The nationwide ‘hunger protest’, also known as the #EndBadGovernance protest, has officially begun and is sweeping the country, causing deaths and damage in its wake. And there’s the worry that the worst might yet come. Due to the ethnic profiling that a president’s spokesperson brought into it, which targeted Igbos and their businesses, the Southeast states had to abstain. By starting the Igbo-Must-Go (Ndigbo must leave Lagos and South West) campaign, some X users are also echoing the threat and ethnic profiling against Ndigbo in Nigeria, similar to what happened in Rwanda that resulted in ethnic cleansing.

An analysis of the protest thus far reveals a deficiency in preparation and synchronisation on the part of the protesters as well as the government, especially the police. It is happening as though the protest organisers are just calling on Nigerians to protest without any real preparation or coordination, and the government and police would prefer to put an end to the protest than welcome it and use it to their advantage.

Even scarier is the fact that General Chris Musa, the chief of defence, had threatened that the military would step in if the situation got out of control or got worse and the police couldn’t handle it. It is still heartbreaking to think back on what the army did at Lekki Tollgate at the EndSars protest in October 2020. Numerous protesters lost their lives in what many referred to as the Lekki massacre.

A recurrence of that dark past would not be desired by any patriotic Nigerian. Therefore, under no circumstances should the protesters or the police allow the protest to get so out of control that the military feels justified in getting involved. Soldiers are not trained for riot control or civic upheaval. The soldiers shoot to kill and don’t use rubber bullets, unlike the police.

Furthermore, the Lekki Tollgate was the only location where soldiers were killed during EndSars in 2020. As of right now, 31 states (excluding the five Southeast states) are experiencing simultaneous protests; this means that there are at least 31 flashpoints around the nation where protesters and the military may engage in confrontations with a high risk of fatalities.

“Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee,” wrote poet and philosopher John Donne in one of his poems. John Donne wrote on the subject of human connectedness, and one may rephrase it thus: “The death of one Nigerian diminishes all of us because we are all fellow Nigerians.”

An alarming number of Nigerians are losing their lives for avoidable reasons; they are being killed by terrorists, bandits, police mishaps, kidnappers, and a host of other preventable causes. In such cases, the blood being wasted is pleading with God for retribution. Without necessarily getting too theological, some of the country’s suffering stems from acts of savagery and widespread bloodshed, as well as, of course, the apparent greed and wickedness of leaders and some citizens who profit off the suffering of fellow Nigerians. You may observe this in the food items that some Nigerians export to their neighbouring countries to make a kill rather than selling them to other Nigerians for a lower price. That is capitalism devoid of a human face for you.

President Bola Tinubu, a remarkable protester himself, with the governors’ collaboration, is the one who has the best chance of addressing the protest and stemming the confrontation and its obvious severe repercussions. The only state governors who have so far addressed the protesters are Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and Simi Fubara of Rivers State. Also, the protesters have been addressed by only the Commissioners of Police for Edo and Lagos State. The macabre dance appears to be entertaining the rest.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state has also launched the ‘Farm to Feed Campaign’ to return Ndi Anambra to the farms as the state’s response to the hunger protest ongoing in the country. Governor Chukwuma Soludo wants Ndi Anambra to grow what they eat and eat what they grow in 12 months.

The president knows that protest is an essential ingredient of democracy and democratic governance and therefore shouldn’t stifle the ongoing one. To present his side of the story, the president needs to speak with the protesters as well as all Nigerians without further delay.

Although President Tinubu came into office and met a battered economy, things have only gotten worse since he came. There are very few indications that things will improve if the key policies are not revised.

It is tenable to argue that policies have gestation periods and that the Tinubu government’s programs will take some time to take effect and produce the intended outcomes. However, while acknowledging that policies take time to implement, we also need to remember that some poorly implemented good policies can only lead to catastrophe if progress is too far in error.

The withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira are two crucial economic policies that have released headwinds that have crushed the economy, driven inflation to an all-time high, imposed stagflation, and unleashed unparalleled hunger in the nation. These policies alone are the reason why things have become worse. The withdrawal of fuel subsidies without proper planning was terrible enough, but what is seriously harming the economy more than fuel subsidy removal is the simultaneous inconceivable tragedy of floating the naira.

Nigerians are not seeing the evidence that these policies are rising up the J curve after the initial depression, even though they have been in place for only a year and a half. Thus, it is necessary to revisit the two policies and include them among the concessions the president has to make to the protesters and Nigerians.

Also, President Tinubu has to interact with the youth by hosting X/Twitter space, much like President William Ruto of Kenya did after a comparable tax protest in his nation. The president has to take this chance to share with the young Nigerians what he met upon the assumption of office and the work he is doing. The majority of Nigerians are unaware that the previous government sold the country’s future crude oil for loans and cash, leaving Nigeria insolvent.

This means that even if the country exports roughly 1.5 million barrels per day, the amount of crude that is available to the government for foreign exchange earnings may not be up to 500 thousand barrels per day. The payment of debt and commitments to IOCs that have joint venture agreements with the NNPCL takes about 70% of export earnings.

Therefore, Mr. President, it would be better to take this opportunity and identify with the Nigerian people than to continue the deafening silence. There is a need to provide some real concessions, which need to include drastic cuts in the cost of governance and the extravagance of government officials.

Nigerians who are protesting will reciprocate if the President takes these vital actions.

Dr Law Mefor, an Abuja-based forensic and social psychologist, is a fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought. He can be contacted via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Twitter: @Drlawsonmefor.

There is this anecdote in Igboland of M̀gbekē and her cutlass. By the way, M̀gbekē is a synonym for an unrefined and unsophisticated girl. Each time M̀gbekē’s farmer colleagues visited her in the farm, they saw haphazardly tilled land and a female farmer lazily fondling her farm implement. Whenever Mgbeke was asked the reason for her snailish work, she complained of an old and ineffectual cutlass. Knowing M̀gbekē as the female version of Nnoka, Okonkwo’s lazy father in Things Fall Apart, it was difficult to believe the implement was the culprit. The villagers thereafter concluded that it was either M̀gbekē’s cutlass was defective, M̀gbekē herself was lazy or the problem was with both of them.

