Opinion
By Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN,
I have carefully listened to and read President Tinubu’s national broadcast as regards the ongoing mass national protests. With all respect, the President’s speech appears vacuous, drudgery and full of a litany of government’s alleged interventions, but being completely devoid of any concrete answers to the many itemized demands by the traumatised youthful protesters. Aside this, he erroneously, as always, picked on imaginary opposition or political opponents who allegedly want to derail Nigeria. No sir. These are not sponsored protests. They are genuine outpouring of grief, frustration, anger, hunger, melancholy, hopelessness, haplessness and joblessness by the ignored and denied Nigerian youths who appear not to have a tomorrow since their yesterday and today have already ended been mindlessly stolen by rapacious elites and state captors who control levers of power at different levels. The blind can see; the lame can walk; the numb can feel: and the deaf can hear the grinding poverty and abject penury in the land.
However, in terms of decency of language and an apparent exhibition of understanding of the litany of problems besetting Nigeria and the empathy required by a president to address the urgent demands, President Tinubu appears to get it right; dead on target. He was not abusive, arrogant or grandstanding with narcissism and brinkmanship, factors that exacerbated the recent Kenya uprising. He looked apparently sober and pensive while addressing beleaguered Nigerians as “my fellow Nigerians”. Thus far, thus above average.
However, in terms of measurable panacea and solutions to assuage bruised egos and dashed hopes, or placate angry and protesting Nigerians who are daily suffering and groaning in the midst of government inertia, wastes, big government, big spending, opulent and primitive display of vulgar wealth by government officials, endless borrowing, white elephant projects, yatch, plane, SUVs, endless trips abroad, yawning leakages and official corruption, both apparent, real, visible and palpable, he scores miserably low. What will the youth take home after days of rage, tens of deaths, injuries, mental, physical, psychological and psychical lacerations and trauma, hunger, self-denial, brutality and high-handedness by state security agencies, I do not know. Or do you?
The government must stop blame game and like I advised serially this year alone, (https://leadership.ng/hardship-ozekhome-faults-tinubu-for-blaming-buhari-jonathan/), go back to the drawing board and dare think without the box, not merely outside the box. Blaming the Muhammadu Buhari government of which this same APC government is but a mere offshoot and successor is most illogical, indecent and inelegant. It insults our collective intelligence. It is like cutting one’s nose to spite his face; and (please, permit the obscenity or vulgarity ), it amounts to dipping one’s finger in one’s anus and smelling it. You will not expect to perceive Christian Dior, Gucci, Armani, Hugo, Versace or Chanel fragrances. It insults our collective intelligence. President Tinubu still has a chance to save Nigeria of what remains of a groggy, tottering, fumbling, dwadlimg and near crumbling country on the verge of imminent precipice. All hope is still not lost if he employs and deploys the right instruments of statecraft.
4th August, 2024
C.E.
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