The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 602 (July 26 - August 8 2023)

TheTrumpet
Africans now have a voice... Founded in 1995
V O L 29 N O 602 J U LY 26 - AU G U S T 8 2023
Fleeing conflict in DRC (Pic by Julien Harneis - CCA 2.0)
Convicted
for fatal
shooting
over £10k
drug debt
‘Timid’ aid
response hurts
Congolese
displaced by
M23 conflict
By Sophie Neiman and Mattathias Safari Hangi
This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.
Continued on Page 2>
Kaine Gilead
Following an investigation by
the Metropolitan Police‘s
Specialist Crime Command,
26-year-old Kaine Gilead of
Surbiton in Surrey, has been
convicted at the Old Bailey for the
murder of a man he shot at a block
of flats in south London; and will
be sentenced at the same court next
month.
Ramane Wiggan was shot dead
by Gilead at a block of flats in West
Norwood, on the afternoon of
March 27 2019, after he travelled
to the area to collect a drugs debt
of £10,000.
Police were called at 16:11hrs
on 27 March 2019 after a
neighbour heard a gunshot at a
residential property in Friar Mews.
Officers attended along with
London Ambulance Service and
found Ramane seriously injured on
a balcony walkway.
Despite the efforts of
emergency services, who carried
out first aid at the scene, Ramane
died a short time later. It was later
established that he had been shot
from behind by a Glock pistol, with
one of the bullets passing through
his chest.
A murder investigation was
launched and officers carried out
urgent enquiries to track down the
person responsible.
Analysis of mobile phone data,
along with other intelligence,
resulted in officers identifying
Kaine Gilead as the main suspect.
Gilead took a minicab to
Liverpool on the day after the
murder, before returning to London
on 24 April 2019. He was arrested
Continued on Page 4

Page2 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
News
‘Timid’ aid response hurts Congolese
displaced by M23 conflict
Continued from Page 1<
Feza Wineza left her displacement camp in
eastern Democratic Republic of the
Congo one morning in April, seeking food
for her young son who did not have enough to
eat. When she returned three days later, she said
her child had died of hunger.
“He was a good child; he was very humble,”
Wineza told The New Humanitarian from
Kalinga camp, which is perched on slopes
surrounding the town of Masisi, in the restive
province of North Kivu.
Wineza is one of around a million people in
North Kivu that have been displaced amid a
rebellion by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed
group, which claims it is fighting to protect local
Tutsis and because the government broke a past
peace agreement.
Aid agencies say insecurity and insufficient
funding from donors means they are failing
people displaced by the conflict, whose
humanitarian impact is among the worst of the
various ongoing insurgencies in eastern DRC.
Humanitarian relief is particularly sparse for
displaced people scattered across North Kivu’s
rural territories of Masisi and Rutshuru, where
the M23 – thought defeated after its last
rebellion a decade ago – has seized ground since
last year.
But conditions are also dire for those who
have sought safety in camps on the outskirts of
Goma, the sprawling capital of North Kivu, and
a hub for international aid agencies and a UN
peacekeeping mission.
In the absence of reliable assistance, local
community groups – who often criticise aid
agencies for spending large sums on the salaries
and living conditions of expatriate staff, and
other overheads – have been distributing food in
some camps.
Displaced people are also increasingly
relying on each other: Women are providing
counselling services in camps to survivors of
sexual violence, while other residents are
donating funds to support makeshift pharmacies.
Still, it is hard for displaced people to
support one another given their own level of
need, said 40-year-old Dusabe Kanane, who fled
an M23 attack in May and is now living in a
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Displaced persons set up new 'homes' in Masisi (Pic by Oxfam East Africa - CCA 2.0 Generic)
camp on the outskirts of Goma.
“That lady laying down, she looks like she is
sick, but she is not really sick,” Kanane said,
pointing at a lethargic woman on the floor next
to her. “She is starving... but I am not able to
help her. There is no way to even feed my
children.”
International neglect: ‘They don’t think
about us’
The M23 is led by Congolese Tutsis and
descends from a long line of DRC rebel groups
with links to neighbouring Rwanda. Support
began in the 1990s as Rwanda hunted down
Hutu militias that fled to DRC after committing
genocide against Rwanda’s Tutsis.
Rwanda’s interventions led to civil wars that
sucked in other regional States and further
weakened a country that had already been
devastated by brutal colonial rule, foreign
meddling after independence, and the
exploitation of its resources.
Last month, relief agencies in DRC
activated a “system-wide scale-up” to boost
support for families displaced by the M23
conflict. The mechanism is used by the aid
sector when a crisis demands more international
attention and extra funds.
Raphaël Piret, country representative in
DRC for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said
aid groups have been taking “more action” since
the scale-up began. But he described efforts as
“timid” and insufficiently coordinated.
The medical NGO has repeatedly criticised
aid agencies involved in the M23 response for
being too slow to spend the funds that are
available to them, and for clustering around
Goma while overlooking people in more rural
areas.
“Talk to all nations, remember us, we are
suffering here. It seems like the international
community has already forgotten us.”
Even with the recent scale-up, Grant Leaity,
a UNICEF representative, said his organisation
has a funding gap of $361 million this year for
eastern DRC. The World Food Programme
(WFP) has said it is short of over $750 million
for the whole country.
The New Humanitarian spoke to more than
50 residents of 12 displacement sites in April
and May to document how the M23 conflict has
deepened needs in the east, where more than 100
armed groups are active and 5.7 million people
are displaced.
Many camp residents said they had only
received food aid once since escaping the
violence – some several months earlier – while
others said they had gotten nothing. Camp
leaders also consistently referred to children
dying of hunger in the sites.
“Talk to all nations, remember us, we are
suffering here,” said Olivier Bakulu, the
secretary of a camp in Sake, which is just to the
west of Goma. “It seems like [the international
community] has already forgotten us. They don’t
think about us.”
Crowded camps and dangerous journeys
The Goma camps are close to the offices of
most aid groups operating in eastern DRC, and
to the luxury hotels, restaurants, and expatriate
guest houses that have sprung up around them
in recent years.
Yet despite the heavy humanitarian
footprint, the displacement camps lack access to
water and other basic services. There have been
recent outbreaks of cholera and measles, and
malnutrition rates are well above emergency
thresholds.
Illness is not the only danger for residents:
Some camps around Goma are built on top of
sharp outcroppings of volcanic rock. Leaks of
methane gas, locally known as mazuku –
Swahili for “evil wind” – have cost several lives.
Congolese mutual aid groups have been
providing food in some Goma camps, and
should carry on with these efforts, said Rebecca
Kabuo, an activist from LUCHA, a civil society
group. “Why not continue with this solidarity as
Congolese?” Kabuo said.
Other camp residents said informal work has
helped them make ends meet. “With my
machine, at least I can get some money and
survive,” said Justine Dushimbe, an 18-year-old
who repairs the clothes of other displaced people
in Goma.
Venturing outside of the camps to find work
can be dangerous, however. Women and girls
said they face the risk of sexual violence, while
others described predation and attacks by armed
groups.
Residents of Mahyutsa camp in Sake said 16
people were killed when they returned to their
village to gather food from abandoned fields in
March, travelling near M23 held territory.
Survivor Uwimana Nyirarugwiro, 40, said
she managed to hide while uniformed men, that
she and others described as M23 fighters, shot
four people and burnt 12 others inside a locked
house.
Before the incident, residents said they had
sent letters to the UN’s emergency aid
coordination agency (OCHA) and to WFP
stating that they had received only one aid
distribution and were in urgent need of
assistance.
Neighbourly support: ‘When he comes
back he will share’
Congolese that have fled to more remote
areas in Masisi, Rutshuru, and Lubero territories
are getting even less assistance than those
around Goma, aid workers and displaced people
said.
Several aid organisations said they have
pulled back from rural areas due to insecurity.
Others said they worried about the optics of
working in places controlled by the M23, whose
links to neighbouring Rwanda make it
domestically unpopular.
Road travel from Goma to rural areas
requires crossing multiple checkpoints manned
by different armed groups, aid workers said.
Humanitarian aircraft have also come under fire
this year, causing suspensions in North Kivu and
the adjacent Ituri province.
Some of the relief that has gone beyond
Goma has been blocked by M23 fighters, who
have also tried to dictate who gets assistance in
areas they control, two aid officials said.
The lack of international relief in Masisi –
where there was a high level of humanitarian
need even before the M23 conflict – means
people are surviving on the generosity of local
residents and fellow displaced people.
“Our lives depend on our neighbours here in
Masisi,” said 48-year-old Fatima Luneno, who
lives in Materdei camp outside of Masisi town.
“There is someone who can give bananas,
another can give us flour, and so on.”
Joseph Habinshutu Baraka, a camp-elected
secretary at Adventiste displacement site in
Masisi added: “If you didn’t go out today to look
for [food], and your neighbour did go out and
found something, then when he comes back he
will share.”
Avril Benoît, executive director of MSF-
USA, who was in North Kivu earlier this year to
coordinate advocacy efforts for the organisation,
said her teams have encouraged other agencies
to increase their presence beyond Goma.
“There are a lot of needs in areas that… are
insecure, but that is what humanitarians do,”
Benoît told The New Humanitarian in an
interview in April.
A shaky ceasefire
Displaced people who spoke to The New
Humanitarian all said they wanted to return
home given the terrible conditions at camps, but
Continued on Page 3

JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet
Page3
News
‘Timid’ aid response hurts Congolese
displaced by M23 conflict
Continued from Page 2<
very few felt it was safe enough to do so.
Though an April ceasefire led the M23 to
retreat from some of its holdings, the group has
taken offensive positions in recent weeks,
according to the UN, and there are fears of a
resumption of hostilities.
A permanent resolution to the conflict
remains a long way off. International actors are
hesitant to push Rwanda into stopping support
for the M23, and Kinshasa is leery of negotiating
with the disliked rebels in an election year.
For its part, the M23 has maintained that it
will continue fighting until its demands are
heard. These include amnesty for its combatants;
the protection of Congolese Tutsis; and the
return of members of the community exiled to
neighbouring countries.
Obed Nduwayo, a 38-year-old from
Bulengo camp in Goma called for the
government to “restore peace” for the sake of
those displaced. “We need our children to go
back to school, we need food, we need to live as
other people do,” he said.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-
feature/2023/07/25/aid-response-hurts-
Congolese-displaced-M23-conflict
Additional translation and logistical support
from a Congolese researcher who asked not to
be named.
Edited by Philip Kleinfeld.
–––––
The New Humanitarian puts quality,
independent journalism at the service of the
millions of people affected by humanitarian
crises around the world. Find out more at
www.thenewhumanitarian.org.

Page4
TheTrumpet
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet Group
News
Parents seek financial help
for son’s broken leg
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The parents of a 10-year-od
boy who was knocked down
and injured by a car last June
in Lagos, Nigeria - are appealing for
financial help to save his leg.
As Elijah Onyekachukwu Bright
made his way through Durodola
Street, Idiaraba, Mushin Local
Government Area of Lagos State on
29 th June, a car lost control and
smashed into the 10-year-old boy.
Sympathisers gathered round to
help the crying boy back on his feet.
But one leg gave way under him and
he sank back to the ground. At the
hospital, doctors and x-rays gave a
heartbreaking verdict. The leg that
took the impact was broken.
Instead of the needed POP, all
that the family has been able to
afford is the bandage. Bright needs
between N400,000 to N600,000 to
reset the bones and regain the use of
the two legs, not counting secondary
expenses.
The boy’s parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Bright Azogbuo, cannot just muster
the financial muscle to do the
needful. His mum does petty trading
in a tray, while his father operates an
okada (commercial motorcycle),
making just enough to keep hunger
from overwhelming the family of
six.
Since the accident, the boy has
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humanity. They need help.
His mother is reachable on phone
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on 2 May 2019 after officers saw
him visiting his mother’s address in
the West Norwood area.
He was bailed while officers
carried out further enquiries, which
included a review of data collected
from Gilead’s mobile phones. One
of the mobiles was used in the area
of the murder shortly before
Ramane was shot.
It also showed several calls
between Gilead and Ramane in the
hour prior to the shooting.
Gilead was further arrested on 2
September 2020 and charged by the
Crown Prosecution Service the
following day. He made no
comment during interviews with
officers.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate
Kieran, who worked on the
investigation, said: “Today is not a
day to celebrate but I do hope this
verdict provides some comfort to
Ramane’s family and allows them to
begin to move forward after their
tragic loss.
Elijah Onyekachukwu Brigh
Donations can be sent to Elijah’s
mum’s account: Azogbuo Ngozi
Goodness - Ecobank 2941124343
May the Almighty bless you as
you help save Elijah’s leg.
Convicted for fatal
shooting over
£10k drug debt
Continued from Page 1<
Ramane Wiggan
“The evidence we collected
against Gilead was overwhelming
and showed him to have played a
key part in the deliberate, planned
and cold-blooded murder of
Ramane.
“This case is also a tragic
reminder of the misery drugs cause
within communities and
demonstrates how they can often act
as a catalyst to more serious
crimes.”

JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023 TheTrumpet
Page5

Page6 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023

Health
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet
Measles is on the rise in London
– Make sure your child is protected
Page7
Against the backdrop of two
thirds of cases of Measles in
England over the last six
months being in the capital, the UK
Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
has announced an increase in cases of
measles across London.
Measles spreads very easily, and
while there is no specific treatment
for it, vaccination gives the best
protection against becoming seriously
unwell. NHS England is therefore
calling on all parents and guardians –
especially in London - to ensure their
children are fully vaccinated against
the disease.
One in ten children in England are
not fully protected with both doses of
the MMR vaccine and, in some areas
of London, up to two in five children
are left unprotected - well below the
World Health Organisation’s
recommended level of 95%.
Measles is highly infectious and
can cause serious complications such
as meningitis and sepsis - one in
every five children who gets Measles
requires a hospital visit. It can start
with cold-like symptoms and a high
temperature up to several days before
a rash appears and progresses through
the rest of the body.
The MMR vaccine is part of the
routine programme of immunisations
offered to babies and children in
England, so your child may already
be protected. To be absolutely sure,
parents are strongly encouraged to
check their child’s medical record,
found in their ‘Red Book,’ (their
Personal Child Health Record, which
is given to parents/carers at a child’s
birth) or contact their GP practice.
You can then make an appointment to
catch up with any missed MMR
doses or if you have any questions.
Joke Ashiru and one of her daughters
Dr Olamide Savage noted that:
“The important thing to remember
about measles is that it is totally
preventable with the vaccine, so if
your child is up to date with MMR
Dr Olamide Savage
doses in their red book, you have
nothing to worry about. If you think
they might need a first or second
dose, it’s vital to get this to protect
your child; especially if you live in
London. So please contact your GP
surgery as soon as you can and
arrange an appointment.”
It’s safe for your child to be
vaccinated. The National Autistic
Society has said that there is ‘no link
between autism and vaccines.’ The
MMR vaccine has protected 20
million people since the 1960s and
saved over 4500 lives. Moreover, the
vaccine also offers protection against
mumps and rubella (German
measles), so you’re keeping your
child safe from several diseases at
once.
Mum of two daughters aged 2
and 6 - Joke Ashiru stated that:
“All parents worry about their
children, and with the summer
holidays coming up it feels like there’s
a lot on my to do list but checking my
daughters are vaccinated against
measles is a priority to avoid them
getting ill and I’d feel safe taking
them abroad over the summer.”
Don’t forget to contact your GP
practice to check your own
vaccination record and make an
appointment to catch up on any
missed doses, too.
To find out more visit nhs.uk/mmr

Page8 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
Opinion
Inside President Tinubu’s Nigeria
On May 29, 2023, Bola Tinubu
assumed office as Nigeria’s
President and 16 th leader.
Nigerians wish him success in the
onerous tasks ahead.
All the same, it is important to note
that President Tinubu’s Nigeria is home
to an array of folks: the diligent and the
intelligent, the determined and the
focused, plus the great boasters and the
little doers; and they cut across her
socio-political geography. Tinubu’s
country harbours the progressives and
the conservatives, the strong and the
weak, the praise-singers and the
faultfinders, the slippery and the
flippant, the perpetual pessimists and the
embittered opposition. Above all, it is
currently a grim reminder of hangover
politicking, collateral wheeling-dealing
and deliberate promotion of comical
sincerity; and they are in abundant
supply.
On March 5, 1986, Mamman Vatsa,
a Major General, and member of the
Ibrahim Babangida-led military
government, was executed for planning
a coup. Until his death, Domkat Bali,
former Minister of Defence and Chief of
Defence Staff, maintained that there’s
no way of knowing whether or not Vatsa
actually committed the crime for which
he was executed by his childhood friend.
But again, this is Nigeria!
Let’s quickly wake General Sani
Abacha up from his eternal sleep; he
must have something great to share with
Nigerians. Remember Daniel Kanu and
the ‘Two-million-man March’. Though
Abacha won many battles with bullets
and allied munitions, the ‘Maximum
General’ couldn’t but succumb to the
superior power of the beautifully bitter
songs of ‘we’ll make the elephant king’.
Inside Tinubu’s Nigeria, the Yoruba
Agenda and the difficulty of coming up
with one has been an obvious
phenomenon. For example, there was
widespread jubilation in Yoruba-land
when Oba Okunade Sijuwade became
the 50 th Ooni of Ife in 1980. To them, the
hope was that, as a man of steel and
means, Ile-Ife would be transformed
into paradise within months of his
ascension to the throne. With his
international connections and business
interests spanning the global landscape,
Nigerians had no doubt in their minds
that Oba Sijuwade would, within a short
time, turn the ancient city into mini
Lagos and that, in no distant time, Ile-
Ife would overtake Lagos.
Matter-of-frankly, Nigerians held the
belief that, with Ooni Sijuwade on the
throne, negotiating a coordinate that
would bring out a dual carriageway
from Iga Iduganran Street to Enuwa
Square would be the least of Ife’s
worries; and that there would be total
industrialization of the cradle of Yoruba
culture such that ‘Segilola’ would have
been a project long done. But,
unfortunately, none of those
expectations came to reality. Instead,
His Imperial Majesty was always in
Abuja, either dining with the ‘evil
genius’ or clinking glasses with the
‘Goggled One’. Needless to repeat that
it was during Sijuwade’s reign that the
Ife/Modakeke crisis raged for years; and
it was as if the gods were angry!
Tunji Adebiyi was Personal Assistant
to the late Abraham Adesanya, a
foremost pro-democracy icon and leader
of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural
organization. With the birth of the 4 th
Republic in 1999, Afenifere played
prominent roles, especially with regard
to who became Governors in the
Southwest. Fortunately, the progressive
bent had its way as all its elected
Governors were from the Afenifere
House of Politics. Still, nobody
remembered this diligent and loyal aide
until Tinubu pulled him out, during his
2 nd coming as Governor of Lagos State.
The rest is history! When Adebiyi died
in December 2014, altar calls were
reportedly made for donations so that
his immediate family could have a roof
over their heads. Such is the plight of
most Nigerians: they get so little in
return for their industry.
Once upon a time in Nigeria’s rich
history, Adams Oshiomhole was on this
side of the rung. But how time flies? The
former President of the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) is now part of the
Federal Government Delegation to the
‘subsidy-is-gone’ talks. But what has
really changed? Is ‘Oshio Baba’ doing
it for the love of dear fatherland, or is it
because the former Edo State Governor
has moved from the passenger’s seat to
the driver’s? Well, only God knows!
In Nigeria, politics and elections are
contests: somehow fierce, sometimes
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
deadly. Here, an educated group of
people remain the most difficult set to
govern. Days to go, former President
Muhammadu Buhari confessed that he
couldn’t wait much longer to be united
with his cattle because governing herds
of cattle is much easier than governing
Nigerians. The question, therefore, is:
when did Nigeria become so
didactically disadvantaged as to have
lifted up Egypt to the place of
attractiveness to Nigerians?
Remember Ike Ekweremadu, the
Deputy President of the 6 th , 7 th and 8 th
Senate. Ekweremadu failed to
understand the intricate details of the
culture of the British man and he learned
the bitter lesson in the United Kingdom.
Those things the lawmaker had attached
values and importance to in Nigeria had
no effect in Britain. Take, for instance,
the Distinguished Senator went to the
UK, thinking that he’d command some
undue respect and that Nigerians would
start shivering. But there was a clash of
cultures and the British law sent him to
prison.
Inside Tinubu’s Nigeria is Kamal
Usman, a physically challenged JSS
3 student of STDSS, Kagara in Niger
State who writes with his mouth. Usman
needs help so that he can live out his
dream.
As children, we were not trained to
disobey the authority of the government.
However, #EndSARS has brought with
it the era of changing times and things.
A crop of new children is growing up.
Having realized that nobody is
conscious of their existence, these
children have come to register their
presence. Interestingly too, they have
realized that, if the ugly trend is not
arrested, it will go on ad infinitum,
because one ‘cannot be doing the same
thing over and over and expecting
different results’. While the music lasts,
BY ABIODUN
KOMOLAFE
the people will keep dancing,
kowtowing as if all is well, whereas
nothing is nice.
Lame-footed excuses! Limited
understanding of institutional values!
There is a trend in human behaviour that
evolved almost with the creation of man.
It is called blame-game! When Adam
ate the forbidden fruit, the simple
response to God’s query was that it was
He who gave it to Eve who, in turn, gave
it to him (Adam) to eat; and he ate it!
For Adam therefore, taking
responsibility was out of the question.
Likewise in Nigeria, if a man can no
longer perform his conjugal obligations,
it is Asiwaju’s fault. If it refuses to rain,
some political gladiators will blame it
on the President. If farmers’ harvests are
poor due to bad agricultural policies and
inclement weather, ‘na Jagaban cause
am!’
From the look of things, is Nigeria a
functional society? If she is, would some
State Governors have been into too
many errors – as shown in the irreverent
dabble into the traditional institutions
and power relations? As the Chief
Executives of their respective States,
isn’t it better to face the many known
troubles than to add traditional
institution’s matters to their plates?
Anyway, that’s a worthy advice which
those who are collecting ‘chicken
money’ from the |Governors won’t want
to offer; and it’s for obvious reasons.
Taken together, the President has a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve
as the healing balm. Nigerians can only
hope in the outcome of his experiments.
For Nigerians, changing their beliefs
won’t be out of place, as no President is
capable of doing for them what they’re
supposed to do for themselves.
May the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world, grant us peace
in Nigeria!
KOMOLAFE wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,
Osun State, Nigeria
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)

