The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Arthur Esene and Anselm Ojezua,  to disqualify the party’s candidate for the upcoming September 21 governorship election, Asue Ighodalo.

In the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/863/2024, Esene and Ojezua had urged the Court of Appeal to overturn the April 17 judgment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed their suit as “statute barred.”

Justice Omotosho had previously ruled that the plaintiffs failed to prove their claim that Ighodalo had forged his voter’s card. He also noted that “non-possession of a voter’s card did not constitute a disqualifying factor under the Constitution and the Electoral Act” to bar a candidate from contesting an election.

In the lead judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Hamma Barka upheld Justice Omotosho’s decision and affirmed that the suit filed by Ojezua and others was “filed out of time and statute barred.”

Justice Barka concurred with the Federal High Court’s finding that the appellants “failed to establish their claim” that Ighodalo forged his voter’s card.

He further observed that the suit lacked merit, based on the flawed assumption that “non-possession of a voter’s card constitutes a ground to disqualify a candidate from contesting an election.”

Justice Barka highlighted that the appellants did not contest the trial court’s findings that Ighodalo had applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the transfer of his registration from Lagos State to Edo State, and that INEC had issued a voter’s card to Ighodalo.

Consequently, Justice Barka struck out the appeal for being without merit and awarded costs of N3 million against the appellants and in favor of Ighodalo, PDP, and INEC.

Justices Usman Musale and Okon Abang, who were also on the panel, concurred with the lead judgment.

Details later…

[Tribune]

Musician Oladapo Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has treated Lagos commuters to a free concert on a BRT bus on the same day the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line celebrated its official opening.

The award-winning artist, known for his hit song “Oliver Twist,” took to the streets of Lagos to promote his latest album, The Entertainer D’Sequel, in a unique and engaging way.

D’banj’s impromptu concert began at the Leventis bus stop and continued as he traveled to the Marina train station and the National Theatre station.

Passengers greeted the singer with enthusiasm, singing along to his new tracks and dancing in the aisles.

A heartwarming moment was captured on video, showing D’banj dancing with an elderly woman and leading a sing-along of one of his new songs.

[TheNation]

Bolton Wanderers striker Victor Adeboyejo missed the team’s EFL Trophy victory against Barrow on Tuesday after suffering an unusual injury caused by a “hefty sneeze.”

Adeboyejo was forced to pull out of the squad due to discomfort in his back and ribcage, which, according to his manager, Ian Evatt, was triggered by the sneeze.

“Victor has been suffering with a nasty back injury and a sneeze set it off, believe it or not,” he told The Bolton News on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Nigerian has since undergone a scan to assess the extent of the injury.

Evatt noted that the injury originally occurred after a challenge in a game against Charlton but was worsened by the sneeze.

“He was okay at the time, but then he had a pretty hefty sneeze. Victor is a powerful boy, and even his sneezes are powerful,” the manager joked. “I’ll have to start having a long look at myself when players start getting injured sneezing.”

Despite Adeboyejo’s absence, Bolton secured a 3-2 win against Barrow and currently sit 18th in League One with four points from their first four games of the season.

Adeboyejo transferred to the League One club on January 27, 2023.

[Punch]

The first ballots for the US election were slated to go out to voters Friday, two months ahead of what looks set to be a photo finish between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

The closely fought battleground state of North Carolina was expected to distribute around 130,000 absentee voting slips, with a presidential debate — the next likely campaign inflection point — set for next week.

North Carolina is among a handful of swing states that Harris and Trump have been crisscrossing as they embark on the most intense phase of a White House race expected to be decided by razor-thin margins.

Harris’s entry into the contest six weeks ago turbocharged enthusiasm among Democrats, who had been despondent about President Joe Biden’s chances of stopping Republican Trump from re-entering the White House.

Her team announced Friday that it raised $361 million in August, the largest monthly haul of the cycle and nearly triple the Trump team’s figure.

“In just a short time, Vice President Harris’s candidacy has galvanized a history-making, broad, and diverse coalition — with the type of enthusiasm, energy, and grit that wins close elections,” said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

“As we enter the final stretch of this election, we’re making sure every hard-earned dollar goes to winning over the voters who will decide this election.”

– ‘Honeymoon’ –

Harris’s ascent to the top of the ticket has tilted the races for the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in the direction of Democrats, though all three fights remain close.

While Trump has seen the leads he built over Biden evaporate, his campaign still sees several possible paths to victory and believes it has more support on key election issues like the economy, immigration and crime.

