Current fireworks in Rivers State over the interference of a political godfather seeking complete control of a godson has thrown up the need to interrogate the process of leadership recruitment under our democracy. Understanding the dynamics behind the current tempest of controversy ripping across the oil-rich state has hinged the subtle plot for re-election bid in 2027. Unlike in the past when it took nearly four years for the Supreme Court to finally decide on petitions relating to presidential polls, this time around, the Apex Court confirmed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was validly elected as President of the Federal Republic.
Early distraction from goals With the Apex court affirmed the victory of the former governor of Lagos State in the 2023 presidential poll, some Nigerians, including yours sincerely, expected a turnaround posture in the management of a country, taking into cognisance the fact that there had been an absence of committed leadership to improve on the fortunes of a pauperised people living in a country that was officially recognised in 2016 as the Global Headquarters of Poverty by the World Bank.
Tinubu had his task set out even before his inauguration as president in May 2023: Reduce the crippling poverty that is grinding citizens’ hopes for a prosperous future. The former Lagos governor, recognising that oil subsidy was costing Nigeria trillions of naira, made a solemn vow to deal with the subsidy monster that had defied previous administrations. He left no one in doubt that oil subsidy stood no chance of surviving under his watch. The removal of subsidies spiked prices of petrol products that also led to flying prices of goods and commodities.
Just this week, the World Bank warned that the Federal Government was still subsidising petrol products. The bank insisted that the real price of a litre of petrol should cost not less than N750 per litre, instead of N640 – N670 currently being sold in various filling stations across the country. I doubt if the crisis of the oil sector can be tackled by just changing prices of fuel to N750 per litre. To tackle the rot in the sector, oil cabals that have continued to strangulate the quest for transparency must have their manipulative powers diminished considerably.
Stumbling over 2027 scheming
At a time when the Tinubu-led government should concentrate on delivering dividends of democracy to electorates, it does no one any good for national leadership to be involved in the scheming of politicians whose ambition is tied to endless acquisition of power. First of all, the Tinubu administration should not have allowed itself to be subtly involved in the feud between Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr Nyesom Wike.
If Wike whose notoriety is nationally acknowledged in operating outside the whims and caprices of godfatherism when he ruled Rivers, why is he now finding it expedient to control his successor? No matter what lawyers say to earn their living, by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (Amended) as upheld by the Supreme Court, the defected 27 Rivers lawmakers have lost their seats. And the reported withdrawal of their impeachment notice against Governor Fubara is analogous to impostors exercising powers they have been stripped of by the constitution.
Wike should have remembered that he once advised then Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, in 2019 to resist the godfatherism syndrome. Maybe he has forgotten the past, but he needs to be reminded that what goes around comes around. If democracy is a government of the people, for the people and by the people, then, the people of Rivers must be allowed to have a say.
Getting back on tracks
When democracy is controlled by the few, then, it becomes tyrannical and serves only the few. If Nigeria is to get it right, our democracy must be rescued from the grip of politicians seeking to turn our country into personal fiefdoms. Tinubu should note that getting re-elected in 2027 will be dependent on his performance and not by politicians pulling the rugs under the feet of successors for control.
The removal of fuel subsidies has thrown over 110 million citizens into the dungeon of poverty. The depreciation of the Naira has shot prices of goods above reach of ordinary citizens. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) this week released startling data that only 12 percent of the Nigerian population is employed, while the remaining 88 percent is self-employed.
Presently, Nigerians are the most despaired of the world, with the country approaching its midnight of despondency. How long this lasts is dependent on what a docile citizenship does. Our democracy has been turned into an unquestionable staircase for the enthronement of dominance by Nigeria’s powerful and greedy politicians whose collective dream remains the imposition of crippling poverty on pauperised fellow citizens and ensuring their perpetual wretchedness.
The reported resumption of production by the Port Harcourt Refinery, as announced by the Ministry of Petroleum on Thursday, should ensure availability of fuel at affordable prices in order to reduce suffering in the country. The current administration should deal with the oil cabal that has entrenched corruption. The military may have achieved certain milestones in the fight against insecurity, but the monster of poverty is shredding the life out of millions of people. President Tinubu should be reminded that government is not all about profits; it is simply about the welfare of the people. Let there be less emphasis on taxes. The poor should be allowed to breathe! The politics of 2027 must be relegated to allow governance to take off.