The #EndBadGovernance protest which commenced last Thursday revealed several cracks in our Nigerianness. One major crack it revealed is our propensity for betrayal of a general struggle; the betrayal of Nigerians by Nigerians. Such betrayal is however not new in Nigeria or to Nigerians. It is not even native to us. That theme was dealt with by East African leading novelist and Kenyan author, academic, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in his 1976 play. In The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, Ngugi narrates the trials faced by Kimathi, regarded as Kenya’s foremost anti-colonialist national hero. Kimathi’s resistance to colonialism led to his capture by British police officer, Ian Henderson. Kimathi was sold out by disgruntled fellow Kenyan Mau Mau fighters who revealed where he holed up. Once captured, his abductors put pressure on him to disclose his allies in the struggle. While awaiting trial, the colonial authorities sent three persons to persuade Kimathi to abandon the struggle. One was Shaw Henderson, the judge in his trial.

Like the biblical Satan who took Jesus to the pinnacle of a mountain and persuaded him to renounce his messianism, Henderson told Kimathi he would be released if he pleaded for his life. Kimathi refused the offer. Then a delegation of bankers came. Why was he disrupting the Kenyan economy which flourished under colonial rule? The third delegation comprised a priest, businessman and a politician. They each asked for Kimathi’s surrender. Momentarily, Kimathi was swayed but later obstinately refused. Henderson meets him again but this time, tortured him to disclose the identities of his co-revolutionists. Kimathi refused. Outside of the Ngugi play, in reality, this famed leader of the Mau Mau war of October 1956 was eventually sentenced to death by the colonial authorities. He was hanged on February 18, 1957 at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. Britain rewarded Henderson with a George Medal, while Henderson in turn documented his experience in a book he entitled Man Hunt in Kenya.

In the June 12 1993 struggle, our own Dedan Kimathi was betrayed severally. MKO Abiola suffered serial betrayals from the people he trusted. Fellow politicians, his Yoruba kinsmen, labour union activists and leading democracy activists betrayed Abiola for a mess of pottage. Leading politicians paid nocturnal visits to Ibrahim Babangida in his Aso Rock fortress, pretending they were taking a nap when their vehicle was to be identified at the Villa gate. Labour leaders allegedly collected money from the military regime to kill protests against the June 12 election annulment. Till date, the role played by those who inherited Abiola’s presidency in the betrayal is still being studied. If you read Chief Segun Osoba’s autobiography, Battlelines – Adventures In Journalism And Politics, you will learn how NUPENG’s Frank Ovie Kokori was lured into detention by a trusted ally in the struggle. He was finally betrayed in death by those who are today’s inheritors of his struggle to liberate Nigeria from autocracy. The Abdulsalami Abubakar government eventually adopted the Kimathi model. It allowed an American government delegation to visit Abiola in the prison, ostensibly to persuade him to relinquish the struggle. The rest, as they say, is history.

In Alex La Guma’s In the fog of the Seasons’ end novel, like the sabotages received by the EndBadGovernance protest, its protagonists, Beukes and Elias Tekwane, undercover protestors of apartheid, distributed handbills to announce a forthcoming strike action aimed at upsetting Apartheid South Africa. An intensely well-crafted plot, La Guma weaves the plot to unravel what went into underground anti-apartheid movements and how protesters were confronted by sabotage from fellow workers who worked as agents of government. If they were found out, Beukes and Elias faced threat of imprisonment and torture hanging over their heads. Every leaflet they distributed, every phone call they made, every outspoken word they uttered to someone about the strike got them closer to being captured. They were eventually captured by the South African police who tortured them to death in their cells.

The Nigerian #EndBadGovernance protest mirrors similar trope, though in a different manner. It synchronizes with Kenya and Uganda, becoming poster children of the need to reset the brains of misgoverning African leaders. The arrogance of William Ruto who initially labeled the anti-tax agitation in Kenya treason was confronted by Gen Z protesters whose existential misery fired their zeal. The protest not only reportedly claimed over 50 casualties, it reset the politics of Kenya. That country may never be the same again. Ruto was forced to fire most of his cabinet members amid thousands of youths marching on the streets of Nairobi since mid-June. Police deployed teargas canisters, water cannons and live bullets to chase away the protesters, yet they remained adamant. The youth eventually forced Ruto to take sweeping decisions like sacking his entire cabinet. So, when a similar protest, the #EndBadGovernance, erupted in Nigeria last Thursday, President Bola Tinubu must have known what was in the offing.

One of the first groups to dissociate itself from the protest was the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Lagos State chapter. It was followed by a group which claimed it was representing the national leadership of the National Association of University Students, (NAUS) the National Associations of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) and the National Association of Nigerian Colleges of Education Students (NANCES). It also distanced self from the planned protest. Some members of the organized labour also pulled back. On the D-Day, government’s old tactics of mercantile purchase of the consciences of protest organizers surfaced. Protesters against the protest confessed that they were given miserable N5000 by proteges of government figures.

Tinubu apparently dusted up the ancient, military-bestowed tactic of setting up monarchical and religious elites against protesters. During the June 12 crisis, apparently scared Generals Babangida and Sani Abacha ferried monarchs into Aso Rock. The aim of the two despots was to use the monarchs to subvert the people’s will. Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, came out of one of such Villa meetings to appeal to Nigerians to forget June 12. When asked by reporters what Babangida said on the annulment of the election, his “I think he was making sense” caused huge furore. It was interpreted to mean that Kabiyesi had sold out. Olubuse never recovered from this tar-brush.

