I have just read the full text of President Bola Tinubu’s New Year address, and I must confess that it is nothing more than a theatrical reel of empty words, attempting to mask the horrible mess that defined Nigeria in 2023. To say the least, he has proven to be a manipulative liar again.
Let’s go back in just a few paragraphs.
Firstly, the 2023 presidential election that saw PBAT into power, rather than marking a celebration of democracy and progress, marked the beginning of a carnival where all the attendant stakeholders invited masquerades from their villages to perform with whips. The invitation of these new players only added confusion to the chaotic situation already on ground, and the aftermath only revealed that if we really want to do evil, nothing can stop us.
Tinubu’s victory, declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, seemed more like a legal maneuver that it was than a reflection of the people’s will. We voted, they didn’t, but in the end, they triumphed.
Jagaban’s assumption of office in May 29 was far from a smooth transition. The ’emotional’ farewell of the former president (whom we thought showed us enough ‘shege‘ already) and the subsequent removal of fuel subsidy turned the nation into a pressure cooker of discontent. While the president used his dogs to explain why what happened happened, ordinary Nigerians are still grappling with the harsh reality of skyrocketing prices and economic uncertainty.
Of course, he, as the President, couldn’t complain. Why? He inherited it.
On the other side, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu‘s legal saga again shouts of the erratic nature of justice in Nigeria. Despite cries for his release, the Supreme Court’s decision sends him back to trial again and again. Someone said the judiciary is susceptible to political influence. It’s a stark reminder that justice is a commodity for the powerful, not a right for all.
The sudden death of Governor Akeredolu should be a wake-up call. Instead of addressing the systemic issues leading to such tragedies, Tinubu’s address CONVENIENTLY ignores the larger problems of healthcare and governance. The president’s promises for a prosperous 2024 are nothing but empty words in the face of the chaos we left behind in 2023.
Nigerians deserve more than a president skilled in rhetoric; they deserve a leader capable of addressing the real issues plaguing the nation with pragmatic responses.
We are being disillusioned.
We are a nation yearning for genuine change (even though we know your house is no longer a house of Change but of a so-called Renewed Hope).
Isn’t it a show of political comedy to now witness what stands in opposite to what we grew up knowing that it is the son who inherits from the father. On the contrary, in 2022, a ‘father’ who ‘helped’ his ‘son’ win an election interestingly rose up and declared, “It is my turn to inherit my son’s properties.”
The answer to how far this father in question is poised to go about overhauling the so-called ‘Properties’ and the inherently systemic failure in it is not yet handy. What we know that is available to us is the Mr President’s delivery of the same political rhetoric this morning, a vacuum of its own kind!
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