The Insight by Lateef Adewole
It is exactly a year and a month today since that outburst in Abeokuta, Ogun State, by the then presidential aspirant on the platform of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The word that reverberated across the land in that whole scenerio, which has now become ‘spiritual’ because it happened to be a self-proclamation, self-confession and self-affirmation, is ‘Èmilókàn’ (it’s my turn). In the heat of the party’s presidential primary and the high-wired shenanigans that surrounded it, Tinubu, in a desperate bid for survival, went for broke.
On that faithful day, mounting the podium, with the knowledge of all the schemings being orchestrated against him and his ambition by some elements in the party hierarchy and the ‘cabal’ in the presidency, he voiced out his frustration by calling them out. He recalled how he was instrumental to the ascendancy of the then sitting President Buhari. He said: “If not me that led the warfront, Buhari wouldn’t have emerged. He contested the first time; he lost. He contested a second time and lost again. He contested a third time and still lost.” Sincerely, this English translation of what he said in Yoruba did not do justice to it. Another word in that outburst that went viral was “ó lulè”, translated as “he lost”. The depth of the meaning was lost.
Many couldn’t believe their ears. For a political aspirant to the office of the president to boldly speak, in manner that would be considered condescending to a sitting president in Nigeria, where they are treated like a ‘god’, was unexpected. Only a man desperate and ready to damn all the consequences could do such. Ironically, while many people felt that action was the end of his ambition, it was the turning point that changed the game.
Those scheming to outwit him must have realised the danger of forcing Tinubu out of the race with the imposition of a contrived consensus candidate. Tinubu went further in his tirade: “the country is made of the north and south. The north has had its turn with President Buhari, who will complete his eight years in 2023. Now, it’s the turn of the south. This time, it’s Yoruba’s turn. And it’s my turn (èmilókàn).” This had turned out to be prophetic. At that time, he was speaking with regards to the candidate that the party should present. But, its reach eventually transcended party level to the general elections. And it has come to pass. Ever since, ‘èmilókàn’ has become a ‘prayer point’ in Nigeria that is full of religiosity, with various versions evolving.
This ‘spirit’ was resurrected this Thursday when Asiwaju Tinubu, now as the president of Nigeria, paid a thank you visit to where it all started. The president first went to Ijebu-Ode, in Ogun state, to attend the annual ‘ojude oba’ celebration that followed the celebration of the Muslim Eld-il-Adha festival called “iléyá” in Yorubaland. It is an annual event that attracts people from all walks of life, across the country and around the world, not only who are indigenes, but non-indigenes alike. It’s an elaborate festival.
Tinubu had audience with many top traditional rulers in their palaces within the state. He visited the Awujale of Ijebuland, HRM, Oba Sikiru Adetona. He also visited the Akarigbo of Remoland, Adewale Ajayi, in Shagamu and the paramount ruler of Yewaland, Kehinde Olugbenle, in Ilaro.
At the palace in Abeokuta where he met with the Alake of Egbaland, HRM Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, President Tinubu expressed his appreciation to the king and people of the town. He recalled his famous speeches in the town, one of which was the “èmilókàn”. There was the second occasion, in Abeokuta too, after he had won the presidential ticket, and going into the main election. Those who were against his ambition never stopped despite that he has won the ticket. They changed tactics.
Just few months to the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Nigerians began to experience serious hardship with sudden acute fuel scarcity. This caused pains and resentment against the ruling party APC. As if that was not enough, the wicked cash confiscation policy was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Nigeria voluntarily took their old notes to banks to be exchanged for new notes, only for them to be stranded. The banks refused to give them money.
Many Nigerians had never experienced such a thing previously in their lives. It was hellish. Many lost their lives in the process. Who would bear the political consequences of all of that? The peoples’ anger was directed at the ruling party APC. The leadership of the country, which belonged to the same party cared less. Were they orchestrated to jeopardise the chances of their presidential candidate, who then was Tinubu?
This was what led to the ‘Abeokuta Outburst Part 2’. On January 25, Tinubu resurfaced in Abeokuta and threw the second ‘bomb’. He said: “We will use our PVCs to take over government from them. If they like let them create fuel crisis, even if they say there is no fuel, we will trek to vote. They are full of mischief; they could say there is no fuel. They have been scheming to create fuel crisis, but forget about it. Relax, I, Asiwaju, have told you that the issue of fuel supply will be permanently addressed”.
“Whoever wants to eat the honey embedded in a mountain won’t worry about the axe. Is that not so? And if you want to eat palm kernel, you would bring stone and use it to break it, then the kernel will come out. Let them increase the price of fuel, let them continue to hoard fuel, only them know where they have hoarded fuel, they hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win, even if they changed the ink on naira notes. Whatever their plans, it will come to naught. We are going to win. Those in the PDP will lose”.
This turned out to be another saving grace for him as it exposed the dirty dealings going on underground. It was a sort of ‘enlightenment’ to the public who eventually saw that he was the victim and that the people were being needlessly punished through the biting fuel scarcity and the naira shortages to hurt his chances at the poll, by turning the general public against his party APC, on which he was contesting. That won him sympathy and more supporters. Rather than the people going berserk, they started echoing his “e ba gb’epo pamo, e ba gb’owo pamo, a ma d’ibo, a ma wole”, just like the “èmilókàn” slogan. All that is in the past now as he went ahead to win the presidential election. He has since been sworn-in and leading the country in the last 31 days.