Tinubu apparently didn’t realize that the IBB, Abacha model of nipping protests in the bud before they begin is an outdated and glacier-frozen style. The social media has redrawn the space, graph, contour and mode of protest agitations. Today, unlike in the past when, once you had the Paschal Bafyaus of NLC or NUPENG leaders in your pocket as locus of betrayer of a just cause, protests were doomed, today, protest is amorphous, occurs with the speed of lightning and is spontaneous. It is leader-less. You can no longer consign news to NTA, Daily Times or paid newspapermen as it was done in the past. Information travels at the speed of light on social media. In any case, who respects voices of traditional rulers any longer? Isn’t it the same voices of weed smokers; the known notorious land-grabbers and fraudsters now merely garbed in flowing apparels?

In all these push-backs, whether now or before, allegations of the presidency purchasing interventions of hitherto respected voices loomed large. So, following that ancient mould, apparently informed by security reports that the anger of Gen Z youths was boiling over, Tinubu also ferried monarchs and clergy elites on an emergency pilgrimage to Aso Rock. Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed Bamalli, Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, Dein of Agbor, Benjamin Keagborekuzi and other natural rulers, as well as notable clerics, spoke thereafter with the press. They appealed to the organizers of the protest to give the president more time to fix Nigeria. What time? A cleric in a viral video even alleged that Tinubu thumped his chest and told clerics he bought his presidency. To these pleas, the Gen Z seemed to have invoked Sango’s wrath to descend on the Bata drum and its noisy accoutrements (Sàngó pa bàtá, pa jonwon jonwon etí è). The youths then marched on the streets of Nigeria in blazing anger.

The appeal to fear by Tinubu’s security apparatchik also failed woefully. “A “bomb” was “detonated” somewhere in Lagos.” “Foreign mercenaries were on their way into Nigeria.” To this old, frozen scaremongering tactics, the Gen Z howled, may Sango descend on Tinubu’s Bata and its useless accoutrements! If Tinubu’s inner cabinet members had been mis-informing him that the cries of hunger were politically motivated, the president must have seen for himself live videos of Nigerians expressing blistering views on his excruciating and punishing economic policies and the calamities these IMF-driven policies have brought to the people. Some even claim that Tinubu’s slavish licking of the western world’s spittle is borne out of the fact that the West has the balls of his uncomely past in its hands.

What summarizes Nigerians’ wails at protest grounds last week is Bob Marley’s iconic song, Dem belly full but we hungry. Tinubu and his cabinet members live in stupendous wealth and go on saturnalia with our wealth while Nigerians are dying in droves. The most tragic part of it is that the people in government don’t even pretend to care. Did you hear the voluble Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, say the people could keep on protesting but he and the Senate members would continue eating? It may be a Freudian slip or a flippancy for which Akpabio has earned an infamous notoriety but it seems to be the philosophy of the Tinubu government. Hungry Nigerians may go jump inside the Bunga River for all the government cares. The man who dons the moustache of Chancellor of Third Reich Nazi Germany, the despot Adolf Hitler, Nyesom Wike, also attempted to spin the weather-beaten old ad-hominem narrative of “protest sponsorship” last week. A senator was sponsoring the protest, he drooled in his usual scary guttural. The apt response he got from Nigerians was that hunger, hopelessness and death of Nigerians since Tinubu took over government were the sponsors of the protest.

And the protest held. Sadly, while official figure said 17 people were killed, suspicious police report claimed three died. From our experience during the EndSARS protest, we know who to believe. The protest also drew a graph not native to protests in time past. A hitherto supine north tipped over in its anger, crudely burning and looting. It was the same north which always hit the street in murderous baying for blood only when it feels God had been defamed. Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, explaining this mindless pillaging of the north by Almajiris, said: “What actually caused it? Today if you look at Nigeria, 70% of those in the North are in poverty. If you look at 65% of our people in the North, they don’t even have bank accounts. In 18 million out of school children, over 14 million are in the North.” In Sokoto, protesters at the Sultan’s palace even went extremely idiotic, calling for soldiers’ return. Same north went into slumber throughout the eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s zero governance. The southwest, on the other hand, was calm even though pummeled by hunger. South-south wailed in anger despite the annoying woto-woto from Asari Dokubo threatening would-be protesters. Dokubo had earlier confirmed that he had collected money from the presidency. Uncharacteristically, the southeast went into an unusual somnolence.

In the midst of all these, even with the loss of souls, Aso Rock has feigned deafness and dumbness. When his claim that Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar sponsored the protest was perforated, Bayo Onanuga immediately relapsed into a baffling aphasia. Nigerians told Onanuga, borrowing from Marley’s lyrics, that “a hungry mob is an angry mob.” Since August 1, Tinubu, too has maintained a concerning taciturnity, apparently, like Emperor Nero, fiddling while Nigeria got enveloped in conflagration. Some have interpreted this self-imposed deafness of Aso Rock as arrogance of power. To some others, it was a hallmark of presidential conceit for the people. Even William Ruto peeled his initial lapel of arrogance and spoke to the people of Kenya.

“We must complain. Yes plain, blunt complaints, (peaceful) ceaseless agitation, unfailing exposure of dishonesty and wrong—this is the ancient, unerring way to liberty and we must follow it.”

— W.E.B. Du Bois

“War is what happens when language fails.”

— Margaret Atwood

“Nothing in the world is harder than speaking the truth and nothing easier than flattery.”

— Fyodor Dostoevsky

From the outset, let me be clear: I abhor violence and reject war in all its forms. Yet, I staunchly believe in protest and dissent as cornerstones of a democratic society. I have lived this truth, endured detentions and deprivations for it, and will continue to advocate for freedom and a free spirit until my last breath.

