You can be a poor citizen of Nigeria and not know by Ademola Adeoye

Asiwaju Adekunle Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s wife did say that the poor still trusts and supports PMB. The question is: who precisely are the poor citizens of Nigeria? One, they are the ones who are hard-up, underprivileged and poor in knowledge, poor in money, poor in coherent decision-making, poor in wisdom…, so in other words, those who still trust and support PMB are poor in those areas and more. Those who are in power have deliberately kept them poor, so they can forever support them sheepishly.

The ruling-class deliberately keeps them poor in cash (you know the true state of our economy), poor in knowledge (you know the true state of our education), so they can keep supporting them blindly. For the umpteenth time, Nigerians are deliberately being immersed in the outdated water of knowledge, so that the poor would never be able to raise their heads in the society. Two, there is another class of poor people in Nigeria. They have a caricature of education, they can pay their bills…but they are poor intellectually, in integrity and evenhanded judgment, so when I see you (within the context of the second category of poor people in Nigeria) support an administration blindly, I do not need to be a “seer” to know that you too—are a poor citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A few days ago, PMB did say that the citizens of Nigeria should get ready to make sacrifices. When they say “citizens,” they are actually talking about the poor, the jobless, helpless and dying masses of Nigeria. The poor citizens of Nigeria lack the will to resist needless sacrifices that those in the corridors of power aren’t ready to make. I have said it before and I am saying it again without an iota of fear—that no one in the corridors of power—including Mr. President and Prof Yemi Osinbajo can tell me to make sacrifices. It is wrong, duplicitous and two-faced for those who are not making sacrifices to consistently be asking others to make sacrifices.

Mr. President said and I quote: “I have fulfilled on my major promises to Nigerians…” While it would be unpatriotic to say that the number one citizen of a nation told a lie, but I make bold to say that he landed a big blow on the face of truth. Saying that he has fulfilled on his major promises to Nigerians is an indication that the gap between the corridors of power and our dusty-streets—is as wide as River Jordan during raining season. The President of Nigeria does not understand the true situation of things in the country.  The question is: what are the major promises that PMB has fulfilled? Has he made life painless for the common-man? The major essence of every effective government is happiness. Are Nigerians better-off and happier under his leadership than they were under the leadership of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? Are they more prosperous now than they were three years ago?

The only thing that the poor man was benefiting from a little has now become as scarce as gold. I am talking about PMS! Till this morning, fuel scarcity has refused to leave us as a people. Nigerians are daily wasting their productive time, queuing for what we are supposed to have in abundance. And the most annoying thing about the ongoing ‘fuel scarcity-gate’ is that the substantive Minister of Petroleum does not care a hoot. Nigerians do not really know the true picture of what is going on, because he has refused to do a nation-wide broadcast on it. Instead of Nigerians to consistently call out Mr. President—who doubles as the Minister of Petroleum, forcing him to resign and ultimately empower the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, everyone has chosen to look the other way.

Leaving the poor’s issue of blind allegiance to Mr. President and the on-going ‘fuel-scarcity gate,’ I want to put my search-light on the Chief Bisi Akande and Bola Tinubu’s latest excursion to the seat of power in the FCT, the Aso Rock. It is all politics, but it seems PMB does not understand the lowest level of politics. You cannot discard (as a tissue paper) a man for years and suddenly call him back because you need to use him again to retain power beyond 2019. The card that chief Bola Tinubu is playing is called “bo rowo mi, ori inu mi, demo ni mowa.” For those who do not understand Yoruba language, the card that Ashiwaju is playing is called political sham, charade and make-believe. And for those who do not understand politics as being played in our clime, the outburst of Tinubu’s wife has revealed her husband’s concealed position. I do not think Tinubu is that dim-witted to allow himself to be used again by those who do not understand the ABC of modern-day politics and governance.

Lastly, there was a little drama at Ikeja on Monday, the 19th of February, 2018. Having laboured for hours, I decided to pull back a little, so I could reset my brain. When I came out of the office and I saw many well-dressed policemen and the traffic being well managed, I knew that in a few minutes a dignitary and VIP would soon make use of that axis to connect the Seat of Power at “Alausa.” A few minutes after the thought came to me, everywhere became noisy and some black SUVs were led to the Seat of Power. A few minutes after those SUVs disappeared as quickly as they appeared, every well-dressed Policeman withdrew to an unknown destination and the traffic collapsed again.

One, what happened at Ikeja on that day is one of the major reasons we cannot advance beyond where we are as a people. And until we learn to treat both the known and unknown citizens of Nigeria equally, we do not have a nation yet. Two, the mentioned few minutes’ drama reveals that those in power do not like those they are leading. And asking those they hate with passion to love Nigeria does not make any sense.