Opinion
The President’s palliatives
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet
Page9
By Abiodun Komolafe
Not long ago, Adeola Olatunde (not
his real name) fell ill and was
admitted to hospital. At a point, his
condition became so critical that help had to
be sought from public-spirited individuals.
Eventually, former Governor Gboyega
Oyetola of Osun State heard about it and
took up the challenge. Nigerians remain
grateful to the Iragbiji, Osun State-born
politician for this benevolent act.
Obviously, Olatunde was fortunate
because a Good Samaritan intervened when
help was most needed; otherwise, the story
would possibly have been worse. But then,
his case was not that of one indolent beggar
or non-possession of ‘a second address’ –
as some unreconstructable naysayers would
always want the people to believe. His sin
was to have worked as a political appointee
for two previous governments in one of the
States in the Southwest.
As we speak, Olatunde is being owed
arrears in salary running into millions of
naira, including the November 2022 salary
deliberately seized by the incumbent
Governor; and ditto for others. Nigerians
may ask ‘why?’ Well, the answer is that
a‘Pharaoh, which knew not Joseph’, is now
in the saddle and the best way to exercise
raw power is to deprive those who worked
with his predecessors in office their
legitimate earnings, even when such aides
were not known to be partisan politicians.
And, typical of Nigerians, they’ve
continued to look the other way!
Without doubt, Olatunde’s case is one
sad reminder of the fear of the future. It is
a reflection of why people get into office,
instantly try to convert as much resources
as they can into personal use because ‘no
one knows tomorrow’.
As our friend was fighting for dear life,
the Federal Government was said to have
secured legislative approval for N500
billion for palliatives to cushion the effects
of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.
About the same time, the National
Assembly was also said to have allocated
N70 billion, also for buying palliatives for
its members. Needless to repeat that some
Nigerians viewed these actions as
repugnant to the mood of the nation and the
sensitivity of Nigerians! To them, there
ought to be a break from the tradition,
where the norm has been wrong.
Thankfully, President Bola Tinubu has
ordered a review, a step that has portrayed
him as a listening leader “whose ears will
not be dull to the views expressed by the
citizenry”. Indeed, that rare demonstration
of empathy was emblematic of a
government that’s determined to redefine
and broaden governance. It’s a confidencebuilding
strategy which showed that
Nigerians did not waste their votes.
Those who did not understand Karl
Marx’s position on capitalism would
always say that Marx fought the capitalists
until he breathed his last. No! The
capitalists were rather happy that Marx was
fighting them because he was always
highlighting the excesses of capitalism; and
they (the capitalists) were able to rise up to
the highlighted challenges. So, they saw
him as the greatest friend of capitalism. In
Nigeria, capitalism’s major problem is
wickedness on the part of its adherents. In
order to prevent a repeat of the past
therefore, systems that are sufficiently
strong and robust should be put in place
because‘there’s more to the matter than
someone understands’.
Discreet investigations have revealed
that Nigerians love their President. They
want him to work for them. Nonetheless,
they are beginning to lose their patience. As
far as they are concerned, the present
piecemeal policy approach may not
continue to work. The palliatives issue for
the lawmakers, if not well-managed, may
also dent the President’s image. Why? To
them, Tinubu has asked Nigerians to
tighten their belts; and Nigerians are trying
hard to cope. So, if they must sacrifice, it
has to go round, not one-sided.
From the look of things, Nigerians are
not interested in how the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) is faring. All they
want to hear is why the pump price of a litre
of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), now
hovers between N620.00 and N750.00;
why a ‘mudu’of garri fetches between
N500.00 and N800.00; why a tuber of yam
now costs as much as N4,000.00; and why
a bag of ‘pure water’ sachets, which used
to cost N150.00 before May 29, 2023, is
now N250.00. They want to know what the
government is doing to mitigate the
sufferings brought about by Mr. President’s
‘subsidy is gone’ pronouncement as well as
what needs to be done so that they won’t be
perpetual tools in the hands of the rich and
the powerful.
Of a fact, Nigeria’s economic indices
are threatening unsmiling, with the state of
her financial insecurity leaving mouths
agape. In recent times, the exchange rate
has been on the high side moreso as her
economy is import-driven. As a matter of
fact, fuel imports constitute about 91% of
Nigeria’s foreign spend. The naira is also
devalued; and inflation is said to have
jumped to 22.79 %, the highest since 2005.
Amidst these, 63% of Nigeria’s population
is currently living in multi-dimensional
poverty. Though these are an indictment on
the past political establishment, Nigerians
are not unaware of the implications of this
arbitrariness. The more reason Tinubu
needs to come out with a comprehensive
plan of action on how to tackle the
problems at hand.
In a release by a United Kingdom-based
charity organization, ‘Committee of
Friends’(CoF),issues ranging from the
deplorable state of government hospitals to
the law enforcement agencies, were raised.
For instance, the body, whose membership
spreads worldwide, queried the rationale
behind the N500b for palliatives for the
over-200 million Nigerians while a
whopping N70b would be for the same
purpose for less than 500 national
lawmakers. It also expressed worries about
the “stringent conditions” attached to the
newly-introduced Education Loan Scheme,
saying it’s as if the government already
knows “those to be given.” After all,
“similar loans are given overseas without
any surety. After the completion of their
studies, the government provides the
beneficiaries with employment
opportunities which make it easier for them
to repay their loans.” Not done, CoF urged
the Tinubu-led administration to provide
the traditional rulers with constitutiondefined
roles, wondering why ‘a man
without a job will not sell his forefathers’
land.’
Thank God Tinubu was able to
“dialogue with Nigerians who voted him
into office” especially on the “conditional
cash transfer to vulnerable households
mostly affected” by the subsidy removal, an
arrangement whose implementation
couldn’t have been guaranteed in the first
place. Besides, N8,000.00 cash gifts to the
poorest of the poor and millions of naira to
each of the legislators would have sparked
reactions and might even serve as a
window of insults to the new
administration, if implemented. So, rather
than pursue policies that have in the past
not led us anywhere, it is better such
monies are deployed to the repair of one or
two refineries and the re-introduction of
government-assisted mass transit schemes.
What about agricultural products for mass
food production? These will help in
reducing the cost of transportation as well
as creating employment opportunities,
ultimately, creating a better economy.
A time like this calls for the
repositioning of the National Orientation
Agency (NOA). Presently, there’s confusion
in the land and a reinvigorated NOA has
important roles to play in explaining the
government’s policy thrust to the populace.
In the last analysis, it will not be out of
place for Tinubu to address Nigerians. Yes,
we need to hear our President’s voice to, at
best, fight our fears!
‘Hope Renewed’ must be fulfilled;
otherwise, there’s a country called Nigeria!
May the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world, grant us peace
in Nigeria!
Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa,
Osun State, Nigeria
(ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
AI is set to disrupt 70% of jobs over the
next 5 years. You MUST build your own
wealth, NOW, before its too late

