Posted by It was at this time last year, when the electoral campaigns were at their height, that Nigerians still had doubts about Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s (the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC) true platform. Mr. Tinubu, a former two-term governor of Lagos State, has not provided any particular details about his intentions for action beyond promoting the vague “Renewed Hope” platform and using the unpopular Yoruba cry “Emi lokan” (meaning “it is my turn!”). In addition, the APC, its candidate, and their fervent supporters have been met with vicious attacks whenever they have attempted to explain in plain and practical terms the practical plan to rescue Nigerians from the economic, security, and other critical crises that Muhammadu Buhari—another reclusive elder statesman—had sunk the country into. This includes some exceptionally bright minds from Tinubu’s Yoruba ethnic nationality.
Many of these rapacious backers have asserted and argued forcefully that Tinubu’s skill and capacity to mend a broken Nigeria should not be doubted since he has been having his proteges succeed as governors in Lagos State since he left office in 2007. Despite the undeniable fact that most Nigerians cast their ballots for someone else because they were skeptical of the APC candidate’s qualifications, there are accusations that Tinubu colluded with “professional election riggers” and the electoral commission, INEC, to have Tinubu named president. The fact that the judiciary, following the plots of those who plotted against the majority of Nigerians, placed an enormous burden of proof on the election petitioners who ran against him as candidates for the opposition party did not help matters. Tinubu and his “election thieving gang” seized power.
During his inaugural presidential address at the Eagle Square on May 29th, 2023, Tinubu’s first uncharitable assignment was the unilateral and shameful removal of gasoline subsidies, proving to many that he was a terrible worker who always argued with his tools. According to his new economic policy, Tinubu-nomics, the unannounced elimination of gasoline subsidies will put an end to the hegemony of oil thieves and their organizations, allowing more funds to be returned to the government coffers for what are ostensibly the “benefits” of the Nigerian people. So far, the propaganda-driven Tinubu administration has failed to inform Nigerians of any benefit they have received from the much-touted removal of fuel subsidies, even though the removal of subsidies has caused terrible economic hardship for Nigerians, as fuel now sells for between N670-N800 per litre.
Every Nigerian is finally feeling the effects of the reality we all warned about, as things have gone from bad to worse, just three months after the Supreme Court validated the sham election in yet another very problematic scenario, disregarding the plain terms of the law. Our economy is quickly heading in the direction of Venezuela’s, according to experts, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other international and regional organizations. An official exchange rate of $1 US to N1,500 has been reached, and the economy of the most populous nation in Africa is in utter chaos.
The rest of the world is treating us like a leprous nation now. As a result of the worsening conditions brought about by the Tinubu government, Nigerians are starting to get angry and protest from the north to the south.
Corruption is alive and well in the Tinubu cabals today, and every morning, Nigerians hear reports of the most massive corruption the country has ever seen. After Beta Edu-gate, the protection of some touch-nots in his kitchen cabinet, and the incredibly extravagant allocation of funds for trivial matters while the masses are left to fend for themselves, the Tinubu administration has failed to demonstrate that it possesses the necessary ideas to improve conditions for the average citizen.
Even residents of highbrow areas in Abuja are now terrified of being abducted for ransom by a rampaging gang of kidnappers who have laid siege to the seat of power and governance. This is in stark contrast to the basic oath Tinubu took last year on behalf of the Nigerian nation in accordance with the Constitution, which guaranteed the security of lives and property. You cannot go freely without planning on a potential ransom for kidnappers in every other section of the country right now, even Tinubu’s South West region. The entire security architecture in Nigeria has failed miserably, despite huge budgetary provisions, in preventing heinous crimes such as the kidnapping of schoolchildren in Ekiti and the killing of monarchs in the same state, the kidnapping of motorists en route to Abuja in a GUO bus in Kogi State, and the kidnapping, killings, and payment of exorbitant ransoms by prominent figures in the South East. Terrible violence and instability has broken out in several northern states, including Plateau, Benue, Zamfara, and Katsina.
Perhaps he would benefit from being reminded of the following provision: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government, and the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this constitution.” This provision is found in Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 constitution (as amended).
Tinubu may have resigned without even this open letter in a more moral climate. Nigeria is being held captive by those who are egotistically encouraging him and who are still frantically trying to carve out a piece of the national pie from the center. Their leader has recently gone on a second foreign tour without directly addressing the severe problems his administration has caused in Nigeria.
His administration’s handlers, including himself, have been busy issuing “Decrees” to Forex operators, using every available and compromised media platform to ask for more time, patience, and sacrifice from the suffering Nigerians, and then they go on a global tour seeking funding or favors for their own selfish agendas. In its nearly eight months in office, the Tinubu government has shown itself to be completely ignorant and detached from the everyday lives of ordinary Nigerians. It has revealed itself to be a government of thieves, hypocrites, and avaricious greed.
The media has reported that a Presidential committee was established by the government to negotiate a new minimum wage with the Nigerian Labour Congress. Some of us wonder what sort of blood runs through their veins because they granted a whopping N500 million—a fraction of the N1 billion asked as a take-off cash.
But my open letter to the president boils down to this: he must take action and resign in good faith if he wants to preserve the country and himself. I implore the Nigerian people to rise up and reclaim their country from Tinubu’s utter incompetence if he does not. They must use all legal and accessible measures to ensure that this corrupt government is held to account.
Human rights advocate Paschal Oluchukwu Omaka wrote an open letter from Dubai, UAE. email address: betcool2007@yahoo.com-