Trump’s aides argue that Harris’s “honeymoon” with voters has overstated support that is beginning to erode as her policy views come into focus.

Harris is up 1.8 percent in head-to-head nationwide polling, according to aggregator RealClearPolitics.

The polls that really count — in the crucial swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina — show an even tighter race, with Harris up 0.2 percent overall, a statistical dead heat.

The plan in North Carolina was to begin mailing out voting slips first thing, but a judge ordered a halt until at least midday to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr time to appeal a ruling refusing to take his name off the ballot following his late withdrawal from the race.

– ‘Save our country’ –

The independent candidate sued the North Carolina election board after its Democratic members denied his request to be removed, deeming the task of reprinting and distributing voting slips impractical at such a late stage.

Kennedy’s exit was a reminder of how rapidly events could change the calculus in the campaign.

His support has fallen away precipitously — from 13.8 percent in July to five percent when he dropped out, according to RealClearPolitics — but even a few hundred of his supporters could swing an election in a close state.

Other wrinkles on the path to November 5 include Trump’s 34-felony hush money conviction in New York, which is likely to charge back into the headlines with his much-delayed sentencing scheduled for September 18.

The first — and perhaps only — debate between Harris and Trump is the next big landmark, set for Tuesday on ABC News.

Trump — who has consistently opposed mail-in voting — posted a short video on TikTok urging Americans to send him back to the White House, “whether it’s mail-in ballots, early voting, or voting on Election Day.”

He was due to address an influential police union in North Carolina on Friday, and then hold a rally on Saturday in Wisconsin.

“We’ve got to save our country, we’re the only ones that are going to save it. That other group of people, they’re going to destroy our country. We can’t let that happen,” he said.

THE on-going Triennial Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, FOCAC, holding in Beijing from September 4-6, 2024, raises a fundamental question: do both sides understand the language they speak?

The theme: “Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future”, presupposes that both are walking hand-in-hand towards the same direction. But do two walk together unless there is an agreement? The ‘strategic partnership’ agreements being signed by China and individual African countries do not give the impression that they are on the same page.

To formalise these agreements, Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with African leaders like Presidents Felix Tshsekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria and the leaders of Mali, Togo, Djibouti and Comoros.

In my reading of the summit, China’s interests are basically four. First, is to hugely increase its exports and services to Africa which includes building infrastructure. The second is to vastly increase its imports from Africa, basically minerals like lithium, copper and cobalt. The third is to better safeguard its funds by moving billions of dollars which can be trapped in the United States to Africa as loans.

The loans promised this Thursday is $50.70 billion. The fourth is to influence countries and build partnership across the globe. This is evident in its being able to gather over 50 African leaders in its capital. This is as China faces the issue of Taiwanese sovereignty, challenges with countries in the South China Sea and handling the unpredictability that is the USA, a giant that has a history of trampling on countries. On the long run, China hopes to crown its influence with a land and sea network linking it with Africa.

On the other hand, I cannot decipher what Africa’s strategic interests are beyond endorsing statements and agreements, and, expecting more from the perceived generosity of China. For me, Africa would have achieved quite a lot, if all we do is study China.

Let us use the agreement Nigeria signed this week with China as a case study. Permit me to begin with a preliminary observation. While President Tinubu is in China, Vice President Kashim Shettima back home, led the Nigeria National Economic Council which included Ministers and State Governors, to meet American billionaire, Bill Gates. Now, Gates, a salesman of capital and suspect vaccines, is not quite trusted in Nigeria.

Gates said, six years ago, he told the same Nigerian elite corps about the urgent need to invest in the country’s greatest resource: its people.

Gates’ pain is the obvious neglect and abandonment of the Nigerian people to the extent that, at least, 18.3 million of its children are today out of school.

Nigeria, in the agreement with China, stated it has “the largest population in Africa”. True, but as Gates pointed out, we have neglected this huge human resource. This is to the extent that some educated Nigerian youths prefer to cross the Sahara Desert, endure suffering and possible enslavement in North African countries, and cross the vast Mediterranean Sea into unfriendly reception in Europe, rather than remain in the country.

Nigeria claimed that its economic reforms and that of China are “…on a similar course”. I beg to disagree. While China’s economic reforms had, by 2017, lifted 300 million people out of poverty, Nigeria sank deeper, making it the poverty capital of the world. By 2024, China has wiped out extreme poverty, making it the United Nations model for poverty eradication. This is at a time Nigeria is talking about poverty alleviation.