Page10 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
Opinion
Ayu, Adamu and Nigeria’s political
party system
One of the major issues
begging for consideration as
Nigeria and other
stakeholders review the aftermath of
the country’s 2023 General elections
would definitely be the health of
Nigeria’s political party system. It is a
matter of fact that by the 90s, in an
attempt to stem the tide of
communism, One-Party States, and
dictatorships around the world, the
West recommended and supported
multi-party democracy as the way
forward, to ensure participation,
inclusion, and fairness. This was
packaged as a pill to address the
menace of one-party states and
authoritarianism and indeed many
African countries, including Nigeria
bought into it, and even went a step
further to fashion our democracy after
the American model.
For Nigeria, this was particularly
instructive: in the First Republic,
Nigeria had multiple political parties
with strong, cultural, ethnic, and
ideological identities, serving as
major forces for social and political
action, mobilizing the people on
ideological grounds, and promoting
democratic participation. The
political system in Nigeria at that
period may not have guaranteed
stability, but it served as an
intermediary with the people, and as a
major force between the state and
society. This came abruptly to an end
in January 1966, with the intervention
of the military and the emergence of
Abdullahi Adamu (Pic by Samuel W Jimba - Wikimedia CCA SA 3.0 Unreported)
Decree No 1 of 1966 which
summarily imposed a unitary system
on the country and abolished all
existing political and cultural groups.
The onset of military rule
subsequently merely served the
purpose of further truncating the
growth of the country’s political
system as a mechanism for social
bonding, political choice and
competition. The Murtala/Obasanjo
administration of 1975-76, -1979
eventually completed the tortuous
course of a military to civilian
transition.
It was Obasanjo’s lot to see that
through in 1979, amidst a cloud of
arguments and litigation. The military
had spent up to 12/13 years in power.
They could not exactly be trusted.
The politicians themselves could not
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be trusted. The emergent political
parties had retained the ideological
persona of old. It was possible to link
the NPN, the NPP, the GNPP, the PRP
and the Action Group to specific
identities and ideologies. But
something had also been omitted. The
political parties became platforms for
self-aggrandizement, and a playground
for big men, with large egos.
Nowhere was this more evident than
in the then ruling party, the National
Party of Nigeria (NPN). The
Chairman of the Party, A.M.A
Akinloye had his name embossed on
bottles of champagne. One Minister
at the time in charge of transportation
and head of the Presidential Task
Force on Rice, Umaru Dikko, also an
NPN party chieftain said Nigerians
were lucky because nobody was
eating from the dustbin. It didn’t take
long before the dust bin would
become the dinner table for many
Nigerians and Dikko himself ran
away and had to be intercepted and
put in a crate to be summarily
smuggled back to Nigeria as
“diplomatic baggage.” He was lucky
he escaped!
In 1983, the return to democracy
failed and for another 16 years
(Generals M. Buhari to I. Babangida,
to S. Abacha to Abdusalami
Abukakar), Nigeria was in the grips
of military rule, with the soldiers
dictating their own version of
democracy. They chose everything,
including the number of political
parties, their logos, party chairmen
and for how long they could be in
power. Between 1983 and 1993, and
thereafter, the military’s disdain for
civilian rule was writ large, but they
had civilian collaborators throughout
that ugly season being the stomachdriven
characters in every nook and
cranny of Nigeria who would do
anything for a mess of porridge.
Continued on Page 11

Opinion
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet
Ayu, Adamu and Nigeria’s political
party system
Page11
Continued from Page 10<
Political parties, party members and
their chairmen became puppets in the
hands of the military. This was in part
what gave the Nigerian military the
courage to annul the democratic
elections of 1993. It was their
underestimation of the people’s will,
the determination of some of the
political actors led by Chief MKO
Abiola and the resolve of the
international community that
propelled Nigeria back to civilian rule
in 1999.
Over the years, something had
died along the line: the integrity of
political parties as major building
blocks in the process of democratic
consolidation. Our political parties
had become caricatures, and tools for
the promotion of authoritarianism,
thus emerging as regressive political
parties that could be hijacked or
compromised by particular interest
formations. The failure to have a
stable democratic party system has
foregrounded the need to rethink the
nature of the political party systems
not just in Nigeria however, but also
in other African countries where
multi-party system democracy has
not checked the appetite for
dictatorship. Truly, in many African
countries, inter and intra-party crises
have been the bane of political
instability, creating a situation
whereby questions are now being
raised about democracy in a number
of African countries: Mali, Niger,
Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Guinea
Bissau. Nigeria is a bit more resilient
than other African countries, given its
size, and complexity, but it is time we
began to worry about the fragility of
our political party system beyond the
centrifugal elements implanted
therein by the military and which
have remained enduring.
The foregoing reflection is
inspired as you may now imagine by
the travails of the Chairman and
National Secretary of the ruling party,
the All Progressives Congress (APC),
namely Senator Abdullahi Adamu,
and Senator Iyiola Omisore who
reportedly had to resign from their
positions on the orders of President
Bola Tinubu, 24 hours to the party’s
scheduled meetings of the National
caucus and National Working
Committee (NWC). To many
observers of the Nigerian political
scene, this probably did not come as a
surprise. Senator Adamu had used his
own mouth to crucify himself the
other week, when he came out
publicly to claim credit for the victory
of the APC and President Bola
Tinubu, albeit still a matter of
litigation, in the 2023 General
Elections. He said he did not support
President Tinubu during the APC
party’s primaries in 2022, but that he
was at liberty to support Senator
Ahmad Lawan or anyone else.
However, Tinubu having emerged, he
mobilized the party under his watch
to deliver victory for the party. He
asked to be praised, not vilified.
The Presidential order that he and
his National Secretary should hand in
their resignation letters and stand
down is “the praise” he has now
received. With due respect, Senator
Adamu made himself a target, he fell
upon the sword of his own
indiscretion. Now, he is being
accused of mismanaging party funds.
He even made the additional mistake
of being seen to have complained
about the President’s choice of party
leaders in the National Assembly. He
had to be given a soft landing by
Tinubu’s allies who asked him to
resign or taste disgrace at the party’s
scheduled meetings. But nonetheless,
this is a battle for the soul of the APC,
for a control of the party by the new
power brokers in town, a further
indication of the “emilokan ideology
of power.” When the APC emerged in
2014, it was an amalgam of unusual
bedfellows – the CPC, the old ANPP
(that is the Buhari wing), the Action
for National Congress (ANC) that is
the Tinubu wing, the new PDP (led by
Bukola Saraki and a number of other
fringe, come-and join smaller
coalitions). Bola Tinubu was the
arrow-head of that entire process,
which is why he could boast that he
Continued on Page 12

