2027: Floodgates of uncouth utterances

The year 2027 is taking its huge toll on us already. Even a few months before its physical arrival. It is clowning the colour and shape of an amoeba. And it is performing the feat at the uncanny speed of light.

Horses of 2027 are committing themselves by themselves, no-holds-barred. They are talking from both sides of their wide, wild, weird mouths. They’re the lousiest and loudest. And they do it with no restraint. No decorum either.

In one breath. They are deadly, brutal in operation. We are the targets, the prey, the ultimate victims. The hawks, the wolves are coming after us like violent torrents. Spreading ferociously like blazing harmattan. Consuming whatever is unfortunate to stray into its flaming space.

Great pity! We are at the receiving end. These silly inanities are sickening. Beating us really harsh and hard. The trajectory is racing into impending tragedy. We are being pelted with insults left, right and centre. At their beck and call.

The bitter seed Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole unconsciously planted. Way back on January 17, 2019. Has fully germinated. Now growing like maize. He was truly careless, reckless and brazen about it. He shut his mind to our feelings, emotions and sentiments. 

Even with his controversial pronouncement: “All is fair in politics.” President Bola Tinubu still did not actually start these shenanigans. He only opened the floodgates with an equally open mind. And generously too. Encouraged by what Oshiomhole spewed out profusely. The President simply built on it.

Oshiomhole’s infamous outburst: “Once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven.” AI was quick to properly situate Oshiomhole’s stinking vomit. And put it in appropriate context: “Oshiomhole made the remark during an APC presidential campaign rally in Benin, Edo State.

“While welcoming high-profile defectors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including a politician with the surname ‘Iluobe,’ Oshiomhole joked in a mix of English and local context about the name meaning ‘I have done something wrong’ and quipped that joining the ruling party meant ‘sins were forgiven.’”

Oshiomhole dares not deny this. He’s the architect and mastermind of the shenanigans. We hold him tightly accountable for what breeds thereafter. His ill-famed outpouring seven years ago forever resonates in our collective memory.

That opened the floodgates to some governors and their state legislatures. They emptied themselves shamelessly into the “sinless” APC. And the result is this messy mess.

But Tinubu has since surpassed it. The situation has taken a terrific flight negatively. And it seems there’s no stopping it. The tribe has grown in leaps and bounds. And, sadly, still counting and surging. Its end is certainly not in sight. Not with the recent outburst from Borno State.

And that is the crux of the matter. This one is like no other. It has no near duplicate. It excels Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi’s (Osun), Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo’s (FCT, Abuja), Sheikh Jingir’s (Plateau) and the ilk. It is expanding in scope, shape and size.

No region, no tribe, no religion will be “marginalised.” Everyone will have a sour bite of the cake. That is given.

Sainna Buba, Borno State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development. He’s the rave of the moment. He appears to be enjoying it. But he is our heavy cross. He’s everything negative: Our burden, yoke, headache. In fact, he is the epidemic we love to loathe. We detest him like a pandemic.

We ponder aloud; what has come over him? Beware, raw power intoxicates! Greedy lust for power. It is the height of political delinquency and rascality. He didn’t listen to himself before letting that video hit the airwaves. And immediately went viral.

He was overtaken by a wrong spirit. He was excited at a political gathering last Saturday in Maiduguri. Then the sycophancy in him instantly manifested. Tinubu’s City Boy Movement overwhelmed him. And he took his excitement out of proportion.

He was furiously angry with non-APC members. In the process, he ran himself aground. He arrogantly swore with a threat: “Whoever raises their fingers against us (APC), we will do the same to them. If you raise your fingers again, we will cut them off.”

As if we don’t know: “This is our administration, follow us and drink the honey.” What happens if they don’t? “Whoever does not follow us will be flogged. Because empowerment items will come and will be distributed.”

Buba has a willing cohort before him. Shekwolo, chairman of Kuje Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is it! Listen to him also: “I have said in my area council, it’s either you are doing APC or leave the area council. I am not arguing with you.”

Ignore his backtracking. He meant every letter, every word, every sentence he uttered. Nothing changes in him. No matter the extent of his pretence. He remains who and what he is: body, soul and spirit. But Buba is far ahead of him. He does it worse than Shekwolo.

Yet in another breath. Things are shaping out differently. Some pleasant things are happening. They’re delightful. It’s what our ears will like to hear. Above all, this time around, it appears like a rescue mission. Tinubu is stoutly leading the pack.