Rather than compare ourselves with China on such matters, Africa should learn. For instance, the key strategies China employed to eradicate extreme poverty are education, production, ecological compensation, social assistance and relocation. In Nigeria’s case, rather than expand educational opportunities, we are contracting it and even making our youths obtain education loans to meet increasing costs. Our production is in so terrible a state that rather than refine petroleum products, we prefer importation and increasing their prices leading to unprecedented hyper-inflation.

So, while China’s reforms have led to it by 2023 refining 14.8 million barrels per day, Nigeria’s reforms have led to zero fuel refining in the last three decades.

As for ecology, we have abandoned our people to the devastation that is oil and environmental pollution and, advancing desert. Yes, we engage in social assistance but this programme is widely acknowledged as a criminal enterprise with billions of Naira in the pockets and bank accounts of identifiable persons, including past ministers.

Relocation was an important strategy: rather than struggle to rebuild old villages, the Chinese simply built new ones and relocated the people. I recall in 2017 visiting two of such model relocations in the remote villages of Yangguang and Xinxing.

Rather than Nigeria and China reforms being on a similar course, they are actually headed in opposite directions. While China manages its foreign exchange by refusing to let it float uncontrollably, Nigeria uncritically tossed its currency into shark-infested seas expecting it to float. It is like tossing a baby into a river and expecting the child to swim.

Nigeria’s electricity reforms are wrapped in rich layers of propaganda with the only reality being ever higher tariffs, for criminally poor services. Under claimed reforms, the electricity sector, except its transmission arm, was auctioned to private owners in September 2013. Rather than improvements, all that are audible are lamentations. Then suddenly, after a Federal Executive Council meeting, the Buhari administration announced on February 20, 2020, that the country was generating 13,000MW and transmitting 7,000MW when the installed distribution capacity was about 4,000kw! That did not lead to improved services as it was obviously a fabulous story told through the lips of then Power Minister, Mamman Saleh.

On Monday, September 3, 2024, Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu announced his own figures about the country hitting a three-year high of 5,313mw; same as it was eight years ago! But I did not hear him tell us our actual distribution.

No, Nigeria and China are not operating on the same wave length. While China’s reforms are pro-people and development-oriented, Nigeria’s version are anti-people; more of deformities than reforms.

A piece of good news is that Presidents Xi and Tinubu agreed on currency swap to boost trade between their countries. The expectation is that unlike President Buhari who made a similar agreement for a $2.4 billion swap in 2018, but did not have the balls to implement it, President Tinubu would be courageous enough to see this through.

The hope is that at this FOCAC 2024, Africa and China would neither speak Latin nor Greek, but a language both sides understand and, that we would be humble enough to learn from China.

AS the good people of Edo State elect a new governor on September 21, the question that should concentrate all minds is how not only to make the best choice, but also ensure that the will of the people prevails.

As easy as this task is in other climes that profess democracy, it is challenging in Nigeria because of the abounding political demagogues to whom free, fair and credible election is an anathema because they belong to the school of thought which believes that “political power is not going to be served in a restaurant”.

When a people believe that political power is not served a la carte, they, “at all cost, fight for it, grab it and run with it” as it was the case in 2023. But as Dike Chukwumerije, the spoken word and performance poetry artist and author, noted: “Nobody who steals political power will use it for good.”

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo State and president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is one of such demagogues. More than anyone else, he is leading the Edo must be brought back to the APC column charge.

To be sure, nothing is wrong in Edo people deciding that for whatever reason, they have had enough of the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led Peoples Democratic Party government and want to pitch their tent with another political party. Never mind that Obaseki was a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, until four years ago and, indeed, served his first term as an APC governor. But any such decision is the beauty of democracy as long as it is a product of a free, fair and credible election.

Sadly, that is not likely to be the case because Oshiomhole, obtuse as ever, is polluting the political space with his unbecoming rhetoric. At 72, the former national chairman of the APC is no spring chicken any more. As former governor and now senator representing Edo North senatorial district, his voice should be that of reason and moderation just like the voice of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

Chief Oyegun, also a former Edo State governor and APC national chairman, has played the role of a statesman up to the hilt. As much as he would want his party to win, he is also decent enough to appreciate that it is the call of Edo people to make, not his alone. That is what it takes to be a democrat. Not so for Oshiomhole. A man adept at rousing the political rabble, it is either his way or the high way. He is at it again just as he did in 2020 when he led the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to the political Golgotha.