Page12 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
Opinion
Ayu, Adamu and Nigeria’s political
party system
Continued from Page 12<
made Buhari President.
As events unfolded in the last eight
years, the Bukola Saraki wing of the
coalition was the first to fall aside.
The Buhari wing that was in charge
used the power that had been thrown
into their laps with almost primordial
obsession. At a point, even Tinubu,
the kingmaker, began to look like a
spectator. His resolve to take back
what he made available to others
marks a strictly Machiavellian
chapter in contemporary Nigerian
politics. Certainly, there were bound
to be casualties. The Chairman of the
Party, Adamu tilted towards the CPC
wing as did others: it would be naive
for them to think they would survive.
The worse part of it is that Tinubu’s
allies are also even accusing Adamu
of being a tyrant and they are asking
him to account for some party funds
that are allegedly missing. Tinubu and
his allies are bent on house-cleaning!
There would be more casualties. By
the time they are done, the APC
would be a version of the ACN, not
CPC. Buhari’s people would probably
end up begging. It is called party
politics, the worst variety that we
have seen since the first political
party, Herbert Macaulay’s NNDP,
emerged in this country in 1923.
But it is not only the ruling APC
that confronts us with the crisis in
Nigeria’s political system. Before
now, the rival People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) had to deal with its own
version of chaos. In March 2023, Dr
Iyorchia Ayu, then PDP Chairman,
was barred from parading himself any
further as National Chairman of the
party on the basis of an ex parte,
interim injunction granted by Judge
M. I. Ikpochi of Benue State High
Court, ruling in favour of a prayer to
that effect brought by members of the
Igorov ward in Benue State. Members
of Ayu’s ward at home said he had not
been paying his membership dues
hence they were expelling him as a
member of the party. Dr. Ayu
confidently said he would obey the
court and pursue the matter in court.
And so he did. But in the first week
of June 2023, his case was worsened
when the Chief Judge of Benue State,
Maurice Ikpanbese upheld the earlier
ruling and annulled Ayu’s
membership of the PDP. Effectively,
Dr. Ayu, former Chairman of the PDP
is today no longer a member of the
party except he goes on appeal, and
hopes to secure victory.
Anyone that is familiar with recent
politics within that party would easily
connect the dots and surmise that Dr.
Ayu is paying a price for not
supporting former Governor Nyesom
Wike’s ambition to be the flagbearer
of the PDP in 2022, ahead of the
elections. He even had the temerity of
openly supporting Atiku Abubakar
and going to visit former Governor of
Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal the
day after the convention to declare
him a messiah. The fall-out was that a
group of five Governors led by
Nyesom Wike, who became known
Iyiola Omisore (Pic from Facebook - Iyiola Omisore)
as the G-5 swore that Ayu must be
removed as PDP Chairman. They
soon found other allies and they
swore that they would block the
chosen Presidential candidate of the
party, Atiku Abubakar from winning
in their States or becoming President
of Nigeria. Their conscientious
objection was clad in the garb of a
preference for power rotation, the rule
of law, and the alleged immorality of
having the Chairman of the Party and
the Presidential candidate coming
from the same zone or a Northerner
succeeding another Northerner as
President of Nigeria. The G5, or the
Integrity Group as the expanded body
became known took their pound of
flesh. The PDP lost the Presidential
election. Ayu was politicked out of
office. In many ways, his story is
similar to that of Senator Abdullahi
Adamu of the APC. Party Chairmen
may talk as they wish about party
supremacy but in Nigeria’s political
parties, supremacy belongs to
powerful individuals and forces
within the party. Senator Abdullahi
Adamu’s problems began earlier
when the party’s National Vice
Chairman (North-West) began to
complain that he was running a oneman
show. In 2015, Adamu Muazu
lost his Chairmanship position in the
PDP and was even accused of helping
the opposition to win!
The other political parties are not
immune either. Shortly after the
general elections, the Chairman of the
New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP)
tendered his letter of resignation,
Continued on Page 13 >