Since turning 18, I have participated in countless protests, always peacefully, never resorting to violence. I have marched alongside notable Nigerians such as the indefatigable lawyer Chief Gani Fawehinmi and the eloquent and urbane advocate for democracy and good governance, Mr. Alao Bashorun. Elders like Chief Anthony Enahoro, Wole Soyinka, Baba Omojola, and Dr. Frederick Faseun have shared the streets of Lagos with my generation, standing firm against injustice, often facing tear gas and state violence.

At that time, the current president and some of his closest associates have been vocal in encouraging us to protest against hardship, injustice, and poor governance. As allies, we have mobilized young men and women to decry rigged elections and the perceived theft of national resources.

The Yoruba people, to whom I proudly belong, have historically led the charge against colonialism, local oppression, military brutality, and corruption. In times past, if other ethnic groups hesitated to speak out, the Yoruba would courageously stand up, voice their dissent, and face the consequences. This legacy, inherited from the leaders of the first republic—who boldly opposed colonial masters and their local collaborators—must not be forgotten. It is why figures like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti were seen as threats by colonial authorities and faced various indignities. It is why Wole Soyinka, Tai Solarin, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Femi Falana, and others were imprisoned and why leaders like Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gen Alani Akinrinade, and Dr. Amos Akingba went into exile to continue their agitation against the Sani Abacha regime.

What has changed? Yes, we now have a civilian government. But does this mean that the issues we protested against have vanished, and we now live in an ideal society? Absolutely not. Even under this so-called democracy, our leaders, now in power, have sometimes called for protests against policies during the presidencies of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Some have even sheltered Niger Delta agitators after they protested by attacking oil pipelines.

Now, I pose this question to my Yoruba brothers, many of whom shared the struggle with me: What has changed? Is it because we now have a Yoruba president that dissent must cease, and those who oppose the current order must be labeled as dangerous troublemakers and foreign invaders?

We often profess to be Christians and Muslims. Yet, some are now resorting to traditional rites and mystical practices such as Oro and Agemo to prevent peaceful gatherings in places like Yaba and Tinubu Square. We are deploying hate against fellow Nigerians while those we serve hoard wealth in banks owned by the Igbos we so hate and award lucrative contracts to those we are told to despise. All because they do not want their fellow Yorubas to know their secret heists.

There have always been those who misuse protests for their gain, and there always will be. This is why we have law enforcement, who should be trained and equipped to manage such situations, ensuring public safety and protecting property.

Using money and fear to suppress dissent, especially when it is "our turn" to wield power, will be counterproductive. We are fostering hate and alienating other ethnic groups, demonizing people who have been our neighbors, classmates, and fellow citizens. We must remember that power is fleeting; today, it is our turn, but tomorrow, it will be someone else's.

The maximum tenure for any leader is eight years unless we are now advocating for life presidencies. When it is someone else's turn, and they retaliate against "our children" who were in power, will we still be able to protest?

Life is a continuum, and future leaders may come from unexpected places. Who could have imagined Donald Trump leading America? Yet, today, he embodies rhetoric reminiscent of darker times in history. Many of my friends in America are troubled by the prospect of his return to power.

If a leader akin to Sani Abacha were to rise in Nigeria, would we, the Yoruba, still have the courage to speak out against injustice, corruption, and nepotism?

I know that after this is published, there will be backlash, as there has been in the past. But these attacks will not deter me like water off a duck's back. Some of us must have the courage to speak out, not just for today but for tomorrow. We must not pass down a legacy of complacency, ethnic baiting, or blind loyalty to future generations. This is not the heritage Awolowo and his contemporaries left to us, nor what Wole Soyinka exhorts in his writings and activism. It is not the lesson taught by Tai Solarin, Gani Fawehinmi, or the many others who inspired our generation of activists.

Leaders are not always wrong, just as agitators are not always right. However, the right to voice one's opinions must be preserved in any democracy, especially one that seeks progress. As Soyinka so powerfully reminded us, "The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny."

Babafemi Ojudu (CON), distinguished senator, veteran journalist, ex- presidential adviser and one of the last standing disciples of Chief Obafemi Awolowo breaks his silence and speaks to Nigerians

After three days of nationwide protests over bad governance in the country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has scheduled to address the nation on Sunday.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, announced this in a statement, on Saturday. The spokesman said the broadcast would hold at 7am.

The Protesters had requested that the President address the nation on the many demands they have laid out. 

There is so far no insight into what the broadcast will contain and it is doubtful that Tinubu chose to address the nation because the protesters said so. However it provides him the opportunity to address certain troubling issues areas in his government and it’s activities. 

One of the areas that has received condemnation Is the oil sector which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. Incidentally the President superintends over the sector since he doubles as the Minister of Petroleum. 

The poor handling of the newly completed Dangote Refinery by government officials has opened a can of worms and exposed the administration to criticism. 

While he is not likely to return the subsidy regime which he abolished on his inauguration on May 29, 2023, he may use the address to make a far-reaching pronouncement on the nation’s energy policy. 

So far his promise to return the nation’s refineries to operation has not been kept.

The unwieldy size of his administration is another area that has engendered disquiet. Many people expect that he may address the need to tinker with the size of his government and cut down on personnel costs.

Tinubu nominated the highest number of Ministers in the history of Nigeria at a time the nation’s economy is at its worst.

The third area is his ineffective fiscal policy that has engendered hyperinflation and made the prices of goods, especially food, to skyrocket. With an unprecedented inflation ratio of 34.19 in June, driven by more than 40 percent food inflation, the country is reeling as people find it difficult to feed themselves.

The poverty level in May 2023, when this government came on board and before the dramatic price surge, was 38.9 percent, with an estimated 87 million Nigerians living below the poverty line. Only India presents a worse record.

The reason for the significant price jump is the macroeconomic policies of the Tinubu administration, especially the removal of petroleum and electricity subsidies and the implementation of other neo-liberal economic policies, such as the floating of the naira. 

These have led to higher costs for power and fast depreciation of the naira, both of which have aggravated the country’s economic challenges and caused widespread social discontent. 