In my “Obaseki blowout in Edo poll” column of September 23, 2020, I posited that Oshiomhole was the reason why Ize-Iyamu, a man reputed as a grassroots politician, took the drubbing he did in the 2020 Edo governorship election.

“Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo and sacked APC national chairman, is quite a character,” I wrote. “Crabby, grouchy and pugnacious, the former Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, president loves picking fights, most times gratuitously. As the Smart Alec he thinks he is, he behaves as if he knows everything. And because he is Mr. Know-All, he is opinionated, intolerant and blinkered. Like every Smart Alec, he is irritating. Little wonder, to borrow a cliché, he is the best hated man in the APC today.”

I stated four years ago that Oshiomhole’s APC-Obaseki-Iyamu odyssey echoed the allegory of the tortoise who embarked on an ill-advised trip and vowed not to return until he was disgraced. And, indeed, he was humiliated because blinded by infantile hubris and quest for vendetta, he could not correctly interpret the handwriting on the wall even when he saw and read it.

Sadly, the former governor has embarked on the same ill-fated trip once again throwing caution to the winds. Lacking in basic political decency and decorum, Oshiomhole, uncouth as ever, takes pride in assaulting the sensibilities of Edo people.

Emboldened by his new status as a senator and the fact that his political soul mate, Bola Tinubu, successfully  snatched Nigeria’s presidency in 2023 and ran with it, Oshiomhole thinks now is the opportune time to finish the job he started in 2020 even when Obaseki is no longer on the ballot. In doing that, the former Labour leader has decided to make Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, a collateral damage in his war of attrition with his successor.

Again, supporting the APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebhelo, wouldn’t have been an issue if he played by the rules of the game. But he hasn’t because he is incapable of playing decent politics devoid of puerile drama, invectives, name-calling and foul language. Edo people deserve better. 

I am not from Edo but I strongly believe that Nigeria’s redemption lies with the federating units and not the ever-bumbling federal government. I also believe that any state in Nigeria that has an Asue Ighodalo as a governorship candidate should consider itself lucky. I believe that for our country to stand any chance in the comity of nations, the politicians should have a second address. A career politician in the Nigerian context is a fraud, who lives off the state. That person cannot be the selfless, transformational leader that a country at the socio-economic and political crossroads such as Nigeria needs right now.

Ighodalo, a product of the prestigious King’s College, Lagos, obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan in 1981, an LL.B from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1984.

Having worked as an Associate in the law firm of Chris Ogunbanjo & Co upon graduation from the Nigerian Law School in 1985, Ighodalo as the founding partner, alongside Femi Olubanwo, set up the Banwo and Ighodalo law firm in 1991, thus starting a soaring corporate and commercial law practice in Nigeria that specialized in advising major corporations on corporate finance, capital markets, energy and natural resources, mergers and acquisitions, banking and securitisation and project finance.

He was chairman of the boards of Nigerian Breweries Plc. and Sterling Financial Holding Company, as well as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, aside sitting on the boards of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc., and the FATE Foundation, an NGO committed to the development of entrepreneurs in Nigeria, among others. And it goes without saying that he made a fortune from his endeavours.

Yet, this leading corporate lawyer and boardroom leader resigned from all these corporate positions and the huge financial rewards in 2023 just to serve his people.

In his resignation letter to the board of Nigerian Breweries in December last year, Ighodalo wrote: “It is with heartfelt regret that I announce my resignation as Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Breweries Plc. effective December 31, 2023. After extensive deliberations, I have decided to offer myself for public service to our dear country. The decision comes with the mixed emotions of a painful sacrifice made to enable my full devotion to the new cause.”

So, it is okay if Oshiomhole prefers a Monday Okpebhelo, a career politician to an Asue Ighodalo, but he cannot impose his preference on the highly discerning and politically savvy Edo people. The difference between the Ighodalo and Okpebhelo candidacies is tantamount to light and darkness. There is no basis for comparison. And those who still insist that education does not matter in leadership after the Muhammadu Buhari disaster in Aso Rock are simply lying. Edo people should be wary of such characters.

And those who are insisting that Ighodalo should be held liable for Obaseki’s alleged failures are delusional because truth be told, Obaseki has not failed. Not only that, it is hypocritical for those who argued only yesterday that Buhari and APC’s failures had nothing to do with a Tinubu presidency to turn around today to deny Edo people the promise of an Asue Ighadalo governorship on the baseless ground that PDP has failed.

