Tinubu and Tribune share not just alphabetical but homophonic similarity. Tinubu and Tribune spell and sound almost alike. It therefore should not come as a surprise that the two have become a union made in journalistic heaven or hell. Take your pick.
Tinubu has become a gift that keeps on giving to the Tribune brand. It has become the lifeline for the newspaper’s highly gifted crew pf opinion writers. Tinubu has now become a subject of their obsession, a well they can latch on to dip their ink again, and again for their venom-filled pens like a parasitic leech on its host. They return again and again to Tinubu to churn out one negative opinion epistle after another.
In yesterday’s essay by the premier opinion writer in the Tribune, he latched on to four simple words in an arguably President Tinubu’s most articulate exploration of the state of the nation, and the rationale for his painful economic reform policy. In that speech to visiting former presiding officers of the National legislature to the Aso Rock Villa, the president took his guests on a journey into our past failure as a nation, including the mismanagement of the massive oil windfall of the 1970s, and our failure to invest in both our physical and human infrastructure. He spoke about our dilapidated schools, our crumbling infrastructure and the unsustainability of our artificially juiced up forex and oil subsidy. He acknowledged the pain caused by his economic reform policy and urged for patience, understanding and sacrifice for the sake of a better future.
Always looking for cheap materials to meet their writing deadline however, our brother latched on to four of the most insignificant words uttered by the president “no free beer parlour” to write a whole dissertation worthy of performance by the Baba Sala comedy group.
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Not surprisingly, on Tuesday, flat out, Seyi Tinubu’s donation to the Borno Flood disaster is the main course. In one of my posts on that ill-advised public donation, I narrated how tone-deaf and incongruous that visit by Seyi Tinubu and his friends and the huge donation was when many states are still scrambling with how to pay the minimum wage. But to spend pages upon pages of vitriol on that subject matter reeks of journalistic overkill and over-dramatization which sadly has become the stock in trade for the Tribune.
Yes, it is absolutely the responsibility and obligation of every responsible journalist to speak truth to power, to hold their feet to fire, and hold them accountable for the awesome power and privilege that come with their leadership position. But the best journalists in the trade are careful not to cross the hallowed line that divides responsible journalism from personal animosity. The Tribune opinion writers in many people’s opinion have not just crossed that line, they have defacated on it.
I will say bon appetite to our Tribune brothers. A brotherly word of caution to them however, from the popular Yoruba adage “Epa npa ara re, olonpa aja”. The tick is killing itself while foolishly thinking he was killing its host, the dog. A parasite that gluttonly consumes its host blood, risks killing itself in the process. The most successful parasite in any ecosystem is one that understands the Kenny Roger’s song about the gamblers “ You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away And know when to run You never count your money When you’re sittin’ at the table”.
One hopes that our brothers in the Tribune will not over play their Tinubu-bashing card. That they will know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
and Know when to walk away
READ ALSO:http://We beg bread, they belch beer