The options open to the government, fiscally, are limited. It could either continue with the ongoing reforms and policies or go back to the pre-Tinubu years when the government was paying unwieldy petroleum subsidies and operated the dual forex exchange system..

Although the Tinubu administration has not come clean over petrol subsidies, which it pays through the backdoor, the option of reversing the policy on petroleum subsidy is not feasible, practical, or sustainable. 

The petroleum subsidies bill under President Buhari ballooned such that between June 2022 and his last day in office in May 2023, to over N3 trillion for subsidies, most of which were likely stolen through government corruption.

It appears the most important driver of inflation is the depreciation and instability of the naira, even more so than the high cost of petrol and electricity. It is one area that needs to be revisited. 

The government has tried to cushion the effects of its harsh economic policies with certain safety nets, all of which have so far proved defective. While Institutional corruption has claimed his Minister of Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Betta Edu, he has not introduced any other effectively policy of cushioning the effects of his policies on the people.

Finally, he has rum one of the most expensive administrations, approving humongous amounts for projects that most Nigerians regard as not crucial or people focused.

Among them is the completion of the Vice President’s residence with a whopping N21 billion, the renovation of his Dodan Barracks Lagos guest house with N5billion and the purchase of new Presidential jets. 

There are so many areas that need attention. However, it is expected that he may take a cue from recent public disapproval of some policies to make amends.

Fellow Nigerians,

I address you today not because you people have been calling on me to speak to the citizens of Nigeria. I am not doing this because some of you have been making noise on the streets of Abuja, Lagos, and Kano. Such behaviors do not move me. I am the Jagaban. Nobody pushes me around. Iro! If you don’t know who I am, go and ask them in Lagos. I can rule Nigeria for eight years without holding a single press conference or speaking to Nigerians in a live broadcast. Heaven will not fall.

I make this exception today because I sent my Vice President out to calm you all down, only for him to call the people protesting idiots. Let me make something very clear. I agree with my Vice President that all of you protesting on the streets of Nigeria are idiots with nine fingers. The only respect I will give to you is that I won’t stand in front of you and count your nine fingers. Of course, it is not out of fear but simply because you are beneath me. I am the Jagaban. If you don’t know who I am, go and ask them in Lagos.

Out of the goodness of my heart, I took a break from enjoying Amala and Ewedu as my brilliant brother, Senator Akpabio, is doing to come and speak to you. Let nobody complain if I say anything you do not like. The last time I spoke live to the nation, I said, “Oil subsidy is gone.” Fourteen months later, we are still dealing with the consequences of that sentence. Still, you all are crying for me to speak. Alright, here is the speech as written for me by Bayo Onanuga. I did not add or remove anything from this speech. I am a doer and not a talker. I am the Jagaban. If you don’t know who I am, go and ask them in Lagos.

Just as my Vice President said, you all protesting out there, wasting your sweat and lives, are idiots. If you were not idiots, you should praise us for raising the minimum wage from 30,000 Naira to 70,000 Naira. That is over 100% increase. I am an American-trained accountant. I know my arithmetic. Where in the world have you seen such an astronomical increase before? Stop converting it to dollars to see the difference in value between May 29, 2023, and today. You no dey chop dollars for Nigeria. What is important is that it takes care of the increase in the price of 50kg of rice from 40k in 2023 to 100k today. It leaves 10k for your family to go to the movies and have a good time. I deserve a thank you. Instead, what I am getting is this lousy protest. Don’t get me angry, people. I am the Jagaban. If you don’t know who I am, go and ask them in Lagos.

What have I not done for you people? I found N30 billion in these hard times to establish a student loan scheme for about 2 million students in Nigerian universities. I had to get some of the money by cutting off some essentials needed for the office of the First Lady and in the home of my Vice President Kashim Shettima. Because of you, we only spent N25 billion on his house, using an inferior Italian jacuzzi instead of the originals. Is that fair? And some of you wondered why we didn’t let journalists into the VP’s house, the people’s house, during the opening ceremony. He ended up with a VP townhouse with a town hall different from Abu Dhabi – Kuala Lumpur.

For those of you gossiping that I do not deserve a new plane, I have news for you. I bought it already. All talks in the National Assembly are just to fulfill all righteousness. And there is nothing that any of you can do about it. I didn’t check the price before I bought it. I am not used to such a poverty-induced lifestyle. I cannot come and die because you people begged me to rule you and save you from the government of illiterates and poorly educated fools. That I am letting the poor breathe does not mean I should let them go mad in the marketplace. Am I making myself clear?

It will take ten years after my eight-year tenure before the benefits of my incredible vision for Nigeria become clear. If you doubt me, go to Lagos and ask them. There has been no governor in Lagos since I left who had any need to think to succeed. They just follow my template and become successful. Those who tried to step out of line got the Ambode treatment. So, the benefit of what I am doing today in Nigeria will become apparent when David Umahi becomes Nigeria’s president after eight years of Shetimma. I am the Jagaban, and I can tell you for free, “You can’t eat a good banana without its peels.”

Why am I even wasting my time talking to you all as if I give a hoot about people who are an ungrateful bunch? I gave you local government autonomy. It is the greatest gift since fried akara. Do you know that you can now hold your local government chairman responsible for Fulani herdsmen who destroyed your farms and for your husband who cannot perform in the oza room? No more pointing accusing fingers at me, the Jagaban. My job as president is back to what the framers of our fantastic 1999 constitution designed it to be – attending conferences abroad and helping negotiate new loans for Nigeria until we meet the debt-to-loan ratio that is respectable for a country of 200 million people. Again, I am the Jagaban, and I can tell you for free, “I study them and strategically execute them; my detractors discuss my success and failure because they have nothing to execute.”