The Edo governorship election is not about political parties. It is about individuals and their capacity to deliver on their promises. Monday Okpebhelo, typical of professional politicians propped by wannabe godfathers has promised nothing and will deliver nothing. Conversely, the promise of an Asue Ighodalo governorship is fascinating. The difference is clear and the choice is that of Edo people to make in spite of Oshiomhole’s Surugede dance.

The federal government has launched an electronic quality assurance system for basic education in Nigeria.

The platform, called the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service Cloud Server (FEQAS Collect), was unveiled in Abuja on Thursday.

Yusuf Sununu, minister of state for education, spoke at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) digital resource centre.

He said the system is designed to streamline the collection, analysis, and reporting of data related to the quality of education in schools.

The minister said the cloud server would essentially automate the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service Department.

He said the server would better equip the education ministry to monitor, evaluate, and improve education quality assurance processes.

Sununu, represented by the director of ICT Abubakar Isa, said the server would revolutionise the operation of the FEQAS department.

He said it would enhance data capturing, streamline processes for efficiency, boost efficient reporting, and fortify data protection.

Hamid Bobboyi, the executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), said the manual conduct of school quality assurance evaluation and reporting has been fraught with delay and human errors, hence the need to automate the system.

He said UBEC adopted digital technology for school quality assurance evaluation to promote flexibility, accuracy, and timely reporting.

The executive secretary said the technical support the commission received from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) led to the development of “UBEC Collect” which is currently being used by Quality Assurance Officers in the Commission.

He said UBEC Collect is also used by State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) and Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAS).

“The impact of the technological intervention in our school quality assurance evaluation encouraged us to extend the facility to the Federal Quality Assurance Services (FEQAS) in the overall interest of educational development in the country,” he stated.

Helen Okoro, the UBEC quality assurance director, said that the launch of the Federal Education Quality Assurance Services (FEQAS) and the UBEC Quality Assurance Officers (QAOs) guarantees a unity of purpose in school monitoring and evaluation of schools.

“The use of the digital tablet in conducting school evaluation is meant to simplify the work of the field officers so that all areas of whole school evaluation are effectively covered without difficulties,” she added.

[TheCable]

Departure Points

(1) The Amalgamation Roots
Conceptually and objectively speaking, all the evidence of a predisposition to endemic corruption looms large in Nigeria today. The sad reality is that there is no silver lining in the horizon, which in itself fuels more corruption as those opportuned to be in position of authority scampers to insure themselves against the promise of a bleak tomorrow. This is why corruption has become cyclical. The roots of the culture of nepotism and corruption lie deep in the foundational amalgamation ideology of robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to say; the legitimisation and prioritisation of the consumption culture of unearned income and the lack of positive correlation between productivity and reward.

Here is the meaning of what I have just said. “As early as 1898, the British considered combining the then-three protectorates to reduce the administrative burden on the British and allow the rich south to effectively subsidise the much less economically prosperous north. (This is what Lord Lugard was referring to in his infamous description of how a marriage between the “rich wife of substance and means” (the south) and the “poor husband” (the north) would lead to a happy life for both. Some have suspected that Lugard was also referring to the political supremacy of the North over the South”
This was the ideology of raw nepotism infused into the bloodstream of Nigeria by the British upon which the existence of Nigeria was predicated. From this raison d’être emerged the entitlement syndrome of the Northern ruling class and their collaborators from the rest of Nigeria. The new age embodiment of this mentality is no other than former President Muhammadu Buhari and his unprecedented nepotism. He would absolve Abacha from the charge of stealing even as he was receiving and taking custody of proceeds of Abacha’s crime. If the Tinubu presidency is having problems with this constituency today it is on account of not adequately yielding to this entitlement syndrome.

The power rotation principle can be construed as ‘tragedy’-it is a response mechanism to political conflict not an optimal strategy. It is a suboptimal compromise in the effort to defuse real and potential situations of conflict and ensure that such situations degenerate into less attractive possibilities’¹. As it is often the case with Nigeria, this utility has morphed into the dysfunction of becoming an instrument of legitimising incompetence and corruption. It has become birds of the same feather with the grossly abused federal character provision. It is a recognition and acceptance of the bane of overcentralisation of power and an escapist deflection from coming to terms with federalism. .