Opinion
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
TheTrumpet
Ayu, Adamu and Nigeria’s political
party system
Page13
Continued from Page 12<
saying he wanted to give room for
“fresh hands” to take over. Professor
Alkali didn’t say more than that, but
in a country where nobody wants any
“fresh hands” to touch anything; that
was quite loaded. He said clearly
though, that the NNPP needed to be
re-organized. But consider also the
crisis in the Labour Party, the same
party that everyone had praised and
supported for putting up a remarkable
performance in the elections. It didn’t
take long before an intra-party crisis
engulfed the party at both national
and state levels, leading to litigations,
name-calling, conspiracy theories,
threats and abuses. The same party
that was generally described as a
“Third Force” in Nigerian politics
splintered into factions. Rival
Chairmen of the party and their
supporters even fought in court
premises.
It seems to me that the biggest
threat to Nigerian democracy is how
our political parties have not been
able to extricate themselves from the
stranglehold of the damage done to
them by the military elite. This is
partly why they are prostrate,
redundant, and have failed as
intermediaries. Every political party
is driven by the ambition of an
individual or a cartel. The individuals
turn the parties into Special Purpose
Vehicles for their own ambitions.
They select those who run the parties,
and they make the funds available. In
the past, the parties existed on an
“equal founder, equal joiner basis”.
Members had membership cards and
paid membership dues. These days,
members wait for a rich individual to
fund the party. The man with the deep
pocket who funds the party appoints
and disappoints as Nyesom Wike did
to Prince Uche Secondus, former
Chairman of the PDP and Iyorchia
Ayu after him, and as Tinubu has
done to Senator Adamu who got so
bold as to question his ambition at a
point. The men who emerge as party
leaders are themselves driven by
personal ambition. They want to be
big men and hug the limelight. Who
knows the Chairman of the
Republican Party in the United
States? I don’t see the American press
discussing the Chairman of the
Democratic Party either as an all-year
round celebrity. Here, party officials
are busy seeking relevance. When
their sponsors win elections or see
that they are beginning to develop a
mind of their own, they drop them
quickly. Parties are useful platforms
for winning elections as defined in
Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution,
but after the party wins, nobody takes
party supremacy seriously anymore
here, especially in the absence of
independent candidacy. It is assumed
that the party Chairman and his allies
have been paid for their services.
The dilemma of political parties
could not have been better illustrated
than the shabby treatment of party
Chairmen across board since the
return to democracy in 1999. Because
the parties are weak, many of them
come and go. After the 2019 general
elections, the Electoral Commission,
INEC, deregistered as many as 74
political parties for not winning a seat
anywhere. In 2023, we had 17
registered political parties in the
election, only 10 got a seat here and
there, with the APC and the PDP
being the more dominant parties. Our
political party system is in urgent
need of reform to prevent the prospect
of a one-party state, in the hands of
dictators whose personal will may be
imposed on the entire state. In the
meantime, let no one shed any tears
for the fallen party bosses.

Page14 TheTrumpet JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023
Opinion
The Positive Sides of Tinubunomics
By Reuben Abati
The other day President Bola
Tinubu announced that
Nigerians are going through
the equivalent of childbirth pains,
but his administration is determined
to ameliorate the pains, provide
succor and make life better for all.
During his Presidential campaigns,
he told Nigerians – emi lo kan, that
is in Yoruba -“it is my turn”. He also
told us “e lo fokan bale”, that is
don’t worry, I would be there for
you as he explained that phrase. He,
practically, spiritually wished
himself into power and has since his
assumption of office with all the
baggage about unresolved court
matters, confronted, through
proxies, big challenges from the
People’s Democratic Party and the
Labour Party (LP).
What we see is that the President
has continued to play “Rose Garden
politics”, grab the power, hold it,
and be seen to be taking charge and
be seen also to be doing so, even as
the opposition continues to raise
questions of legitimacy. It is the
courts that would determine that,
eventually, but more than any other
time in Nigerian history, the judex is
in the eyes of the storm, exposed to
the most excruciating scrutiny.
Indeed, the judiciary in spite of itself
has been dragged right to the bottom
of the arena, in what when reviewed
would come across, as one of the
most difficult moments in the
history and trajectory of the
Nigerian judiciary. Our Lordships
are in a difficult place. They carry a
burden to do justice, and they also
have to be seen to be doing so. They
are faced with a political arena
where expectations about risks and
outcomes are the subjects of
confrontation. The judex are
expected to be above board at all
times and to dispense justice
without minding whose ox is gored.
The more liberal characters in this
conversation claim that they are
looking for justice, and that justice
is the “be-all-and end-all” of the
judicial process. But really, what is
justice? Pontius Pilate asked “what
is truth? And I wager a bet that the
present imbroglio over the 2023
Presidential elections would not be
resolved on the basis of questions of
legitimacy, but law, public policy
and public interest. I stand to be
corrected if the pendulum swings
otherwise.
This piece however is not
necessarily about Tinubunomics,
stricto senso, as the title indicates. It
is about what I consider the satirical
sides of the same phenomenon.
Abroad, out there are the details that
Nigeria’s inflation rate is now
22.79%. Fitch, an international
rating agency tells us that we should
in fact be looking at 25.1% in due
course, and that real GDP growth is
likely to slow down to 2.7% in the
face of high living costs. Debt
service to revenue ratio is about
97%, so high that members of the
Afenifere, a socio-cultural group,
have also now become emergency
economists - much better than
stoking the fires of ethnic difference
- and are now offering economic
counsel about how to eliminate debt
and increase productivity, growth
and values. Meanwhile, the
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
has just met – the first MPC since
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu assumed
office, the first to be presided over
by Mr. Folashodun Shonubi as
Acting Central Bank Governor.
Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) stands
at 18.5%, and this is the first MPC
meeting in a long while without the
embattled, suspended Governor of
the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele.
Foreign Exchange Rate is as high
as N868 to the dollar in the parallel
market. Jobs and productivity are
negatively impacted. Money supply
is at an all-time high at over N9
trillion, pressuring the FX market.
What should be our expectations
then, today as the MPC concludes
its meeting? What is the balance of
risks? Nigeria’s MPC faces a
dilemma like never before now: to
tighten, ease or retain? Whichever
way the MPC decides today, the
signs look ominous. Traditional
orthodox economics has not worked
here for as long as we can remember
because the fundamentals of this
economy are askew, the necessary
alignments between fiscal and
monetary policies are not in place,
productivity is low, growth is
abysmal. Let us leave the economic
jargons to the economists. If you
have two or three of them in this
space, they will express different
opinions, quoting dead theories
lacking connection with
contemporary Nigerian realities and
claiming, each one of them, to be
right. You are better off avoiding
their voodoo and mischief. Nigerian
economists are only good when they
gather to pick up appointments at
the Policy Advisory Committees
that the Federal and State
Governments often set up or when
they hold their annual peppersouping
and jollof-ing conferences
where they write reports that are at
best photocopies of statements from
the IMF, the World Bank, and the
rating agencies. Many of them
would soon show up as government
appointees at both Federal and State
levels, to collect government
patronage and shake heads like
experts. I doubt how much of an
economist anybody can be in this
environment, mouthing dead
theories that don’t work here! Even
Afenifere, a socio-cultural group is
trying to fill the void! In some
states, governments have declared
shorter working days as if that is the
solution. The economist and their
clients have failed this country.
It is therefore about time that we
brought this thing out of their
textbooks and face hard reality to
console ourselves as the affected
people. There seems to be an
emergency consensus that
Tinubunomics, or “Jagabanomy” as
it is otherwise known, is not
working, 60 days in the making and
implementation. We have been told
“e lo fokanba le”- our hearts are
already palpitating. Mr Bayo
Onanuga and Senator Dayo
Adeyeye have both appealed to us
to be patient, and that after these
initial pains, there would be
“everlasting joy”. Which everlasting
joy, please, Senator Adeyeye? Our
grandchildren are destined to pay
back all the money that the APC
government has borrowed with all
the accrued interests? Nigeria is at a
Continued on Page 15>