I cannot end this speech without expressing my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives during the unnecessary protest. They are now fathers “of a mother of a child when the child is childless.” I hope they will learn to stay home when they reincarnate, just like the Igbo people did. I love my Igbo people. If you think I bribed the Igbo people by signing the South East Development Commission into law, you just wait and see what next I will do for them. I am about to release their illustrious son, Nnamdi Kanu, to reward them for being good boys and girls while the rest of you dance naked on the streets. As someone who once said, I did not believe in one Nigeria, I can tell you that “creation is always more difficult than destruction; greed is easier than greatness.” I am the Jagaban. If you do not know me, go and ask them in Lagos.

Before I go, let me tell you, ignoramus, what bad governance means. Bad governance means going after Yahaya Bello for N80 billion allegations against him when I know he will work hard for my reelection, which is just about two years away. I heard some of you complain that corrupt people are ministers in my government. Again, that shows how politically naive you all are. You sometimes need a seasoned thief to do the job of catching a thief. For those who say that my economic team is second-rated Lagos boys who lack international gravitas, I say, shurrup. Why is it difficult for blockheads to understand how the world works? I am the Jagaban, and I can tell you for free, “If you want me to do something for you, line up in an orderly manner. Then I can share my peanuts.” Didn’t you see Dangote as he lined up in an orderly manner? He got what he wanted – crude oil in Naira. Reno Omokri, Daniel Bwala, Femi Fani Kayode are all lining up orderly. They will soon get their peanuts.

Alright! This speech is already too long. You all can now go to sleep. Cuddle your mothers if you are scared or hide under her bed. If you are hungry, follow my wife’s example and take a hoe to a farm and till the ground. You can make your own eba or garri or beans or dodo. I don’t want to hear again that you are hungry. I went to Chicago, where I planted. That is why I am eating now. “You cannot reap when you did not sow. You can’t eat corn when it’s maize you planted.” Sogbo? But if you want to remain a church rat, be ready to eat poisoned Holy Communion, for that is all that your senseless protest is. You have to sweat if you must lay a golden egg. Again, I am the Jagaban, and I can tell you for free, “We inherited speaking in tongues from the Bible, but our diversity is a promise for prosperity.”

May God bless all those who understand how hard I work daily to transform Nigeria into the miracle I performed in Lagos, which I singlehandedly turned into the 5th largest economy in Africa. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Senator Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

President

Federal Republic of Nigeria.

…Governor appeals for calm in statewide broadcast

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, has vowed to ensure protection of lives and property of citizens of the state in the wake of the planned nationwide protests over current economic situation in the country.

Governor Oyebanji said Nigeria and its people cannot afford “another massive destruction of our economic base” as witnessed during the #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of many private and government infrastructures.

Addressing the people of Ekiti State in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday morning, the Governor expressed concern that the planned protest has the potential to degenerate into violence and reverse his administration’s steady progress to shared prosperity.

Governor Oyebanji, in the address which was broadcast across all radio and television stations in the state, clarified that while his administration is not averse to free expression of opinions and displeasures over socioeconomic issues, it strongly believes that it should be after due consideration of the overall security implication of such a protest.

Acknowledging the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and the right to air views freely, Governor Oyebanji argued that “a protest should be conducted under a peaceful atmosphere without recourse to any violent disturbances to other citizen who also enjoy inalienable right to unhindered movement and life.”

The Governor pointed out that he has the primary duty to ensure the security and wellbeing of the people at all times as the Chief Security Officer of the state noting that security agencies will be on high alert and will not allow anybody to destroy Ekiti’s good image as a peaceful and progressive State.

He appealed to the residents of the state not to fall into the agenda of individuals “who might just be interested in wreaking havoc while pretending to be fighting for the interest of the ordinary people.”

While contending that protest, violence and destruction of lives and property can be counterproductive, the Governor said “a lot of fifth columnists are trying desperately to weaponize the current economic crisis for their own destructive agenda.”

Recalling the havoc wreaked in Ekiti during the #EndSARS protest of 2020, Governor Oyebanji disclosed that some public buildings, infrastructures and assets are still in ruins nearly four years after they were savagely vandalized by protesters with government struggling to repair or replace them.

According to him, “nothing much will change by blocking roads and prevent distribution of goods and services, instead, it will aggravate poverty and sorrow and will also worsen the situation as it did in 2020 when we had to slip into deeper economic recession as a result of the combined effect of COVID 19 pandemic and the #EndSARS wanton destruction of economic infrastructure across the country.”

“Multimillion naira businesses were completely ruined and the owners destroyed forever. Till today, the Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency’s store room and other government institutions remain in ruins because of the arson and looting that were visited on the State by retrogressive elements masquerading as protesters.

“Many of our silos which serve as national strategic reservoirs for food and seedlings were burnt, looted and vandalized. Government is still struggling with replacing or repairing these infrastructures, even in the face of scarce resources,” the Governor said.

The Governor appealed to parents, guardians, traditional rulers and religious leaders to appeal to the youths not to submit themselves to those he referred to as “evil merchants who want to use them to cause violence in our state as protests can easily be hijacked by hoodlums.”

He stressed “that no matter how peaceful a protest might seem at the beginning, no one can predict its eventual dynamics and its ending.”

The Governor also used the opportunity of the broadcast to assure the people o the state that efforts are on to ameliorate the current challenges relating to food price inflation and high cost of transportation while also ensuring that the provision of welfare packages to workers, retirees and other citizens.

He added: “It is for this reason that we have undertaken different palliative measures across the State to many of the eligible people based on different criteria for each batch.

“Indeed, we are not in anyway deluded that food handouts will be the magic bullet to end the food related inflation, more and abundant production of foodstuff is the golden bullet to fight food poverty and government has put in place various measures to ramp up food production in the State through the Ministry Agriculture and Food Security and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“It is in the realization of this, that we are investing in an unprecedented level, in agriculture. We are supporting our farmers to increase their capacity in production through clearing and ploughing of land in thousands of hectares.

