Nigeria @63: Truth is gone… Just like subsidy

“Before you marry a widow, you must first find out what killed her husband.” This proverb from the eastern fringes of the African continent is apt, regardless of how much it has been re-worded by gender activism or chauvinism. Its meaning leaps at everyone including those who try to twist and turn it. Before you take the plunge to marry that eligible widow, you must first find out what killed her husband… if you did not know already. Indeed, these and several other words of wisdom from many parts of Africa are easily digestible. And to further ease their consumption, the Igbo have spiced the words in several ways and advised that proverbs are the oil with which we masticate and swallow words.

However, in a lot of times and situations, there have been signs that the Nigerian electorate appears to be under a kind of spell. We donot seem to heed the words of the elders when elections and candidates, like the beautiful widow, are available. They put a spell on us, as sung by Nina Simone − and we cast our senses away. When the electorate desires the hands of an available widow in marriage, we seek and find what killed her husband; we clearly see the signs, ominous or otherwise; discern them and willfully ignore the dangers. Afterwards, we begin to cry in regret. We have begun this ugly cycle again and, as Nigeria marks 63 years of Independence, I had an interesting encounter around this.

“Sunday is Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary. What will President Bola Ahmed Tinubu tell us like this? Or, is he not going to address the nation at the anniversary of our independence from Britain?”

These questions were splashed all over me recently like I was some kind of a grey area aide of President Bola Tinubu. When it got clear to me that I am the owner of the questions, I thought I had been mistaken for a close aide of the president, or one of those people that know and can tell everything that is happening in his government. For a few moments, I was riveted at the spot where the question had met me. Confusion and reflection both fought for a space in my head. I’m just a journalist who is as confused as every other puzzled Nigerian. How do I become the one to answer questions like those? In the flow of my thought, I also considered the age of the man who had thrown the questions at me. I did a quick rumination on our previous interactions and his once effervescent, renewed hope.

Is Baba joking as he is wont to do? If he is not, why is he this serious today? Is everything okay at home? He, ordinarily, is a jolly man and often a good, incisive fellow. But he was dead serious and demanded an answer. His unusual countenance momentarily threw me off-balance and made me to question my knowledge of his political views and sundry assertions. Yet, I had to say something.

All the while, in the depth of my being, I was arranging an answer in my head. I have to produce a response for him. It has to be the type that would not further aggravate the awkward situation and injure my journalism reputation. It is easy for journalists and journalism to become the victim of the inadequacies they report. I also considered our relationship and the respect I have for the man. Yet, I know nothing about the government of Bola Tinubu to tell him beyond what we have all read or heard in the news. The government has said so much in several aspects of our economy without really saying anything about the situation of the country. It looks like the government being run by President Tinubu, as claimed by Sam Levenson in his book, “You Don’t Have to be in Who’s Who to Know What’s What”, is “shaking hands with a clenched fist like the Greek.”

He continued: “He told us on May 29 that ‘subsidy is gone’.  He said it without any previous plan on how to go about it. That has become the biggest trouble ravaging both his government and the Nigerian economy on the one hand, and the Nigerian people on the other. This careless pronouncement has killed many businesses and many others are in the throes of death. He is either too arrogant to take the words back or too unconcerned to make amends where they are obviously necessary. Now, we are hearing that subsidy is being paid through the back door. Is he paying those whom he said were stealing from us all or the so-called faceless thieves? Tinubu and his government, so far in this sector, are acting haphazardly like a hurriedly assembled football team. In fact, I will say the team is running helter-skelter all over the pitch. On this, I’m highly disappointed in him. What is actually the truth about petroleum subsidy payment in Nigeria, Sam?”

Truth? My senior friend wants to know the truth about petroleum subsidy from me? He served as an accountant in the public and semi-private sectors and retired honourably after 35 years and still does not know? He now needs the truth about accounting − in (of all places) Nigeria’s petroleum industry − from one obscure, irrelevant, struggling journalist in Ibadan? Haba, Baba!

He was not done. “We have also heard the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal. He has accused the Federal Government of secretly negotiating with bandits. If they could negotiate with the kidnappers of those university students, they would negotiate other forms of deals. That would also mean that communities affected by banditry can negotiate their allegiance. They can salute the flag of the bandits to live or salute the flag of Nigeria and die. And to think that the government was doing this bypassing the state governor is indeed a serious matter! Is that not what the governor said? So, what has changed with this government now? Or, is it also too early to effect changes in how we were doing things in that area or how the criminals were doing things with us?

“Lawal is the governor of the state from where the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, comes from. Bello Matawalle is actually the immediate past governor of Zamfara State. He left the office as governor of Zamfara State only on May 29, 2023. If there was synergy and cooperation and unity of purpose, would we be hearing all these? Well, I understand that the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, is from Jigawa, a state that has been dubbed as ‘The Island of Peace’. If they call Jigawa State “the island of peace” because it has been immune to banditry and all that, does it not mean that it is surrounded by troubled waters? They should know. TheZamfara governor accusing the Federal Government of negotiating with bandits is a lot. I think there is more to it. Have you not read about all that, Sam?

After his questions, I felt what the elders feel when they are stuck in a mental fix. The Yoruba will say “Ogbóntánní’ núàgbà, ó kuhùn.” When the elder comes to his wit’s end, he exhales deeply. That was my situation. There are more questions than answers as sang by Johnny Nash.

“Baba, subsidy is gone… just like the truth”, I said. He agreed with me. Buhari left us in economic, social and security lurch. We are still writhing in the agony Buhari left us in but we are being lectured on the gains of his administration. His former aides, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina, are now, as it was back in government, labouring hard to purify Buhari’s odiferous eight-year tenure. I told him what I have as the opening sentence of this opinion. That is how I have always viewed it. We always see trouble and we always deliberately walk into it. We give reasons for doing that and ask questions after. We are not ready for change.

My elderly friend and millions of other Nigerians want positive change in the Nigerian situation. It can start with reasonable planning and genuine assurances. I also want such assurances of a better Nigeria. We also all seek the truth. However, I do not know where we would get them from. At Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary, is there anything new we are looking forward to hearing from the president? What new will Tinubu tell us like this?

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