It is gradually becoming obvious and clear that Nigeria is under a spell and it thus appears that since the death of President Yar’ Adua and the exit of President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan from Aso Rock, a particular demonic force has taken over the seat of power so that the throne and scepter of Nigeria has been bewitched to a point of near “no rescue”.
The 8years tenure of Former President Muhammadu Buhari subjected Nigerians to a level below animal standard. The level of poverty that greeted Nigerians under his watch was mind-boggling. It was an eight year of food insecurity, total insecurity, resurgence of new crimes branded as banditory.
There were several cases of kidnapping, killings, maiming, raping and the prices of essential commodities were at their peak, but our President then, a supposeth Warrior, War lord and Retired General, consistently looked the other way, most times junketing around the world for medical tourism and attending international meetings and conferences without any concern for the citizens who were dying like fowls at home.
The old man was always smiling and giving his health a boost. His family members both immediate and extended were living in affluence. Former President Buhari who could not construct or rehabilitate the Benin/Auchi/Okene/Lokoja/ Abuja express way was constructing a super high way from Northern Nigeria to Niger.
While nothing worked under his watch only his health improved massively so that Muhammadu Buhari who assumed office on the 29th May 2015 in a very poor health became the healthier Nigerian as at the day he was leaving office on the 29th May, 2023.
Former President Buhari kept borrowing money in trillions from China in a “newspapering” everydayness. His Puppet Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and his National Assembly with Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker House of Representative, were even giving approvals to his letters for loans in the air before the letters will land in the National Assembly for consideration.
Nigeria was almost sold to China under Buhari. The price of Petrol was jacked from ₦89 per litre during President Jonathan’s regime to ₦200.00 per litre under Preseident Buhari. Our dead Labour leaders were an extension of the Aso Villa. Labour President, Ayuba was a direct opposite of an ideal Labour Leader. He had a posture of Government apologist only blowing muted trumpet. The masses were abandoned when they needed a voice most from Civil Societies and the Labour. Today the labour is doing the same and President Tinubu is borrowing in trillions.
When President Tinubu started his campaign entitled “Emilokan” I was worried that Nigeria as a country with all her peoples, North, South, East and West have been shared by and to Political big wigs. How on earth will a person who wanted to contest for Presidency entitled his Campaign “Emilokan” meaning “it is my turn” Does it mean that the fortunes of Nigerians have been shared and mortgaged turn by turn by unconscionable politicians? Indeed nobody took Asiwaju Tinubu seriously.
His health was chequered, his speeches were not coordinated, his campaigns lacked the oratory of a Politician, his memory was lost, most of the time, he was tutored right on stage of campaign on National Television on what to say, and even to stand erect while singing the National Anthem, Baba did not know.
He was literally led and supported by Political aides, he was most a times saying the opposite of what he intended to say; he was sometimes not saying what the masses needed him to say, he almost collapsed on some occasions, infact, everything about his campaign lacked momentum, yet he was contesting the presidency of the most populous black nation of the world, with multi-dimentional ethnic nationalities and various cultural and religious divergences. In his wisdom, he made matters worse by running a Muslim / Muslim ticket like MKO Abiola (Of Blessed Memory) did in 1993.
This did not come without the expected criticisms, banters and uproars, yet he did not heed to the warnings. Tinubu is actually a stubborn political agent. He is a man who would do whatever he wanted to do without let and hinderance. The beef between him (as a state Governor) and former President Olusegun Obansanjo in 2003 over the creation of more Local Government areas in Lagos State is a typical example of Asiwaju’s Stubbornness.
To cut short a long story, Tinubu won the primaries of his political party, the A.P.C defeating his close rival, Chief Rotimi Chibuike Ameachi with unimaginable number of votes and his “godson” Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo and bore the flag of APC to defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi who sprang a surprise to take third in the general election of 2023. Many have argued rightly that supposing Atiku and Obi had a joint ticket of the PDP they would have defeated President Ahmed Tinubu, particularly looking at the number of votes he polled to be declared a winner.