Opinion
JULY 26 - AUGUST 8 2023 TheTrumpet Page15
The Positive Sides of Tinubunomics
Continued from Page 15<
point right now that if it were
possible, the dead would rise and
carry placards in protest! The living
are docile and is that because there
seems to be some silver lining to
this “childbirth pain”, to borrow
President Tinubu’s words, that we
are all going through? Tell us.
With due respect, I take my
narratives from the streets. Yes, the
country is hard, people are in pains,
but has anyone noticed, especially
in Lagos that thanks to Tinubu,
people are now likely to become the
most fit population in the world.
Ordinarily, Nigerians do not like to
walk about. They prefer the comfort
of commuting up and down, and if
possible, in air-conditioned buses
and cars. This is beginning to
change. What I have seen in Lagos
is that more and more people are
beginning to trek to work or
wherever they want to go. Very
early morning or at any other time
of the day, it is normal to see people
on their feet taking the entire stretch
of the bridge, or the street, making
small conversation by the side and
heading towards a destination that is
known to them. Thus, with the
removal of fuel subsidy, Bola
Tinubu has turned Nigeria into one
large, fitness gym! Nigeria is the
trek-a-thon country that may soon
enter the Guinness Book of
Records. Nigerians are beating the
road with their feet more than the
people in South Sudan, Syria, or
Afghanistan due to the cost of fuel
and public transportation. In the
UK, the government is considering
adding a few seconds to the green
man at the traffic lights to give
porky Brits some time to cross the
road, because most of the
population is obese and slow. In
Nigeria, the people are busy
trekking. In due course, Nigeria
would be left with persons looking
like broom sticks, and no one should
be surprised if Nigerian economists
tell us that such a development
would be a plus for public health.
Tinubunomics has also made us
very attentive. I never used to check
the fuel gauge in the car. But I do
now. In fact, I don’t only check the
gauge, I step out of the car to
monitor the gauge at the fuel station
and I note down the number of litres
pumped into the car. This is no
longer the time in Nigeria to act as a
big man at fuel stations, sitting
down there like a dumb fellow
checking the phone while the fuel is
being sold. Many of us are now fuel
station policemen. It is not safe to
trust the driver. It is not safe either
to trust the fuel station attendant.
Often, I have been tempted to take
the fuel pump and serve myself.
There is a way those attendants
handle the pump. It looks like they
have a method of reducing your
purchase. Whatever happens, once I
get back into the car, I ask questions
about the fuel gauge. Is it full? Is it
by the middle or is it around a
quarter? This is something I never
bothered to double-check in the
past. But having now to fill a car
that ordinarily takes N16,500 worth
of fuel with over N50,000, I guess
one may be excused for becoming a
fuel gauge police. President
Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal has
turned all of us into vigilantes. The
only fear is that the number of
persons with hypertension may be
increasing without our knowing it.
By the way, many car owners have
abandoned their vehicles. They say
driving a car is no longer a status
symbol in this country. It is better to
join the masses in the national treka-thon
especially if you live around
Ikeja! In Lagos, many wives and
husbands who work on the island no
longer go home. They stay back in
the part of the city where God has
put them. Tinubu has effectively
separated families to teach that
romantic lesson that distance makes
the heart fonder. People are learning
to stay where they earn their daily
bread, without going up and down.
We, the people are learning how to
save costs.
Many husbands who are able to
still go up and down have also learnt
to redraw the map of their
movements. What I have observed
in this our Lagos is that husbands
now go home early. What I know in
this Lagos is that it is possible, and
that has been the pattern over the
years, for a husband to leave his
office and go around town like a
piece of smallpox affliction for
hours: he stops somewhere to take
isi-ewu, he goes off to an
“Igbinedion joint” (If you know, you
know), then he stops by at a tarmac
somewhere to take a “point and kill
delicacy.” Some other days, he
mixes that up with a stop-over at
Calabar Kitchen or any other
favourite restaurant/tarmac of his
choice. He burns petrol driving from
one point to the other meeting up
with friends, before he finally makes
his way home in the evening either
to hit the sack or slap, hit, punch his
questioning wife or snarl at the
children! Omo, that lifestyle is
changing oh. Husbands now go
home. They can’t afford the high
cost of fuel. Tinubu may have
reduced fuel subsidy but he has also
introduced by stealth a national
family stabilization and planning
programme. Many housewives are
silently praising him. Their yeye
husbands are adjusting to the new
economic reality and learning to
come home when they should. It
looks like practical economics.
While the National Economic
Council is talking about the
possibility of increasing the national
minimum wage, by the way,
employers of labour in the private
sector have been busy playing deaf
and dumb. Have you heard any
private sector employer trying to
increase staff salary? They are all
playing deaf and dumb, making the
dire situation in which Nigerians
have found themselves look like a
government problem. Many
husbands are now under strict
control.
Major losers in the equation
would include Tinubu’s allies: the
National Prostitutes Association of
Nigeria. In the course of the
campaigns in 2022, their National
Executive issued a public statement
saying that they were solidly behind
Tinubu, and they were standing on
“his mandate”. They even promised
to offer discounted services if
Tinubu won. Have they? It is now
appropriate to ask the Oloshos of
Nigeria: How market oh? The
simple answer is this: market is bad.
Many years ago, as a romance
journalist, I used to write a weekly
column on prostitutes and brothels.
I am not telling that story here,
certainly not today. But what I know
for a fact is that customer traffic is
the oxygen of a prostitute’s life, and
as a patron, you must know the best
time to get a good bargain. Tinubu
has ruined the market for our
Nigerian and ECOWAS sisters!
People are adjusting their personal
budgets and the Olosho has been
yanked off. Side-chicks are also
groaning! I am just waiting for this
category of allies to write the
President to remind him that they
also supported him during his
campaigns and that it would be
unkind to deny them their own
already assured palliatives that do
not require National Assembly
approval. They may even propose
their own economic blueprint.
Please note further that with one
policy move, the Jagaban has also
solved the problem of traffic hold
ups in Lagos and the expressways.
The other day, I travelled out of
Lagos, something I try to avoid if I
can, because the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway is a prolonged
nightmare for motorists. I was
advised that the roads are freer these
days and so I ventured out. To my
utter shock, traffic moved, not just
on the Expressway but also inside
the city. By removing fuel subsidy,
Tinubu has taken the additional title
of Chief Traffic Controller of
Nigeria. He has put an end to traffic
congestion on many roads. On my
way back to Lagos, the road was
also free. Most of the problematic
people who go about causing
problems on the roads had gone
home to their wives or concubines.
Half of them are more or less stonedrunk
anyway. Tinubu-mycin has
put them where they should be.
I am aware nonetheless, to wrap
it all up, that what I describe as the
positive sides of Tinubunomics, or
Jagabanomy may be dismissed as a
threat to growth and productivity.
But let’s look at it this way: since
economists like to calculate the
strategic value of the informal
sector, I would like to know for
example: how much value do
prostitutes and brothels add to the
Nigerian economy? Or perhaps,
pepper soup joints? Needless traffic
logjams? We have been told by at
least two persons from the Tinubu
camp: Mr Bayo Onanuga and
Senator Dayo Adeyeye that we
should all be patient and calm down.
Sirs, Nigerians are the calmest and
the most patient people in the world.
We just want good governance,
results and leadership. Is that too
much to ask for?

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