Now that “his turn” has been given to him, what next? The last one month has been eventful. It is needless to be discussing what has happened so far. What interests us as a people now is what has not happened. Like many would like his supporters to calm down with the accolades, citing that his government is still too young and it is too early to celebrate. Why I may be guilty of same, being his staunch supporter going into both the primary and the general elections, against all odds, I must have been caught off guard.
While it is true that I believed and expected Tinubu to perform far beyond the previous administrations, I never expected the quick successions in which many things happened. As a practitioner in the Oil and Gas industry, my biggest concern for him has always been how he would go about removing subsidy. I had thought he might be forced to continue paying it for political correctness, which would have been the end of Nigeria.
So, that he made immediate pronouncement as to its already planned removal from the budget, which led to the removal eventually, shocked me. The manner the anticipated fallout was also managed impressed me. Same was done about the criminal arbitrtage going on within the forex management of the country that has existed for decades. His speedy suspension of the governor of the apex bank, followed by the removal of the head of the EFCC, were all so sudden and too many to process at the same time. This was why I couldn’t have not praised him.
However, as a person, I have many expectations of him. Only that he has started on the path of meeting these expectations. The first responsibility of government is the welfare of the people and protection of their lives and properties. It is very obvious that the decisions made so far have grave consequences on the welfare of the people, even when they were for the overall interest of the country. The jump in the price of petrol from previous N185 per litre to as high as N550 per litre, in some parts of the country, has resulted into prices of goods going through the roof.
The time it also happened is a critical one. The Muslim festival was just held and the effect of those decisions were seriously felt. From people’s inability to travel home because of very high transport fare, to their low key celebration due to limited financial resources that were confronted by skyrocketed prices of items required for the celebration. Things were so expensive. Many had to resort to the affordable alternatives. If killing ram was impossible, people killed fishes! These are difficult things Nigerians have to endure, ‘in peace’. That is a sign of good faith from the people. The government should not take that for granted, so, cannot afford to fail them.
As it is his turn now, let the people start seeing that that turn is for their good too. Like the Yorubas would say “enu ti won fi so pe ade gun, ni won fi n so pe ade o gun mo.” Let the president not listen to those who might be telling him all is well, out of sycophancy. No, it is not so. People have only resolved to give him a chance, seeing that he seems to be sincere, means well, knows what he wants to do, how he wants to go about doing them, and what he is doing. We hope he will never derail.
As the country resumes from the festival break, Nigerians await what next he will be doing, going forward. The immediate expectation from the president by the people is to see him form his cabinet. We want to see the quality of the people he will populate his government with. This will show us how serious he is, the direction he is taking and what we are likely to expect. Many believed he must have been working assiduously about it. This is his forte. He is known to have keen eyes for talents. No one has been able fault the appointments he has made so far, in term of quality, and balancing for national cohesion. This has endeared him more to the people, even those who did not support him during the elections.
The subsidy removed is a good thing for the country. There is no basis for any crooked government official or civil servant to pilfer away our collective resources in the name of criminal subsidy payments anymore. We saw how the volume being declared quickly went from 66 to 41 million litres per day. This figure is still questionable. A conservative daily consumption estimate should not be higher than 30-35 million litres per day.
Another part that is suspect is the price template. Even as a practitioner in the sector, I have not seen the template as to how the NNPCL arrived at the current pump prices they recommended to their retail outlets, which have remained the benchmark for all other major or independent marketers. Moreso, NNPCL is still responsible for all the petrol imported into the country till now. Licences were just issued to other private investors to begin importation. So, how did they arrive at that N488/L in Lagos?
The president, being a former ‘oyel man’ too, needs to scrutinise this template. This is to avoid importers and marketers exploiting the general public by padding the cost elements, especially now that there is no more ‘awoof’ subsidy. NNPCL management must be made to be transparent and accountable in their pricing. They are supposed to serve as the benchmark to other importers. They cannot be found wanting. A more transparent arrangement could see price go further down.
It is easy to make promises. Fulfilling them is the hard part. We can only hope that our “Renewed Hope 2023” will not be dashed again by politicians whose stock-in-trade is speaking with their tongue in their cheek. President Tinubu has been fortunate to attain his highest dream so far and life ambition, which he pursued for about three decades. No past Nigerian president got to the position through being ‘ambitious’ for it. It always fell on their laps. Those who were ‘desperate’ to become the president of Nigeria never got it. So, Tinubu is the first president, who wanted to be president, pursued it and got it, by working for it. He broke that jinx.
Therefore, to whom much is given, much is expected. Even if it was not all the citizens who voted for him, he won because those who chose him were in majority when compared to those who voted for other candidates. They are still Nigerians and we all have high expectations from him. We continue to pray that God gives him long life in good health, knowledge, wisdom and understanding that he will need to navigate the ship of this country to safe destination and greatness. We cannot afford not to get it right this time around.
May God continue to protect us and guide us aright.
God Bless Nigeria.
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July 1, 2023.