that existed in the West.  After primary school, many of my classmates could not proceed to secondary school because they couldn’t gain admission under the stringent admission policies including entrance exams and interviews. Many parents had to buy ‘tolotolo’ (turkey) to secure admission for their children.   The ginny of state creation is out of the box and can never be put back.  Oyo and Osun state could not jointly manage Ladoke Akintola University. So, this notion that we could collapse the existing 36 states into their old regional structures is a fallacy, and an unattainable pie in the sky. Yes, Chief Awolowo remains the best president Nigeria never had. President Tinubu has a once in a lifetime opportunity to change that narrative.  But this notion of the old western region was a harmonious Eldorado of sub-ethnic equity in the distribution of government benefits and industrial parks is another mythology we have perpetuated for too long. The Ijeshas and the Ekitis whose cocoa and the Edos whose oil palm bankrolled the region’s economy did not benefit from the region’s industrial policy.  None of the major Oodua Investment benefits accrued to the Ijeshas and Ekiti.   When people

Tinubu’s Triumph Amid Organised Adversity – A Testament To Resilience

‘The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph’ – Thomas Paine Mudslinging is a major part of political campaigns. While in the US it is called the kitchen sink and politicians and their handlers use it in moderation, Nigerian politicians who, in the main, behave like implacable young Turks, literally empty pit latrines on their opponents as unfounded allegations are thrown at will. Indeed, one politician was quoted to have said “If you aspire to public office, be ready to be told the number and names of men that messed with your mom before she got married”.   With a background of this nature, the journey to Nigeria’s political leadership is thus not for the faint-hearted, as it is fraught with outstanding challenges and obstacles including outright vilification, maligning, and libeling of political opponents. In the case of President Tinubu, his decision to contest the presidency of Nigeria was met with a baptism of fire, acid, and shit. Without a grain of a doubt, he has been the most mocked, abused, and caricatured candidate and now president. Notwithstanding the overdose of mockery, burlesque, accusations, and intentional prophecies of doom, Tinubu emerged victorious, showcasing an uncommon resilience and determination in the face of organized adversity.  His entry into the presidential race was met with ridicule and parody. He had observed with utmost dismay that a clique within his party, the All Progressives Congress, (APC) who had a preferred candidate, wanted to muscle him out of the race. It was an almost frustrated PBAT that echoed “emilokan” to his audience at Abeokuta. Soon the word emilokan became his second name. A popular club latched onto this and did a road show with the new name Emilokan.  Detractors and political opponents attempted to undermine his credibility by portraying him as old and infirm. Ugly photo-shopped photographs and doctored videos of him with a wet butt and tremors of the hand even at rest appeared online and went viral. But the man was unfazed. As a rare political strategist in the mold of Sun Tzu, he trudged on, unperturbed, with eyes fixed on the prize. True leadership is not determined by age alone but by vision, experience, and the ability to inspire change which he has in abundance. Unburdened by the mockery on social media, Tinubu’s accomplishments and political acumen spoke louder and eloquently to him and the electorate than the baseless caricatures. At the height of the political barnstorming, accusations of being a drug baron were leveled against him, to tarnish his reputation and character. However, discerning Nigerians knew that the accusations were baseless since they were not supported by concrete evidence before passing judgment. A letter from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that absolved him of any criminal records in the US was dismissed as forged. Those who dared to support or defend him on social media were harassed, harangued, and cyber-lynched by bullies. Whereas the focus should be on evaluating a candidate’s policies, capabilities, and commitment to public service, many Nigerians were swayed by the social media campaign of calumny against PBAT.   Months before the election, Nigerians experienced one of the most protracted fuel scarcities. With the benefit of hindsight, it is believed that it was contrived to do PBAT in. While the fuel crisis was still lingering, the CBN announced a currency redesign project which was poorly conceived and implemented. Currency was scarce and Nigerians saw hell since they couldn’t access their cash trapped in bank vaults. It was apparent even to the unwary that the currency redesign was targeted at PBAT to deprive him of funds since it was erroneously believed that PBAT was suffused with cash which he could use to buy votes. It was believed by the opposition politicians that the deadly combination of fuel and cash scarcity was enough to turn the electorate against the ruling party which incidentally is the party of PBAT. However, in contrast to the forced opinion polls and fake prophecies by some charlatans who called themselves prophets of God that gave victory to Obi, PBAT won the elections convincingly with 8,794,726 votes to Atiku’s 6,984,520 and Obi’s 6,101,533 votes. PBAT also scored over 25% of the votes cast in 30 States, 6 more States than the constitutionally required 24.  As has become customary of Nigerian politicians who do not accept defeat, the losers took their case to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Again, in a detailed judgment that took about 12 hours, the 5 judges were unanimous in giving victory to President PBAT. Before this time however, in a show of shame that brought indelible dishonor to the religion of Christianity, known and unknown entities who parade themselves as prophets, ‘prophesied’ the demise of President Tinubu before May 29 the date of his inauguration and his arrest by the military on his inauguration date.  That Tinubu prevailed in the face of these prophecies and unrelenting prayers for his death is a testament to a divine force that is propelling him. While the case was before the PEPT, the Obidient Movement started a campaign of “All Eyes On the Judiciary” ostensibly carefully planned to blackmail the judges into delivering a judgment that is unfavorable to PBAT. The judges of the PEPT gave no hoot to the campaign of blackmail. The victory of Tinubu in the presidential election was affirmed, proving his popularity and the trust placed in him by the Nigerian people. His victory at the polls and in the PEPT is a testament to his ability to connect with citizens, articulate a compelling vision, and inspire hope for a better future. It also highlights the maturity of the electorate in discerning baseless accusations from genuine leadership potential. But the traducers were not done. Off they went to Chicago to dig for his academic records in the mistaken belief that the degree certificate that he submitted to INEC was forged. PBAT’s lawyers indulged them in delaying tactics to further raise their false hope. As expected, the legal calisthenics in

