The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 597 (May 17 - 30 2023)
Nigeria's fuel subsidy: it's time to kill it and spend the money in ways that benefit the poor
Nigeria's fuel subsidy: it's time to kill it and spend the money in ways that benefit the poor
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Page12 <strong>The</strong><strong>Trumpet</strong> MAY <strong>17</strong> - <strong>30</strong> <strong>2023</strong><br />
Opinion<br />
Tales the country told me:<br />
Hilda Baci and Seun Kuti<br />
Two major events dominated the<br />
headlines in the weekend that just<br />
passed in Nigeria: the heroism,<br />
determination and the example of Ms.<br />
Hilda Effiong Bassey, known as Hilda Baci<br />
for short, and the sordid drama of Seun<br />
Kuti, son of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the<br />
eternal music icon, pushing, slapping and<br />
assaulting a policeman in uniform. Both<br />
subjects deserve commentary. But let’s start<br />
on a positive note, represented by Hilda<br />
Effiong Bassey, the Nigerian food<br />
entrepreneur, or chef, 27, who made up her<br />
mind that she wanted to get into the<br />
Guinness Book of World Records by<br />
beating the longest cooking marathon<br />
record by an individual set by Lata Tandon,<br />
an Indian Chef in 2019. Tandon cooked<br />
non-stop for 87 hours and 45 minutes.<br />
Nigeria’s Ms Baci decided that she would<br />
break that record and cook non-stop for 100<br />
hours. <strong>The</strong> event took place at Amore<br />
Gardens in Lekki, Lagos. She turned on her<br />
oven and cooker on Thursday, <strong>May</strong> 10, and<br />
indeed till Monday morning, Baci kept<br />
dicing, frying, cutting, cooking, baking and<br />
ended up achieving her target. By the time<br />
she reached the significant mark of 87<br />
hours and 50 minutes, she had already<br />
broken the world record, but she kept<br />
going. Nigerians are an interesting lot. Who<br />
would ever have thought that culinary skills<br />
could bring so much fame and history?<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are many lessons and issues to be<br />
extracted from the Hilda Basi cook-a-thon<br />
that Nigerians just witnessed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first is that Nigerians are a creative<br />
and resourceful lot and should they put<br />
their minds to anything, they are capable of<br />
excelling at. <strong>The</strong>se are the same people that<br />
President Muhammadu Buhari once<br />
referred to as “diamonds”, who represent<br />
the hope of the nation for the present and<br />
the future. When a gifted Nigerian seeks to<br />
excel, he or she does so. Ms Baci’s<br />
achievement is an indication of the can-do<br />
spirit of the Nigerian. <strong>The</strong> international<br />
community often complains about the<br />
unusual capacity of Nigerians for fraud and<br />
criminality, within the local and<br />
international arena, but there are in reality<br />
more Nigerians doing great things. Ngozi<br />
Okonjo-Iweala is representing us well at<br />
Seun Kuti (Photo by Schorle - Wikimedia Commons CCA 4.0 Share Alike International)<br />
the World Trade Organization (WTO).<br />
Aminat Muhammed is a strong official at<br />
the United Nations in her position as a<br />
Deputy Secretary-General. Asisat Oshoala,<br />
MON, is a big star in European women<br />
football. Tobi Amusan is world record<br />
holder in long jump. Chimamanda Ngozi<br />
Adichie is a leading writer and voice in the<br />
global space of culture and literature. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
are Nigerians occupying political positions<br />
in Canada, UK, Ireland and elsewhere. We<br />
have Nigerians in the US military, in the<br />
US NASA programme and in the<br />
commanding heights of global trade and<br />
economy. Hilda Effiong Bassey has chosen<br />
cooking and are we delighted? Yes, we are.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second thing to say is:<br />
Congratulations to her on this remarkable<br />
feat, and her admirable qualities, now welladvertised<br />
of tenacity, of purpose, vision<br />
and determination. Nobody, she teaches us,<br />
by the way, can achieve anything in this<br />
life, except you set a purpose for yourself<br />
and pursue it. It will be recalled that in<br />
2021, this same Ms. Baci won the Jollof<br />
Face-Off competition, and got a grand prize<br />
of $5,000. But that was not enough for her.<br />
She wanted a place in the Guinness Book<br />
of World Records. And now here she is.<br />
Every great achievement begins with a<br />
dream and the capacity to pursue that<br />
dream and stretch the dream to the end of<br />
the street. As of the time of this writing, we<br />
understand that Chef Hilda has stretched<br />
her target from 96 hours to 100 hours!<br />
Hilda, you too much oh! Indeed, because,<br />
despite all the good things that we have said<br />
about the Nigerian spirit, there are many of<br />
