As President Buhari Insists On Re-Contesting…

By Bolaji Tunji

It is no longer news that President Muhammadu Buhari is going to again contest. It had been an open secret for a while that the president would go for another term in office. Pray, tell me, which of the Nigerian leader had ever felt the need to put the country first and voluntary relinquish power due to ill health or the fact that younger elements needed to be mentored or given the chance to administer the country with modern ideas? None. It is stretching it a bit far to even believe that an elected president in this clime would willingly relinquish power. Even if such individual wanted to do, the hawks and the power mongers would not allow it. Sadly, there is hardly anyone willing to speak truth to power due to what they stand to gain in allowing the status quo to remain.

*Buhari 

But I do not want to begrudge our president his right to contest for a second term. I am only concerned that most Nigerians and especially the younger elements are making the exercise such an easy one for him. Yea, if PMB is not magnanimous enough to tell us he would not contest, the ticket should not be handed over to him on a platter of gold. 

That Ill-Advised Search For Oil In The North

By Bolaji Tunji

On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari was said to have met with three state governors from the northern part of the country. The meeting was to discuss what is becoming a desperate, continued search for oil in the north.

Sokoto governor, Aminu Tambuwal, one of the visitors to the president, was quoted to have called on the federal government to support the search for oil in the Sokoto basin, as that area had been discovered to have oil reserve as far back as 1957.

What’s Prof Osinbajo Not telling Us?

By Bolaji Tunji

The Vice and Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, during the week paid a short visit to President Muhammadu Buhari. It was a very short visit which lasted less than 24 Hours. The man left the country on Tuesday and was back by Wednesday to preside over the Federal Executive a Council (FEC) meeting.

*Osinbajo

The Vice President’s visit is just one of the many visits to the President in recent time. The president’s wife, Aisha Buhari, had equally paid a visit to her husband including other prominent Nigerians, amidst rumours that the first lady had been shielded from seeing her husband during previous visits.

In all these, the story had been that the president was responding to treatment and would soon come back. This is contrary to information from the opposition figures that the President is on life support machine. Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, had said that the president was on life support machine. His statement was further amplified by former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.

Indeed, the Ekiti state governor went further to state that he would release some pictures of the president on life support machine to corroborate his claims.

APC, Buhari And Arrogance Of Leadership

By Bolaji Tunji

On Monday evening, news filtered in that newly sworn in American president, Donald Trump would hold a telephone conversation with holidaying or recuperating (depending on the information you are working with) President Mohammadu Buhari. Apart from the surprise announcement, Nigerians were equally eager to see whether the conversation would hold and not another of the propaganda that Nigerians have been fed with in recent time, to prove that the president was and is still ‘hale and hearty’, according to the acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo

President Buhari and APC National Leader, Tinubu

The conversation  eventually took place. As with everything that had been subjected to social media scrutiny and query by Nigerians, doubts were raised about whether President Buhari actually spoke with the American president. Nigerians had cause to doubt whether a telephone conversation took place. Weeks after the president left the country on an extended 10-day leave, which was supposed to culminate  with him seeing his doctors, the issue that dominated the cyberspace especially when the president decided to extend his stay without a clear cut date of return was his health status. Information had filtered in that  the president had passed on. It wasn’t as if anybody was wishing him dead, but his health status had been shrouded in so much secrecy that it was difficult to know what to believe.

Who would blame our people? The experience with former President Musa Yar’Adua is still fresh in the memory. After several weeks and months of hide and seek, the citizen eventually got to know that President Yar’Adua was dead. It was a fact that could no longer be hidden.

So with President Buhari, Nigerians were still unconvinced that he was still alive. They thought they were still being taken for a ride in the usual way, in spite of assurances from different quarters.

But I have issues with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Buhari. Even when those who surrounds the president are saying differently, Nigerians needed assurance from the president himself, they wanted to know the problem with him. They found it difficult to accept the information from Aso Rock media managers. You can’t blame them, once beaten, twice shy as it’s often said. All they wanted was assurance, they wanted to hear from the president. It was a simple enough thing to arrange.

They wanted the president to speak to them. They wanted to see him ‘live’. But they were disappointed. The APC, the president and his media minders didn’t see any need for it. It was a display of sheer arrogance, that the people do not matter. It is surprising that the president equally decided to keep quiet and didn’t feel the need to speak with the people, unless Nigerians are still not being told the entire truth about his health status. You could have a lot of people visitin. It does not indicate anything. People have visited some people like that they pay their last respect? It does not mean everything is perfect.

Indeed, Right Time For Igbo Presidency

By Bolaji Tunji

One Tuesday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo made a case for the South east to also be given a chance to produce the next president of Nigeria. In canvassing this view which he said was personal to him, he noted that most of the other zones in the country- the North, South West and even the minority south South had all produced the nation’s president at one point or the other and it would only be fair if the south east was also allowed to produce Nigeria’s president in the not too distant future.

Indeed, the iconic former president seems to have spoken the mind of most of us who still believe in fairness, justice and equity as way of stemming the agitation from that part of the country.

