LAST week, I mentioned a former deputy governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, who wants to renounce her citizenship and move abroad because of Tinubu’s emergence as the President-elect. Bode George, a former military governor and veteran politician, has for the same reason, also expressed a desire to emigrate.

It is sad enough when youngsters “japa” or flee to distant lands because they have concluded after much suffering that Nigeria has failed their generation and can offer them nothing meaningful. It will be particularly heart-wrenching if elderly folks take off to foreign climes at a time when they are supposed to be happily relaxing in a familiar home environment for the rest of their lives.

Statistics are not available, so I can’t swear that I am right. But based on conversations I’ve had with Nigerians from all walks of life, all age groups and different parts of the country, I am convinced that feelings of despair – which have been widespread for the past few years – have significantly increased since the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, crowned Tinubu in March. 

When you are declared winner of a controversial context amidst numerous complaints and are facing anger or indifference from a large chunk of the populace, you have two options at your disposal: You can either disdainfully ignore or viciously lash out at overt critics and those who simply cannot be bothered to respond enthusiastically to your presence on the public stage.

Alternatively, you can launch a charm offensive in places where you are unpopular, go out of your way to win hearts/minds and bend over backwards to perform so impressively that you wind up proving your detractors wrong and transforming lukewarm citizens into devotees.

If Tinubu gets sworn in next month and then manages to persuade Supreme Court judges to support him against opponents who have strong cases against him, there will be many things he can do to offset the bitterness his presidency will generate from Day One. If Tinubu is able to successfully cross these bridges at the end of May and whenever the Supreme Court is ready to deliver its verdict, I will list, on this page, the ways in which he can improve his relationship with the millions of Nigerians who didn’t vote for him.

But, for now, let’s focus on what needs to be done now. And one of the things that needs to be done now is for Tinubu to humbly visit Madame Ojikutu and Oga George and promise them respectful treatment if they jettison their exile plans.

The Adamawa flogging

I WAS horrified when I saw the video of a bleeding INEC employee in his underwear. It was all over the internet. He had been beaten up during last weekend’s electoral fracas in Adamawa State after being accused of corruptly subverting the will of the people. Violence is always wrong.

But it seems that enraged mobs can be very effective because the Adamawa situation was quickly resolved. There was no time-wasting messing about. INEC and other authorities speedily stepped into the fray and prevented things from further escalating; and the PDP governor (Fintiri) who actually won was officially acknowledged as having triumphed over the APC candidate who initially refused to accept defeat.

I’m truly sorry that the APC candidate – Hajiya Aishatu Binani – lost because I am a feminist and would have been delighted if she had become the first female elected governor in Nigeria. But it is clear that the INEC Resident Commissioner (who didn’t hide the fact that he was rooting for her) misbehaved on her behalf. And I have, unfortunately, seen no evidence that makes me believe that she deserved to be declared as the winner. And I was rather embarrassed when she prematurely made a victory speech.

Anyway, the question I am asking is this: If INEC staff in Yola had not been harassed and flogged, would INEC have been so keen to solve the Adamawa problem so efficiently and fairly? As a friend of mine said to me yesterday: “Is jungle justice the only type of justice we can count on in Nigeria? If cheating, biased INEC staff had been thoroughly dealt with in other states during the elections, would INEC not have done much better?”