“The second phase of the land clearing is about being concluded. We are not only clearing and ploughing for our farmers, we are also providing them free and subsidized seedlings, fertilizers and other farm implements.”

President Bola Tinubu is monitoring the #EndBadGovernance protests across the country, Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, has said.

For the third day running, Nigerians have been out on the streets, demanding reversal of fuel subsidy removal and other policies they tagged anti-masses.

The protest have degenerated into violence in some states, with more than 40 persons killed, according to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

Human rights activists, public commentators, politicians and other stakeholders have asked Tinubu to address the nation.

In a statement on Saturday, opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Tinubu’s silence was worrisome.

“It is worrisome that President Tinubu could remain silent as Nigerians are on the streets demanding for good governance, protection, security and welfare, which are the primary purpose of government, Debo Ologunagba, spokesman of the PDP said in a statement, on Saturday.

However, when he featured on a Channels Television programme, Bagudu, said the president is well aware of the situation and keeping tabs.

“Mr President has been monitoring the situation, as he ought to. Very responsibly, and alert. I am a minister. I also have responsibilities. I have also been monitoring this thing. I have been noting this thing so that I can make inputs.”

“We have been monitoring and listening carefully to hear what is being said and what noting them.”

[DailyTrust]

Police operatives have fired teargas at protesters at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.

Moments earlier, the protesters had engaged in a congress, allowing protesters of different ethnicities and tribe to air grievances and make demands on the government.

However, policemen fired teargas at the protesters, who on sighting them, sat on the floor, singing solidarity songs

Details shortly…..

[Nation]

Alex Beard, the former chief executive director of Glencore, a British mining and trading group, has been charged to court in the United Kingdom, over alleged bribery in connection with oil contracts in West Africa.

Beard, a British billionaire businessman, was charged alongside four former employees of Glencore.

The others are Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga, and Martin Wakefield.

In a statement published on Thursday, the UK’s serious fraud office (SFO) said the five Glencore employees have been charged in “connection with the awarding of a range of oil contracts variously spanning Cameroon, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast from 2007 to 2014”.

The SFO said Gibson and Wakefield have also been “charged in relation to the falsification of invoices to Glencore’s London office marked as service fees to a Nigerian oil consultancy from 2007 to 2011”.

The hearing of the case has been scheduled for September 10 at Westminster magistrates’ court.

Speaking on the development, Nick Ephgrave, director of SFO, said bribery damages financial marketers, adding that it causes lasting harm to communities.

“Today’s action is an important step towards exposing overseas corruption and holding those who are responsible to account,” Ephgrave said.

Glencore was involved in oil contract deals with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other oil corporations in West Africa.

GLENCORE’S BRIBERY COURT CASES

In May, the federal government said Glencore is expected to pay Nigeria a $50 million penalty for bribery.

Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation, had said the resolution was reached after the federal government entered a settlement agreement with the British firm.

In May 2022, the United States department of justice said Glencore, and its UK subsidiaries, entered into multiple agreements to purchase crude oil and refined petroleum products from the NNPC through shady deals.

In Nigeria alone, the department said, Glencore and its subsidiaries paid more than $52 million to the intermediaries, intending that those funds be used — at least in part — to pay bribes to Nigerian officials.

In the same month, the trading firm agreed to pay about $1.5 billion in total to resolve investigations in the US, United Kingdom, and Brazil — of which $1.06 billion was payable to agencies in the US and Brazil.

Glencore had pleaded guilty to five counts of bribery totalling $26.9 million, which was paid “primarily to officials in state-owned oil companies” in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.

The company also admitted to two charges of failing to prevent bribery over payments of approximately $1 million to agents in Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan, to secure “valuable oil contracts”.

[TheCable]

The controversy around women’s boxing at the ongoing Olympic games revolves around the participation of two athletes, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, who had failed gender eligibility tests in the past. These two have long competed as women, but were disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failure to meet “eligibility rules”. But the current Olympic organizers got that reversed. The rest, and the fallouts, remain an onfolding world drama today.

In the following dialogue between Celeste and her friend, Jasmine, take up the twin issues of sexual orientation and gender confusion.

Jasmine: I would like to start today’s discussion by saying that we are no longer sure who is a man or a woman. Gender switching is going on; and this is all being promoted under the LGTBQI+ movement. What is one to make of growing same sex relationships?

Celeste: What I think is going on is that we are no longer in touch with our true essence as human beings today. It goes beyond what is generally called the global gender crisis, one aspect of which is the widespread promotion of gay relationships. For the sake of clarity, perhaps we should start by you explaining to me what the term LGBTQI+, which you mentioned, means. 

Jasmine: Yes, that is very important.

Celeste: It stands for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and others. The acronym is even sometimes written as LGBTQIA, to include asexual groups, where ‘queer’ is an umbrella term for non- straight people.

Jasmine: But we all grew up knowing gender to refer to the two sexes. That was before the term got expanded to cover many things that do not fall under established ideas of male and female. That is the problem for us today, as far as I am concerned.

Celeste: Of course, it is to some of us. Think, for instance, of those who say that they are Pansexuals, that is people who could be sexually attracted to animals, little children, or whatever catches their fancy at any point in time.

Jasmine: Pansexuals?

Celeste: Yes. And all these now-freely-advertised sexual orientations, like the Asexual, Polysexual, Agender, Bi- gender, Ecosexual, Intersex, Androgynous, Gender Fluid, Non-Binary, Gender Queer, Transspecies, Transaging and Transable, are demanding the right to freely exercise their sexual preferences.

Jasmine: All of that? Please what do all these categories you just referred to mean?

Celeste: Polysexual refers to anyone who is sexually attracted to more than one gender including the unconventional, then there are the Bisexuals who are attracted to regular male and female, while Agender are people who do not identify themselves as belonging to any particular gender at all. The latter are different from the Bi-gender, who are sexually attracted to two genders outside the Cisgenders.

Jasmine: Just a moment, what do you mean by Cisgender? You used the term just now.