Within a few days of the ex-president’s statement, there have been reactions from some Nigerians,though mostly of the South east extraction. While some are in support of the former president’s statement, a few remain skeptical believing that Obasanjo’s statement came because he saw that the agitation of South east ethnic nationalities such as Movement for the Actualization of  the Sovereign State of Biafra, (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have grown more strident. Notwithstanding the messenger, the question is whether there is any substance in the message and whether it is or should be a reality worth pursuing?

For someone who has always believed in fairness, equity, Obasanjo’s message resonates with me. If Nigerians have not been thinking in this direction, it is time to start looking that way.

It is not in doubt that the South east has contributed immensely, like any other zone to the development of this country. One would even believe an average South easterner to be more nationalistic than any other, among the different zones in the country. And why would I say this? It is only an Igboman who feels comfortable in any and every part of Nigeria. There is hardly a state or town in Nigeria today where you would not find an Igboman. He  either has a business running or is found offering different services to the host community. He builds his house in that community and feels comfortable there. He sees himself as part of the community. There is a saying in the Southwest, especially among the Oyo-speaking Yoruba that if you got to a town and you could not locate an Ogbomoso person, it would be better for you to run from the place. The implication being that the inhabitants are inhospitable. Ogbomoso people in those days are traders who ply their trade in far-flung places, far from their home.

I think the same applies to the Igbo race. If you ventured into any town or village and you could not locate an Igboman, you would do yourself a world of good by running away from the place. The Igbo is an irrepressible race. Prior to the civil war period, they were everywhere in the country. They were the railway engineers and great merchants while majority were also seen as intellectual giants. With the civil war, majority went back home. But less than five decades after the war, they are every where in Nigeria, trading and contributing to the economy of the host community. If that is not a good example in nationalism, I wonder what is. Their attitude is the trait of a race that still believes in the oneness of the country, despite what some people would say to the contrary.

Nigeria: When 'Clueless' Is Better Than Calamitous

By Bolaji Tunji

The present government of President Muhammadu Buhari would, in a few months, be two years old. Ever since the government was sworn in, save for the euphoria that trailed a new government and the expectation of Nigerians looking for change, if truth has to be told, Nigerians have not really got anything to show for all the change that they were promised. There is hardship in the land occasioned by the poor state of the economy. Nigerians are hungry. Prices of essential commodities are soaring. Food items are no longer affordable. As for social amenities, Nigerians experience more of darkness than light as power has worsened. Former Lagos governor and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Raji Fashola, has not been able to find solution to the problem.

*Buhari 

Most of the people who aided and supported this government such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo have equally signaled their dissatisfaction with the way things are going. He told the government to concentrate on clearing the mess inherited instead of complaining about the situation. In the early days of the administration, it was the in thing to blame the Goodluck Jonathan administration for the rot in the system. If the present government would continue to have its way, it would still have preferred to continue blaming the previous administration. But this would have shown the new government as lacking in initiative for still blaming its predecessor at nearly two years of taking over. Come to think of it, does this present administration have initiative, creativity? I do not think so. As much as Nigerians admire the person of President Buhari for his honesty, integrity (I equally do),  he has fallen short of the expectation of so many Nigerians. This is not just about criticizing the president for the sake of it, but criticism is coming because the president, in the past 17 months, has shown his unpreparedness for governance. I want him to succeed but wishing is different from the reality. The reality is that nothing is working. Companies are finding it difficult to continue and jobs are being lost.

I have written about the fact that there is no clear cut economic blue print and so many other Nigerians, who are in position to know this, have said the same. It is what former President Obasanjo described as administration by “adhocry”. Looking for quick fix solution without an in depth understanding of the problem. It is what led this same administration to China like other administrations before. Obasanjo visited China twice, late President Umaru Yar’Adua, President Jonathan equally visited before President Buhari’s visit in April.

Prior to that trip, the government had made us to understand that solution to the problems we are facing especially as it concerns the dollars would be found in China and that the focus on that country would reduce the over dependence on the dollar.  I had sounded a warning that the China trip would not solve our problem as it was an ad hoc solution. We were told that many agreements were signed in areas of power, solid minerals, etc. I am yet to see any of these taking off. Why not against such a trip, it should have been taken as part of a larger picture of our economic policy. If we have an economic policy, the question would have been; how does China fits into the overall picture?

Will We Ever Get It Right In Nigeria?

By Bolaji Tunji

I have always agonized and been  concerned about this country Nigeria. My agony in most cases leads to headache and the problem is simply; why has Nigeria been the way it is? Why have we found it difficult to mesh as a nation? Why has development that would translate this country into a great country eluded us? Why is it that our leaders, over the years have always found it convenient to show concern for their own welfare rather than the collective welfare? Our leaders travel out of the country. They see some of the best of facilities and infrastructure in those countries- good road network, good medical facilities where they go in order to take care of themselves, unblinking electricity supply, welfarist programmes for the citizens.