our compatriots who want the easy way<br />
out, they fake it, they cheat, they tell lies,<br />
they want the glamour but they do not want<br />
to apply themselves. Hilda Baci has just<br />
reinforced a simple lesson of life: that the<br />
surest way to distinction is through hard<br />
work, focus and rigorous self-application.<br />
It bears no stating that cooking for more<br />
than 90 hours, with short intervals of rest<br />
as allowed by the rules is excruciating<br />
rigour. Many marriages have been ruined<br />
because some other women can’t even<br />
spare <strong>30</strong> minutes to cook for their own<br />
children.<br />
<strong>The</strong> third lesson is the innate Nigerian<br />
love for success, glory and achievement<br />
that is within us all. Nigerians have an inner<br />
craving for good things and when they see<br />
it, they gather around it like bees around<br />
nectar. This is what has happened with the<br />
Baci story. As she cooked, Nigerians<br />
trooped to the Amore Gardens in Lekki to<br />
hail her and offer support. Celebrities<br />
trooped to the venue in their uncountable<br />
numbers. Churches of the white garment<br />
variety kept vigil, calling on God to see her<br />
through. <strong>The</strong> Governor of Lagos visited.<br />
Senators of the Federal Republic led by<br />
Senator Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom<br />
North West, who wants to be Senate<br />
President by autocratic party anointment,<br />
also joined the cheer-leaders. Hilda Baci is<br />
from Akwa Ibom State. No other event<br />
unites Nigerians like that, apart from<br />
football. It rained overnight. <strong>The</strong> people<br />
refused to leave. In football, and now in a<br />
cooking event, Nigerians have suspended<br />
their differences. <strong>The</strong>y don’t think of<br />
ethnicity or religion, or geography. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
have come together as one nation, united<br />
for the glory of the nation. Baci drew<br />
support across all the centrifugal borders of<br />
BY REUBEN ABATI<br />
Nigeria. Her supporters in fact defied the<br />
rain. It rained heavily in the night of<br />
Sunday to Monday. <strong>The</strong> people refused to<br />
go home. <strong>The</strong>y stayed under the heavy<br />
rainfall, and kept singing. It was one of<br />
those rare occasions when we are reminded<br />
that this is a country after all. Thank you<br />
Baci, for reminding us with your culinary<br />
skills that it is possible to have a nation.<br />
Nations are made through symbols and the<br />
patriotism in the hearts of the people. If<br />
this had been an election, the situation<br />
could have been different. Hilda Effiong<br />
Bassey would have been reminded that she<br />
cannot cook in Lagos, because she is a nonindigene.<br />
<strong>The</strong> constituted thugs of Lagos,<br />
led by a well-connected Chairman would<br />
have gone to Amore Gardens to chase<br />
everyone away. But here we are: an Akwa<br />
Ibom woman cooking for the world in<br />
Lagos, has brought glory to the same<br />
Lagos. <strong>The</strong> clowns in high places who<br />
promote disunity simply need to lend<br />
themselves a little sense. Nigerian leaders<br />
can learn from Ms Baci how to cook a<br />
nation, and achieve results. Our leaders<br />
know how to eat, but they do not know how<br />
to cook.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fourth point that I see here is that<br />
Hilda Baci’s feat is an advertisement for the<br />
cooking profession. She has raised the<br />
profile of chefs. More persons may well be<br />
encouraged by her example to take to<br />
cooking as a profession. I have not even<br />
bothered to find out how much this has cost<br />
her and her sponsors in financial terms and<br />
how much she stands to earn. <strong>The</strong> glory is<br />
more important than the financial gain. But<br />
what I see is that Hilda Baci is now a<br />
cultural icon. It is good that she has been<br />
congratulated by President Muhammadu<br />
Buhari. This is most deserved. I am also of<br />
the view that when Nigeria compiles its<br />
next National Honours list, it is people like<br />
her that we expect to see on that list, along<br />
with Rema, another world record holder,<br />
Tiwa Savage, Kizz Daniel, Burna Boy,<br />
Tems, award-winning intellectuals, the<br />
boys doing wonderful things in fintech, not<br />
some funny characters in bulbous robes<br />
who take more from Nigeria than they<br />
give. As a father, I would like to advise her<br />
to handle fame with care. Fame makes.<br />
Fame breaks. As her story developed, there<br />
were persons who were more interested in<br />
her beauty. Her pictures have been posted<br />
online showing her beauty and physical<br />
attributes on full display. Nigerian men<br />
love food. <strong>The</strong>re is this popular folk saying<br />
that the way to a man’s heart is through his<br />
Continued on Page 13 >