Returning to Nigeria after two weeks of a highly ‘guarded’ private visit to another man’s, well-governed country, President Bola Tinubu must have since discovered that he is not facing a new normal in his own country. Nigeria is now much worse than he left it three weeks ago. He is now, undeniably, confronted with a whirlwind of challenges of immediate sort that require urgent attention. Hunger, soaring cost of living, insecurity, stagflation, have reached unprecedented level, erupting in protests in some states last week. More than ever before, the country is polarised down the middle. It’s a red flag from a discontented public. Good news is now hard to find in Nigeria. More dispiriting is the video that has gone viral that some Nigerians are eating themselves in order to survive the present, unbearable hardship across the country as a result of the government’s economic policies that are tearing the country apart.
In the words of former Minister of state for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva, “Nigerians are now in frying pan, and our only prayer is that we should not be dumped in the inferno”. It may be a foretaste of an impending implosion that this government might not handle if things continue to remain the same. If Tinubu will bother to venture out of the fortified presidential villa, for a visit to some states, with a notepad and few security personnel in toe, he will be shocked at the grim reality of where he has taken Nigerians in less than nine months despite the unashamedly adversarial stance of some of his aides that things are normal in the country, that the present hunger is the handiwork of opposition parties.
It’s not unkind to say that what is happening in Nigeria right now bears a semblance of the astonishing, heartbreaking narrative of two Israelite mothers, families wrecked by by war and famine, and a helpless king driven into continual mourning. 2 kings 6:24-30 provides this desperate narrative, and lessons to learn by any leader who cares for his people. These women were so desperate for food that they made a pact to eat their sons – one that very night and one the next day. But things didn’t turn out they way they planned. One cried out to Jehoram, the King of Israel at the time. As the King was passing by, the woman cried out to him, “O King! And he said, “if the Lord will not help you, how will I not help you”? And the King asked her, “what’s your trouble”? She answered (referring to the other woman she made a pact with), “this woman said to me, give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my(own) son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day, I said to her, give your son that we may eat him, but she had hidden her son”.
What a heart-rending story, you might say. Yes, it is. But here’s the lesson: the woman came to the King looking for justice, but the golden era of wise and just lsraeli kings had passed. The King entertained the woman’s question, but provided no solution. Food is scarce in Nigeria. Prices of essential food items and drugs have soared beyond the reach of ordinary citizens. You can’t remember the last time you ate two square meal. Your disposable income has declined, hasn’t it? But the government has provided no solution. Everything Tinubu’s administration claims it has done is still in the realm of promise unfulfilled. No hope renewed. Rather, misery has supplanted hope. For months on end, hapless Nigerians have been crying out to let them breathe. Even men are crying like babies because the little cash they have cannot buy food that will last them beyond a day. When the New Year began, many parents cried out that they had no money to pay their children’s school fees. But the children of the politicians are schooling abroad, with their fees and medicals funded from public treasury. What the government has been doing is subsidizing the rich and overfed political officeholders at the expense of the poor. Nigerians are losing faith in government, and in their own country. Hope dies when eerie, grim, despairing feelings creep in. That’s where we are now. The collective refrain in the assessment of Nigeria today is that majority of the people are disillusioned with the performance of this government and political leaders as well as key public institutions. Ordinarily, the phrase, “hope never dies”, means that even in difficult or dire circumstances (as Nigerians are going through today), the citizenry could still hold on to their hopes and their dreams. That’s why hope is eternal. It suggests that hope is a resilient and powerful emotion that can sustain us through even the most difficult of circumstances. But not anymore.
Like Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, in the Bible, Tinubu’s administration has put a heavy joke on Nigerians. According to the Bible, as he(Rehoboam) ascended the throne, his two-sided character became visible. He ill-advisedly adopted a harsh policy. His famous quote, “My father laid heavy burdens on you, but I am going to make them even heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions”(I Kings 12:1-14). Some people, like Adetokunbo Pearse, recently, asked Arise News anchor Steve Ayorinde, “this is not Tinubu that we knew as Governor of Lagos State”. So, what has happened to him now as President of Nigeria? That’s what power does. It reveals. Like Rehoboam, Tinubu seems to be telling Nigerians, whatever my predecessors have inflicted on you, I will make it worse. And truly so. Can he turn a new leaf?
Undoubtedly, in our nation today, this present terrible situation has been building for a while. It got worse from the time Muhammadu Buhari became president in 2015. But at no time has this grim reality dawned on us as it’s now. The truth is that most Nigerians no longer believe that this government is working for their interest. They also no longer have faith that critical institutions like the judiciary and the electoral umpire, are meeting their expectations. Isn’t that a true reflection of the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in last year’s general elections, and recent rerun polls in some states?
What about our political leaders? Their uninspiring conduct is a reflection of the state of our politics. And with good reason, the people have come to believe that many of our present political leaders, with criminal records have repeatedly lied to them. But this much remains valid: Many Nigerians are not lacking in any of the qualities of citizenship, patriotism or humanity. It all boils down to bad leadership.
Three years ago, a survey by PREMIUM TIMES, an online newspaper, showed that 7 out of 10 Nigerians have lost hope in government to care for them. It has gotten much worse now. The figure from Premium Times survey represents about 73 percent of those interviewed. It’s also a huge increase of 32 percent from the Nigerians who in 2019, said they wanted to leave (“Japa”) the country. Recall that on June 3, 2021, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement, lamenting that the rate of Nigerian youths renouncing their citizenship had become very alarming. Recently, a survey by The PUNCH newspaper confirmed that the number of Nigerians eager to relocate elsewhere has increased considerably, with Canada, the USA and UK as their preferred destinations.
All of this represents a growing doubt about what life means to them, in their own country. It’s also an expression of anger against the poor leadership of the country. Clearly, Nigeria is suffering from a present danger, a crisis of sort that strikes at the very heart and soul of our national will. The unity of purpose that should act like a glue that holds the people together is no longer there. As has been reported in recent weeks, many households are devising new strategies to survive the hard times. Some of the new strategies include cutting down drastically all luxury items. One egg today is N200. A bag of ‘pure water’ sells for N300. With inflation and unemployment soaring, is this government concerned about the current hardship by Nigerians and the demands of organised labour for a 300 percent salary increase for workers? Many workers are currently trekking to their place of work due to high transport fares. With subsidy gone, and inflation rate projected to reach 30 percent by year end, many households have come under intense pressure in making ends meet.
According to World Bank report , it was estimated that over seven million Nigerians have been added to the poverty net between January and May, last year. Already, 2022 poverty figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. This represents 63 percent of the total population unofficially put at 220 million. Everywhere, lamentations have become the lot of most Nigerians. Most Nigerians feel, and perhaps with some justification, that they are in for the ‘Rehoboam’ treatment by the Tinubu administration, despite his promise to make life better. This unsolicited advice may help President Tinubu to make amends. Our political history is full of useful lessons that may guide any wise leader who desires to make positive changes for his country and citizens. Failure to heed the lessons from history has led many leaders to run aground in the office they were elected to serve.
The greater worry is that President Tinubu may have no legacies worth remembering if he doesn’t quickly begin to make amends. The honeymoon given to any elected President is far gone. This is why this President should watch it. The country is drifting dangerously. This may seem a harshly critical assessment of Tinubu’s style of leadership, but it’s the grim reality of what is happening in the country right now. No one needs to deceive anyone anymore that the country is heading in the right direction. It’s indeed in a hole. Concrete solutions need to be put in place to tackle the multiple challenges confronting the country and the people.