Celeste: Cisgender refers to people like you and me.

Jasmine: But we are perfectly normal people. How do we come into the gay movement?

Celeste: We are not part of the gay movement; I beg your pardon! People who are deemed to be men or women in the traditional sense at birth and who also have no problem seeing themselves as such, like you and I, are said to be cisgender men and women. Cisgender is the opposite of transgender, ecosexual and all the others.

Jasmine: I see. That is good to know, before one is surreptitiously smuggled into some strange classification, or association. Now what is the ecosexual one you just mentioned?

Celeste: These are people who are sexually attracted to the earth, nature or the ecosystem.

Jasmine: People who are sexually attracted to the earth, nature or the ecosystem?

Celeste: Yes! They may use sex toys and materials inspired by nature. They could also have sex with the earth, in the belief that they are helping to heal it of natural disasters and diseases. There are also even some people who believe that they are animals imprisoned, or incarnated, in human bodies.

Jasmine: Now, that is silly!

Celeste: But they are perfectly serious about it. And they are different from the Intersex, and ‘hermaphrodite’ have male and feminine characteristics combined into an ambiguous form.

Jasmine: Male and female characteristics combined?

Celeste: Yes. This may be due to birth defects caused by mutation, inappropriate medication or other causes. Some of such cases can be corrected by surgery; usually with the dominant sexual characteristics retained.

Jasmine: Well, that is good to know.

Celeste: But some promoters of the LGBTQI+ agenda are against such surgery, insisting that such people should be identified as intersex and allowed their ‘rights’.

Jasmine: But what could possibly be the cause of all this? I mean both the strange conditions and the mindset of those who promote them.

Celeste: First there is the simple matter of medical impropriety and natural birth defects; which must also invariably have their roots in the karma and spiritual history of the people concerned. But that is a matter for another day.

Jasmine: Well, I suppose so. But, for now, let us continue with the various sexual orientations of what I consider a depraved world.

Celeste: Yes, let us continue. Did I mention cases of people who feel that they are of a different sex, even though they are born as another?

Jasmine: No, you did not.

Celeste: Oh, there are such people and they are referred to as cases of Androgyny. They are different from the Gender-fluid, who do not identify themselves as having a permanent and fixed gender.

Jasmine: Quite frankly, this has really gotten out of hand!

Celeste: The terms Non-binary and Genderqueer are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to people who prefer, or appear, not to be exclusively masculine or feminine at any time. They are also different from the Transspecies, who claim preference for anything whatsoever that catches their fancy.

Jasmine: Some people want anything, not just any person, that catches their fancy?

Celeste: Yes. Then you have those called the Transaging, who claim to feel younger/older than their actual age and wish to be recognized and associated with their age of choice. 

Jasmine: Wow!

Celeste: The transaging are also different from the Transracials, who wish to be associated with, and be recognized as belonging to, a race other than the one into which they were born. These are still different, yet again, from the Transable, who are physically able people that choose to be associated with any particular disability they are attracted to.

Jasmine: But this is outright insanity making the rounds! What could possibly be responsible for all of this, I still wonder? What do the people pushing for a reclassification of human beings really want? Why are they pushing back on everything we know and causing what, to me, is unmitigated confusion everywhere?

Celeste: The right question, perhaps, is: what are the hidden forces behind these people and what do we see them doing? Is it all part of the events of the Last Judgment, or not? Are these things the manifestations of many spiritual issues that the people trying to deal with them do not understand? 

Jasmine: The forces behind them? What forces? These people are just low-grade social nuisances that should not be taken seriously.

Celeste: I am not so sure about that, Jasmine. You can see that there is an upsurge of evil everywhere. There is also confusion about right and wrong, all over the world. So, the global sexual orientation crisis and gender crisis is only just one dimension of the avalanche of strange ideas confronting human beings everywhere. 

Jasmine: It is?

Celeste: Yes, it is! 

Jasmine: But the entire thing seems so well mapped out, well planned, well- funded and is being pursued with great singleness of purpose. 

Celeste: Yes. All resources are flowing to those operating on the fringes of normalcy. Look, Jasmine, the spiritual foundations of our current problems, as well as their implications for our future here on earth, should be the most important concern of everyone now.

Jasmine: Is there a specific meaning, or special significance, to all that is going on? I mean, what does the Last Judgment got to do with it?

Celeste: It seems to me that the pressures of the Last Judgment is forcing many things out from their hiding places to face the Ray of Judgment.

Jasmine: I just don’t know what to say right now, Celeste. Please continue, I would like you to recap on how this whole thing is presumed to be leading all human beings astray.

Celeste: When people are made to redefine what makes them human, what makes them male, what makes them female, they are already on the path to something they do not know yet. But one of the things that will follow is that they will turn all values on their heads. 

Jasmine: Oh yes, that is a very likely consequence.

Celeste: Once that happens, the difference between right and wrong will also become nebulous. Anyone who does not know right from wrong, and who does whatever he likes in the belief that he has every right to do so, is clearly operating in the realm of official insanity; but without knowing it. Such a person is also, thereby, replacing the Will of God, who created everything to function in a certain way, with his own human will.

Jasmine: Indeed! But, sorry to still take you back to the sexual orientation issue, how do people hope to achieve such a no-mean feat of making us all to accept their aberrant doctrines?

Celeste: The matter is an intricate one. In fact, we can describe it as a ‘project’ that is designed and structured to succeed on a grand scale, as a global agenda. Let us make this, as well as other spiritual dangers of this period of the Last Judgment, the subject of a fresh discussion.

Jasmine: Are you sure?

Celeste: Trust me, Jasmine, there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. So, do we defer the discussion to another day, when we shall have enough time to really dig into it?

The above dialogue, prefaced with the raging Olympic controversy, is taken from my coming book in The Dialogue Series titled; ‘Signs of the Last Judgment’.