*Buhari 

 All these our leaders see, why is it that they do not show concern or feel such would be good for their country and try to replicate here?

The answer I get is that our leaders really do not have any love for us. They do not care about the people they govern, they only pay lip service to all they claim concerning the masses, it does not touch their heart. We are just statistics to them. We are faceless. They do not see us or feel we are human. Decisions about citizens are always taken cold-bloodedly. The problem did not start with the person who holds the highest office in the land, definitely not  the president. He can not do everything and he can not be everywhere. That’s why we have ministers and other government officials to advise and make the job of governance easier. It also starts at our own level, the ordinary citizen. Do we, the ruled, show love to ourselves? That Hausaman that guides your gate, do you have any kinship with him or you only see a hired hand, who must open your gate or safeguard you while you sleep?

Do you ever wonder whether he has a wife or children? Have you ever wondered how he takes care of them and what he feels being so far away from his wife and children or we think he does not have the same feelings that we have? When you see two people fighting on the road and one breaks a bottle, what was the intention? And when you stab the other person, you now claim it was the devil. What was your intention when you broke the bottle in the first place? If you had considered the implications of that action or put yourself in the position of the other person, would you have considered stabbing or killing him? We are all responsible for our actions at every point in time.

At a macro level, one wonders at the action or inaction of people charged with minding us and why it never bothered them to take action when necessary.

The other day, there was an accident involving a vehicle belonging to Peace Mass Transport Company along the Umuahia end of the Enugu-Portharcourt  expressway. Of the 15 passengers said to be in the vehicle, only two people survived. The accident occurred on Sunday, May 22. Less than two weeks after, another incident occurred involving another vehicle belonging to the same transport company. The driver was said to have lost control and drove the vehicle into a ditch with all the passengers. Again lives could have been lost. 

Nigeria: A Year Of Unmet Expectations?

By Bolaji Tunji

In two days time, precisely May 29, the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of President Mohammadu Buhari would be a year old in office. Being the tradition in this clime, it’s a time to take stock, to find out how the administration has fared in the last one year. Has the administration been able to meet the hopes and expectation of Nigerians who denied the Peoples Democratic Party that continued hold on power and placed their hopes on the APC and General Buhari.

*President Buhari 

That Nigerians had a lot riding on this administration was not in doubt and they had justifiable reason for that. APC had promised them what they felt they were not getting from the PDP government. A new life, a new Nigeria where fuel prices would be about N40 a litre. Where the mass of the unemployed and the aged would be paid a certain amount of money every month and  school children fed at least once a day. It was an administration that fed on the hope and the desire of the people with a promise to ensure that the hopes and aspirations were met. And the Buhari administration made history, unseating a sitting government. President Buhari’s victory at the polls marked him as a dogged, consistent fighter.

He had contested for the highest office in the land on three different occasions before victory eventually came. That in itself is historical. I can’t recall any serious Nigerian politician being that dogged. His tenacity endeared him to many Nigerians, his victory was thus assured especially when Nigerians had grown disenchanted with the PDP government . His victory also signaled the end of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) dominance of the political landscape. Recall that the party had boasted, in its heydays that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years. It could only rule for 16 years, losing to the progressive elements which in itself is equally historical.

Incumbents, with so much at stake, hardly lose election while the conservative elements have always aligned to hold the mantle of leadership of this country. It was under this epoch that President Buhari became the president, a feat that had proved impossible until a merger of his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with the Action Congress of Nigeria and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) spearheaded by the Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha. The rest is history, as it is usually said.

Sorry, Nigeria Isn’t Broke

By Bolaji Tunji

I picked the title of today’s piece from the statement of the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed while briefing journalists on Wednesday shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting. According to him, the country is so broke that they had to increase the petroleum pump price inorder to generate money to run the system.

It is not as if the APC spokesman’s statement comes as a suprise, what’s suprising about his statement is the fact that he had not again laid the blame for this parlous state of affairs by the doorsteps of the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan as usual. Unfortunately,  I disagree with the minister. I disagree because I know that Nigeria is not broke.

But before going into my take on why this country is not broke, there’s an aspect of the minister’s statement that bothers me. Alhaji Mohammed had said that because of poor earning, the government had to look inward to generate money, he said it was on this basis that the pump price of fuel was increased to N145 per litre from its original cost of N86.50.

My problem with the statement is that in order to generate more money to run the affairs of government, the burden had to be put round the neck of the poor masses who are already groaning. Just a few weeks back, the same poor masses had to pay more for darkness ( electricity is now a mirage) when electricity tariff was increased. The masses is being made to take on more burdens, more sacrifices.

The questions are; what are the sacrifices being made by our rulers? Have they cut down on their own material comfort? Was it not a few days ago that the Senate bought some exotic SUV for its members. In spite of the uproar on why the upper chambers had to buy foreign made vehicles instead of patronizing Innoson  that produces made in Nigeria vehicles, nobody has heard them reversing that decision. Is it not obvious that purchasing such vehicles from Innoson would also help galvanize the economy even at that micro level?