(4) Resource curse syndrome
‘Countries like Venezuela and Nigeria (the companies we keep) are often cited as examples of the resource curse, where despite their wealth in natural resources, they face significant economic and social challenges’. The contemporary manifestation of the resource curse syndrome in Nigeria is what is called the oil subsidy scandal. The curse here is, first and foremost, the inability of this government to hold anyone accountable given the surfeit of evidence. Rather than hold anyone accountable the government is reinforcing the prior scandal with its own collusion. I do not know Mr Mele Kyari but I marvel at the mystery behind his retention. Every performance index keeps on degenerating under his tutelage yet he remains untouchable. One does not need to dislike this government to conclude that they are in cahoots with this man. It doesn’t make sense otherwise.

From the South came the counterattack by Professor Itse Sagay “This is a wake-up call on the people of the oil-bearing region. For instance this is the time to come together and fight intellectually for the anomaly in the uneven allocation of oil blocs in the country. You will observe that because of the long stay of the north in power at the centre, they manipulated the process and cornered these blocs to the disadvantage of the south; today, you have all juicy oil blocs in the hands of the north. Now that Jonathan is there, I would not want to sound being immodest by calling for a revocation of the blocs allocated to the northern businessmen, but from the look of things, they have decided to take the entire South for a ride, so Jonathan should ensure that he corrects this imbalance by allocating more oil blocs to people in the South to make up for the inequity in the sector.”

But contrariwise, these forms of corruption are completely absent in the primordial public. Strange is the Nigerian who engages in embezzlement in the performance of his duties to his primordial public-town union. To put your fingers in the till of the government will not unduly burden your conscience and people may well think you are a smart fellow and envy you your opportunities. To steal the funds of the (ethnic) union would offend the public conscience and ostracise you from society.’
The sum of my argument today is that the challenge confronting Nigeria, especially corruption, is a cyclical systemic crisis. In the short term, the solution to this crisis is simple but elusive. It is as simple and elusive as requesting President Bola Tinubu to done the garb of a radical reformer. For instance a President with the mentality of issuing an executive order that within a year all federal government motor vehicles should be sourced from Nigerian car manufacturers. To survive Nigeria needs a shock therapy.

Nigerians are the most resilient people I know. Despite these killings, our population is always on the increase. I expect the population to plummet. Killings everywhere. One is either killed by bandits or kidnappers. If one escapes being killed by ISWAP, they might be ambushed by Boko Haram. However, Killings by these agents of death are nothing compare to the lives that have been lost to hunger, malnutrition, sickness, and depression due to hopelessness. Everyday, countless number of Nigerians die of poverty and hunger. Many who are not clearly in the poverty cycle are depressed due to the fear of being drawn into the ever expanding cycle of poverty. All this, courtesy of Tinubu’s strangulating policies. Yet, he does not give a damn.

Under Tinubu who is said to be a democrat, democrats are being locked up for being democrats. Their offence? They protested against hunger and bad governance by carrying placards. This simple expression of democratic right has become treasonable offence in Nigeria under Tinubu. While protesters are easily tracked and arrested, gun wielding terrorists terrorize and kill Nigerians as if they had the support of government. They make calls to negotiate ransom even as government continues to appoint minister of communication.

My sense is: “protest against bad governance and hunger is perceived to be protest against government and Tinubu. That is treasonable and could be punishable by death. But since bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists are not against the government, they are only killing common Nigerians—farmers and the bloody poor—no problem.” As rapt listeners, all that you hear from Nigerian government when these agents of death commit their atrocities is: “We will deal with them,” “it is condemnable,” “perpetrators won’t go unpunished,” “government promises justice for victims of attack” etc. That is all. As usual, the government has reacted to the recent killings in Yobe State where more than hundred Nigerians were reportedly killed with these nice words. And that is all. Is it not cowardice to flex muscles against placard-carrying protesters and turn a blind eye when terrorists strike?

There is no disputing the fact that Nigeria is hellish under Tinubu. Though the eternal Hell is for arrogant sinners, Tinubu, with his cold policies, has successfully created his own personal “Hell” in Nigeria for all. What qualifies one to be in Tinubu’s Hell is to be a civil servant, petty trader, self employed, unemployed, underemployed, to be poor. To keep the long list short, once one does not belong to the ruling class, he or she is most likely qualified to be in Tinubu’s “Hell.”

