Tinubunomics? It’s Economic Illiteracy Writ Large!

 By Olu Fasan

Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s self-regarding president, says he deserves an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for his economic reforms. Speaking at the 10th German-Nigerian Business Forum in November last year, Tinubu said: “To me, if you didn’t mention me in the Guinness Book of Records, I would find a way to insert myself because I did it (the economic reforms) without expectations.” But whether he said that in jest or in earnest, the truth is that he goofed spectacularly, displaying a hubristic detachment from reality.  

*Tinubu

Think about it. When, as president, your policies inflict untold suffering and misery on the citizens, it’s utterly arrogant and insensitive to beat your chest and demand global accolades for your “achievement”. It is also inconsiderate and out-of-touch to tell the citizens to endure excruciating pains now for some pie-in-the-sky gains in the future. Thomas Jefferson famously said that “the care of human life and happiness is the only legitimate object of good government”. But Tinubu’s economic “reforms” immiserate and dehumanise ordinary Nigerians!

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: Image Of The Nigerian In The Mirror

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Three years ago, on December 20, 2019, to be exact, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, Minister of State for Health, had reason to leave Lagos on January 20, 2019, to deliver a lecture at an event in Abeokuta. According to him, he got trapped in a traffic jam on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and ended up spending five hours on the journey, normally a breezy trip of about one hour. When Mamora arrived at the event, it was almost over, as most of the other guests, including former President General Olusegun Obasanjo, had arrived, played their roles, and left. 

The minister, apologising to his hosts, said: “I want to apologise for my lateness. I left Lagos early enough. I ended up spending five hours for a one-hour journey. We got ‘hooked up’ with Magodo. The journey that should have taken us one hour, took us five hours. That is the unpalatable state of our roads, even my pilot car could not pilot me through the ordeal.”