But isn’t belated? They forget so easily. A spoken word is like an egg. Once it touches the ground. Either by commission or omission. Or by intents or mistakes. It breaks, scatters. Never to be retrieved, reversed or recouped. It remains irreversible, irretrievable and not recoupable.   

Yet, Tinubu is striving hard to upend it. Let’s urge him on. He wants to put a huge spanner in the works for the mis-steps of our ugly past. Isn’t it awesome? Yes! It is impressively daunting. On that, we will be proud to be on the same page with the Presidency.

The reason this melody is sweet, heart-warming: “President Bola Tinubu has declared that the success of government must be measured by tangible results and improvements in the lives of citizens, rather than by the policies and programmes it announces.” Daily Sun reported on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

Tinubu’s words are not appropriated in any way. Precisely: “The requirement for ministers to report regularly on progress in implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda is an important part of creating a culture in which governance is increasingly judged not merely by what it announces but by what it delivers.”

We’re being taken aback for good reasons. No more make-believe, false narratives and raw lies. We earnestly pray they will make it happen. And courageously walk their sweet talk. Are they turning a new leaf? We’ve been asking aloud since we first heard them. Or is it a game plan? Or, worse, an intended trap?

What we are hearing from them is too good to be true. These same characters have been operating on a monumental trust deficit since they happened to us. We have our sincere fears to fear. And our genuine worries to worry.

Don’t blame us. We’re learning fast. Even faster than they would think or imagine. We have been bewitched with bewilderment several times over. We have lost count. Now we are getting wiser by the second.

Oshiomhole, perhaps the first to spot the differences. He queues up immediately. He is smart enough. He instantly decodes the coded signal from Tinubu. Just as he is the character that initiated the move against us. Back in 2019.

Then, they were fighting tooth and nail to retain the evil they earlier brought on us in 2015. They insisted it was expedient for Muhammadu Buhari to complete his eight-year evil circle. So that Tinubu could have an easy ride to power. And it was so.

But it was far from being smooth. The ride was rugged, turbulent and tortuous. Heavily marked by repeated twists, sharp bends and sudden turns. All the same, the end justified the means.

Oshiomhole wants a repeat performance of the 2023 feat. He aligns swiftly with the President to undo their undoing. And uproot the evil he had planted and watered. With great enthusiasm, he joins Tinubu in chorusing a new song.

This is how he’s carrying out his new assignment. He roars: “Nigerians should challenge poor governance without allowing ethnic or religious identities to determine political choices.” That’s big by all standards. He spoke at a University of Lagos national discourse.

Stranger than fiction. An Oshiomhole sermonising. All the same, he still speaks abundant wisdom to our challenges: Citizens should judge public officials by their performances and decisions rather than their backgrounds.”

He turns to religion: “Faith should encourage peace and responsibility. He intentionally picks on Islam: “Islam means peace. If Islam means peace, why will any Muslim help God to kill those who disrespected Him? God is the only person who has the power to kill.”

Oshiomhole is succinctly on the spot. He didn’t mince his words this new era. That’s how we expect our politicians to conduct their electioneering this time around. Don’t just do things differently. But also do things positively. We have got some past, old, odd examples of doing it differently. They all ended up in maximum tragedies.

Let’s flee from our past awful ambit. And don a new hat. I insist. The ultimate of all these is restructuring. That’s what all of them point to. That’s their collective gaze. It’s their sincere and genuine focus. They can’t be unnecessarily distracted. No. None is ready for that fuss. And we align and join them in their patriotic resolve. Restructuring is it!

We must be intentional. We need to deliberately take action. And urgently too. Let us liberate ourselves from self-inflicted entanglement and complications. We have encircled this same mountain for far too long. To no end. Going nowhere in particular. Let’s take a good listen to one of ourselves. 

Dr. Olusegun Mimiko’s newfound Jethro’s model is the way forward. It’s essentially restructuring. In fact, our new face of restructuring. It will curb the stinking excesses of government. And restore sanity to governance. Ondo State’s former governor provides the biblical background:

“Moses suffered burnout and administrative gridlock when he attempted to govern millions (of Israelites) from the centre alone, until his father-in-law, Jethro, advised him to delegate authority to capable leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.” He then builds restructuring solidly on it:

“The Jethro principle teaches us that effective governance must be built on merit, capacity and capability. Power and responsibility must be pushed closer to the people so local issues can be handled locally, while only national matters rise to the centre. That is the template for true federalism.”

We can exit this wood with it. It is the compass we need: “A vital structural tool for dismantling systemic governance failure.” And navigate restructuring with unequalled ease. It’s as simple, effortless and painless as that.

We will love it. If we dare to try it.