Recently, Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University described Tinubu as “arrogant, ignorant, and incompetent.” Though many Nigerian newspapers reported Hanke’s remark, I have not seen any rejoinder to Hanke’s characterization of Tinubu from any of his “brilliant” technocrats and spokespersons. Could that be a tacit approval of Hanke’s characterization of their boss? Hanke cringed at the arrogance and callousness that propelled Tinubu to purchase aircraft with about 150 billion naira at a time Nigeria’s inflation rate has gone haywire. He wrote: “Meanwhile, I accurately measure Nigeria’s inflation at a SHOCKING 114%/yr. “This far exceeds official figures in Nigeria.

If I were one of Tinubu’s praise singers, I will rejoinder Hanke and I will make it brief. I would have penned the following: “Dear Prof  Steve Hanke, do you think Nigeria is a sane country like America—economically speaking? In fact, our lawmakers and executives have no problem with replacing 19 year old jet with 15 year old jet at a whopping sum of$100million.Maybe you are not aware, one of our prominent clerics (“men of God”) considered the decision to buy presidential jet the best of all decisions taken by this administration even as the masses die of hunger. For your information, all the economic sense you can think of is nonsense in Nigeria under Èmi lo kàn. Therefore, you do not need to tell us that our president is arrogant, ignorant, and incompetent.”

When I learnt that fuel price has been hiked again, my spontaneous remark is the title of this column “Let Tinubu Kuku Kill all of us Kawai. “Honestly, I was crestfallen and that was conspicuous in my mood. I became moody instantly and I am yet to recover as I write. I thought of my earnings that can now hardly feed myself and my little kids—this is after making all the adjustments you can think of. I thought of those whose earnings are way below mine, those without regular earnings, and those who do not have any source of income. The two words in the title “kuku” and “kawai” are Yoruba and Hausa words respectively. I may not be entirely accurate in my translation of them into English. They convey the meaning of “simply” as in “Let Tinubu simply kill all of us.

Describing the terrible outcome of salary negotiation between NLC and FG in my column titled “Protesting Hardship and the N70K Minimum Wage, “I wrote:” In a word, the FG won. In another word, the NLC lost. To crown it all, the masses are in trouble.” To those whose foresight could not guide to understanding the trouble in the 70k minimum wage and the failure of NLC, this is the time to understand.

While 70k itself is a ridiculous offer which the FG is yet to, PMS (fuel)now sells for almost N1000/litre at NNPCL filling stations while other filling stations sell a litre more than N1000. Plan to increase VAT also from 7.5% to 10% is in the offing. It means Nigerians are in a new phase of hardship under the man who “built” Lagos. Rate at which prices of commodities will rise can only be imagined. What about transport fare? I learnt the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu asked civil servants to work from home for three months. So, what happens after three months? Do we even have the facilities to work from home? How do doctors and nurses work from home? How do policemen work from home? What about those in the private sectors who are not civil servants? What about traders whose shops are in markets far away from home?

We are in a deep mess. The 81 year old professor of economics, Hanke, said this about Tinubu few months ago. He (Tinubu), according to Hanke, is the Master of Economic Disaster. It is as if Hanke has invested enough time to study Tinubu and his policies. In his recent caricature of Tinubu, Tinubu is depicted piloting his new presidential jet and globetrotting while his country burns. If I were a member of Tinubu’s family, I will be ashamed of myself. Even as a citizen, I am ashamed to admit that a citizen of another country makes such huge mockery of our president and many agree with him. But do we blame Hanke?

Tinubu and his family are obviously living in opulence while the masses burn in the Hell he created. The Muslim-Muslim clerics who have access to Tinubu should please meet him in camera, hold his hand, and advise him that he must learn how to show empathy—or at least sympathy. They should tell him that when Umar Ibn Khattab was the Caliph and things were tough in the year of Ar-Ramadah (year of famine), Umar (RA) said, reacting to hunger in the land, “I do not like to eat in an extravagant manner. How can I be concerned for the people if I do not suffer what they suffer?” They should also tell Tinubu that when the price of ghee became very high, Umar (RA) ate olive oil. He could not eat, yogurt or milk which he considered too expensive until people could afford it. His hunger caused his stomach to rumble but he would say, “Rumble as much as you like, for by Allah you will not get ghee until the people eat it!”

Can Tinubu be like Umar? Many would say it is impossible.

Me: with God, everything is possible. The only thing those clerics need to do is their part.

No one should accuse me of stupid optimism. May God help Nigerians and guide our rulers.