On the D-day of inauguration of Baba Tinubu, without settling down for governance, President Tinubu declared war on Nigerians by removing Oil/fuel subsidy when he echoed, “Subsidy is Gone?”.
It could be recalled that the subsidy he declared gone was the same subsidy that former President Goodluck Jonathan had wanted to remove in 2012 that himself, Tinubu, Prof Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, etc. protested against and grounded the economy of Nigeria from January 1st 2012 protesting nationwide, until they forced President Jonathan to reverse.
What a hypocrite? Tinubu could not wait to put certain things, infrastructures, like bringing to life the four or at least two of the Nation’s refineries to function before his unpopular and anti-people declaration of “Subsidy is Gone?” President Tinubu did not even wait to sit down and make useful consultations to ascertain the state of the government, the suffering masses, the economy, food security and market realities before he stubbornly made this pronouncement that further deepened or heightened the level of poverty, the rate of criminality and total insecurity in the country.
Inspite of the hue and cry of the masses, President Tinubu continues to plug his ears with cotton wool. Today, poor Nigerians buy a litre of fuel at the rate of over a thousand naira even with the much celebrated Dangote Refinery. President Tinubu now campaigns in vain about a Condensed Natural Gas(CNG) requesting Nigerians to buy gas cylinders and install them in the boots of their cars (like a huge cargo) and operate this make-shift arrangement as an alternative to fuel.
Unfortunately, cases of explosion of these gas cylinders at the filling stations across Nigeria abound. I pray that terrorists and bandits don’t capitalize on this new and ungodly anti-people policy to use this new cylinder regime as explosive devices against Nigerians. Honestly, I am not sure we are safe with this Tinubu’s CNG policy.
Infact, Nigerians are also counter-stubborn to this his CNG new love that are unsafely and unguardedly loaded in the boots of vehicles like baggage and loads.
Our President and aides suffer in vain to call this “conversion” as if conversion does not have a universal dictionary meaning. All the promises he made that he would do to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy has been abandoned.
The prices of cooking gas has gone geometrically high, the cost of transportation has gone terribly high thereby confining Nigerian citizens to house arrest and infringing on their rights to freedom of movement: yes, Nigerians can no longer move freely due to the cost of transportation and cost of fuel; only politicians who have questionable proximity to public fund can so move in a Tinubu’s Nigeria of a renewed hope. Infact, the hope is only hopeless and the renewal is only retrogressive.
The poor are rapidly getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. The war against graft has taken an unfortunate partisan dimension that those in the APC “All Saint” cathedral are occupying lofty public offices while those in the opposition parties are selectively invited by the EFCC for questioning.
A particular Former Governor is above arrest and formal arraignment in a court of law, while a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs has not been invited by the EFCC up till now. She was, perhaps, just eased out of office with a rider, “your sin has been forgiven, go and sin no more”, President Tinubu has now been canonized to forgive sins of his disciples and convict others from a different political faith.
There are consistent and serial killings everywhere in the North, in the South, in the East, and in the West, on the Plateau, in Benue, in Imo, in Enugu and in Niger states and bandits rule wherever they want to rule, conquer where ever they want to conquer, parade wherever they want to parade, decimating the human population of Nigeria while Mr. President junkets everywhere around the 5 Continents of the world seeking medical attention and where to borrow money.
The poverty in the land, the high cost of living, the insecurity, the biting terrible condition of living among the downtrodden now belongs to the downtrodden while Mr. President appoints new aides on a daily basis. This is the “TINUBULATION” that APC has given to Nigerians. We thought that we would be issued a certificate of survival after former President Buhari but if God does not intervene, very soon Nigeria will continue to be the poverty capital of the world.
In civilized climes, a president who has lost the mental, emotional, moral and political will; social and moral integrity of governance would simply resign. Here, protesters would be arrested, intimidated, incarcerated and persecuted for protesting against hunger and poverty. It took public uproar for President Tinubu’s government to release juveniles who were arraigned in a Federal High Court and ordered to be remanded for the offence of being poor, and downtrodden, yet President Ahmed Tinubu is the grand Patron of Protesters in this Country.
