Does President Tinubu care?

By Fred Chukwuelobe

Why do I ask if our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cares about this country and the image he is giving it and its people?

Many people assume that I am ‘a Tinubu fan’ and accuse me of demarketing the opposition with the articles I have written in the recent past.

What they do not understand is that I write what I believe to be the truth considering the circumstances and from past events. I don’t get emotional when I discuss politics, even though some think otherwise.

This Saturday morning I woke up to think about our President and how he has governed in the past two years of his four-year tenure, and I came to one inevitable conclusion: our President does not care about governance. All he cares about is playing politics and putting his friends and loyal tribesmen in positions of power.

I have been scratching my head to understand what our President went to Saint Lucia to do for one week. The Caribbean Island is a country of 180,000 people. “Approximately 35% of the island is covered by natural forests and rainforests. Sandy beaches are a significant natural resource, attracting tourists,” according to Wikipedia. It does not have industries Nigeria can leverage on to boost its economy; it has nothing to offer us apart from “biodiversity, with various ecosystems including rainforests, coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds, hosting diverse plant and animal species.”

No leader of any nation has paid so much attention to the country like our President has just done.

So, why did our President go there to spend such an amount of time when his attention is required back home to deal with the myriad of problems that plague the nation? Tourism? Investment drive? Why did he go there?

While he was away, a group of politicians opposed to his administration gathered in Abuja to discuss ways of upstaging him in 2027. His party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, had just resigned. His minister of the FCT, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, is busy cruising in his private Rolls-Royce, holding one television interview after another, prancing around like ‘a bull in a China shop,’ abusing his erstwhile boss, Rotimi Amaechi, and behaving as if the world belongs to him.

I don’t know why the sinking PDP refused to expel him for ‘anti-party activities.’ Instead of expelling him, they have abandoned the ship for him and his coterie of jesters who held power at state levels and did nothing other than follow him about and watch his fashionable clothes and matching shoes.

Anyway, let’s return to our President.

I think something tells him he’s unbeatable. I think he believes he has mastered all political brinksmanship, so he pretends as if he’s beyond reproach or that he’s unbeatable. Our President acts as if being President is all there is to his political career and life.

The country is drifting daily. Insecurity is worsening by the day. The Naira is celebrated once it gains two kobo against the USD. Our roads are becoming like things in movie scenes. People are hungry and angry. Kidnapping for ransom is not abating. In cities across the country, social miscreants have taken over our roads collecting all manner of illegal tolls from people. Power generation and supply remain abysmal. Without it, industries cannot thrive profitably and drive productivity. Things are falling apart fast.

But our president does not care or so it seems. He thinks he is firmly in control of all instruments and institutions of government and that he’s hold on power is assured. He does not see any of the other arms of government as being capable of checkmating his firm grip on power. They are all “standing on his mandate.”

So, he does whatever pleases him. Unfortunately, he has a group of tribal warlords who see his ascendancy to power as their turn. They argue that since we didn’t pull down former President Muhammadu Buhari when that one took his turn and took the country back 50 years in eight years, we should allow ‘their brother’ the space to ‘repair’ the monumental damage done by Buhari. However, many think differently.

This is part of why the opposition, particularly the new old coalition is gaining traction among many Nigerians. A lot of people who spoke to me after my articles argued that even if it means supporting a devil to unseat Tinubu, they are ready to do so. “We can’t continue like this,” one senior politician told me. “We can’t continue to allow this president to ride roughshod over us as if only he knows politics and has all the ability to win at all costs,” one of the people who called me said.

I think every right-thinking Nigerian should worry about the future of this country. I think both the President and his handlers should be concerned about the feelings of the people. Even if they and their dependents and acolytes don’t feel the pain the rest of us feel, let them, at least, pity the future generation, which includes their children. The way things are going, do they think there will be a country for their children to enjoy the wealth they are accumulating today and power they hold today?

Our President should better sit down at home and work for the people he’s leading. At his age, he should be concerned about the legacy he’s going to leave after his time on planet Earth is called. The Great Architect of the Universe has been kind to him: oil company accountant, senator, governor, president of the most populous black nation in the world. What else does he need?

The President needs to be told that he does not hold all the aces. He needs to be told that the people are not just happy with him and his government, and when I say ‘people,’ I don’t mean you who see him as your best shot at power and believe those of us opposed to his style of leadership are Peter Obi’s supporters or Atiku Abubakar’s. I dont mean the beneficiaries of his style of governance. I mean those feeling the pain.

I mean Nigerians desirous of a prosperous, functioning, respected, responsible, and disciplined nation in which everyone has equal opportunity to aspire to the nation’s highest office and lead the country to the path of prosperity. I mean Nigerians who have ideas and who want to plan their lives and bring their ideas to fruition. Right now, many can’t.

Our President needs to be challenged. If he wins us by whatever means, let him sweat and know that he does not possess all the political tricks to hold on to power. Let him be reminded that power is ephemeral and that change is one of the three constants in life, the other two being truth and death.

Mr. President, sit down and govern.