100 Days:  A Look at Gov Yahaya’s Productive 2nd Term and Continuity of Good Governance

Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s return to office following his re-election has been met with high expectations from citizens of the state and it continues to foster the continuity in hard work and progress towards the implementation of his campaign promises. Here today we evaluate the progress and accomplishments made so far in the first 100 days of his second term. We counted the gains recorded within the short time as well as the foundation he has laid to cement the successes of his first tenure to ensure the development and transformation of the state in next four years. The Governor has made some visible progress in setting the roadmap for achieving the much-anticipated development in the areas of Economic Empowerment, Job Creation, Healthcare, Social Welfare, Education, Human Capital, and Infrastructural Development as well as Security, Good Governance, Accountability, and Agriculture. One of the significant steps taken by the administration was the provision of subsidized fertilizers, seeds, and other inputs to encourage and support farmers to participate in the 2023 wet season farming. The delivery of the 25% discounted fertilizer, along with other inputs, was to ensure food security in the state and the country as well. While economic hardship that was occasioned by the Federal Government’s decision on the removal of fuel subsidies bites hard on Nigerians across the country, Governor Yahaya reeled out a series of initiatives which included an additional 40% subsidy on the much-needed fertilizers and other farming commodities to boost food production and fight hunger. Another notable initiative that was reeled out by the progressive governor in the 100 days under review, was the establishment of a Special Honorary Advisory Committee (SHAC), with appointment of some seasoned technocrats and well-accomplished experts and professionals in various fields to guide the implementation of his government’s developmental policies and programs in his avowed commitment to turn challenges into opportunities and provide effective solutions to the problems facing the state. According to the governor, the plan was for the team to hit the ground running in the pursuit of the development and betterment of the state. The Governor, who had during his first tenure, invested much in the construction and rehabilitation of roads both in rural and urban areas continued with the infrastructural development of the state to ease the movement, especially for farmers and their crops. He also embarked on a series of meetings and consultations in pursuit of collaborations and partnerships towards the attainment of prosperity for Gombe State. In the period under review, the governor met the President and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President (VP) Kashim Shettima, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Malam Nuhu Ribad, as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume where issues bordering on national security and other developments were discussed. He expressed his commitment to enhancing collaboration aimed at bolstering human capital development and tackling environmental challenges in his state, the Northern region and the country at large.  He also held private discussions with the United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Hajiya Amina Mohammed in Gombe.  Governor Inuwa, who elevated Gombe to a development trajectory resulting in the state being ranked as the top performer in Ease of Doing Business for two consecutive years by KPMG, a reputable consultancy firm commissioned by the Federal Government, also established a Drugs and Medical Consumables Management Agency to ensure continuity in improving welfare and wellbeing of the people of Gombe State. Apart from sending a total of 17 nominees to the state house of assembly for screening to be appointed as commissioners, beating the constitutional stipulated time frame, the progressive governor has been able to appoint key functionaries and aides to propel the wheel of governance.  Worried by the current economic challenges, the governor distributed food items as palliative to the citizens, targeting 420,000 beneficiaries starting with 30,000 households to cushion the effort of the fuel subsidy removal. As part of the palliative measure of the state government which was initiated by the Governor, a N10,000 monthly salary increment was doled out for workers across the state and local government services. The gesture was described as a clear demonstration of the governor’s commitment to the welfare of his people (Gwambawa). He has launched numerous programs to bring about a tangible change and a more promising outlook for the people of Gombe state. To showcase his plans to reform and remodel the state’s higher education system, the Governor constituted a visitation panel to evaluate the current state of the state’s institutions of higher education and provide recommendations for future enhancements. Additionally, in his first 100 days of his stay in office, Governor Inuwa Yahaya also reeled out plans to shore up manpower in the state’s health sector by recruiting additional 200 personnel to revamp the system and ensure efficient and better service delivery. To put the multi-billion naira newly completed ultra-modern mega motor park to use and drive benefits for the state, Governor Yahaya who inspected the facility, set up a task force to facilitate the smooth transition of the operations from three major motor parks in the state capital to the mega park in Gombe metropolis. When a heavy downpour washed away the road and one of the bridges linking Gombe and Bauchi states, the governor of Gombe state, rushed to the scene where hundreds of the road users were stranded. He called on the federal government to ensure a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction of the federal highway to permanently address the recurrent road washouts and collapse of bridges on the road which has an extension to Borno, Adamawa, and Taraba states. The progress and successes made by the administration of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya in its first one hundred days in office have provided a new sense of hope and optimism to the people of the state. The achievements have been nothing but commendable, and proof that his vision