Tinubu And His Black Beast

 By Ugoji Egbujo

On his way to Equatorial Guinea, Tinubu rode in a gleaming new car to the airport, leaving tongues wagging. A glamorous, armoured black Cadillac Escalade reminded many of the NPN days. Such a show of opulence in the immediate aftermath of the hunger protests seemed an act of defiance. He startled the public. 

Tinubu preaches austerity, but makes no effort to curtail lavish public expenditure. A commentator said the car was the hardest evidence of his aloofness. But more patriotic people may argue that a man who leads 200 million people and who has just secured a vote of confidence from the people that matter is at liberty to thump his nose at disgruntled elements.

Other patriots may argue that the president of the Giant of Africa cannot move around like a lizard, in a jalopy, just because of hunger in the land. The president’s aides, who always find sinisterness in every criticism of their principal, might soon release data on world leaders’ use of exotic cars. They won’t see the disconnect between what they preach and what they practice. 

If Tinubu didn’t impose hardship on the people, this penchant for luxury might have been pardonable. After all, a man who had dreamed of being president for many years must have developed a ton of fantasies along the way. So, if he promised himself he would change the national anthem to cure nostalgia and ride in a new car that shares a fleeting resemblance with that used by American presidents, shouldn’t we indulge him? But since his inauguration, in all his public addresses to the nation, the president has urged perseverance and understanding. In his last address during the protests against bad governance, he demanded sacrifice and patience from citizens to save the country from economic ruin. How ca the public understand this blatant hypocrisy? 

Rather than lead by personal examples, the president and his men have continued with the routine lavish lifestyles of our politicians. The inflation rate has burnt jobs and livelihoods, but hasn’t stopped the president from acquiring a brand-new jet for his travels.  Now, he has a new armoured Chairman Escalade, as they call it. For a country saddled with impossible debts, a car wouldn’t worsen our predicament, but it would send the message that the redemptive belt-tightening hasn’t begun. 

In Nigeria,  progressivism has been reduced to blind sentimental loyalty to a political leader who identifies or masquerades as a progressive, particularly one who once participated in pro-democracy activities.  A progressive is no longer a person who champions social reforms. So, some of these other progressives actually think that the public focus on a new car is nonsensical pedantry by bad losers. In other words, since Tinubu is a rich man, we must allow him to enjoy the cushioned life of the rich while he is president.

In essence, why are we disturbed by a mere car when a corrupt president can move around in a rickety bolekaja while stealing the country blind? So, to critics who wonder why the prescription of sacrifice is good for the masses and not the president, these fans of Tinubu will say that Tinubu is being transparent and honest by ‘doing his little doings’ in the open.  These folks aren’t bothered by manifest policy incongruencies. He runs a bloated cabinet, but wants people to curb their appetites. He wants the people to use Made-In-Nigeria goods, but he spurns the chance to lead the transformation by personal example at every opportunity. 

In times past, some military heads of state decreed that all government officials, including the president, must use Peugeot cars, which were then assembled in Nigeria. While these symbolic gestures didn’t stop the rampant embezzlement of public funds, they showed that the government was conscious of the people’s predicament and could at least pay lip service to it. Such symbolic gestures made the people feel their military leaders were not altogether foreign conquering mercenaries. Even military juntas who weren’t answerable to anyone cared about optics and made some effort, even if superficial, to show empathy.  Why, then, do our elected leaders grate the sensibilities of the frustrated and famished masses with their exhibition of sybaritism?

Since Tinubu’s black beast became the talk of the town, many youths have besieged the internet to find out the cost. A few government officials who now regard peaceful protests against bad governance as subversive might think of this new virulent inquisitiveness as rascality. They would rather have a docile citizenry that defers sheepishly to its leaders and their wanton profligacy and waits patiently till the elections to voice their concerns. The tragedy is that many citizens are now disillusioned and losing faith.

Apathy and anomie are spreading. The youths are increasingly feeling that our national problems are refractory and only those who can’t japa are staying behind. Rife rumours put the cost of the president’s beast at about a billion Naira. Only a few can understand why the president removed the petrol subsidy only to buy a new jet and car for himself when the country’s economy is still in peril. A cost-conscious and empathetic president would have seen out his first term in demonstrable personal austerity, but Tinubu perhaps thinks his comfort will quicken national recovery.  

It isn’t easy to imagine what the president feels and tells his closest aides behind closed doors. It must be arduous churning out justifications for this hypocrisy. It’s true the country is badly divided and no longer as safe as it used to be, and therefore, keeping the president safe should be a national priority. But if presidential security rather than comfort is the objective, then why wouldn’t such a paranoid president move around in an armoured personnel carrier like the president of Guinea? 

A car might not worsen the penury of rural folks and the slum life of most in the cities, but a new gas-guzzling beast bought with taxpayers’ money and unveiled as hunger protesters were being forced off the streets will provoke public outrage. It’s true Nigeria didn’t become the global headquarters of multi-dimensional poverty and child malnutrition because of  Tinubu. It’s true, he inherited a mess and shouldn’t be deprived of the tools and trappings of his exalted office. It’s indeed his turn. But he must remember that what he does is more significant than what he says. 

The vice president believes  Tinubu has only one wristwatch. Many who have been to Bourdillon, where he lives, say it’s spare. They must be believed, but if the president is not a man of flamboyance and profligacy, why does he struggle to cut a figure of frugality and run a lean government to give people hope? Why has he allowed himself to be embroiled in a damaging conflict of interest mess in the award of huge contracts? 

The president must fashion and announce an ambitious vision. With a concise vision, he will find urgency; he will not waste time celebrating trivial achievements or indulge himself in fantasies. With a vision,  he can sculpt the size, attitude and morality of the government he requires for the mission.  

*Egbujo is a commentator on public issues