By: ‘Seye Akanmu-Bode
COUP DE POINGS DE POLITIQUE
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu was in the news last Monday when he attended the Chief of Defence Intelligence 2023 Annual Conference in Abuja. It’s a settled matter that Nigerian politicians speak from both sides of their mouth, but I never knew Ribadu had joined such club of ignominy. I will come to this shortly. Just like Fela sang in ARMY ARRANGEMENT, ” … but Shagari don talk before na empty treasury he met for there…” , it was the turn of the NSA to cobble his own elegiac ululations. I thought former media aide, Femi Adesina gave Nigerians the title of “wailers”, I am sure he now knows who the cap fits truly!
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There are many issues surrounding the Ribadu speech, first , why did an NSA saddled with security matters dabble into economic matters that he knew little about and falls outside his mandate? Second, when did Ribadu realise that the government he serves inherited a ” bankrupt” country and that ” we are facing very serious budgetary constraints”? Who bequeathed a bankrupt country to them? Certainly not Buhari that Ribadu ( as reported in Premium Times of September 22,2018) had sung his hagiographies with the statement that the former had ” changed the face of conducting government business in this country…it is a common consensus that Nigeria is today a different place on account of the leadership being provided by our dear president”!
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He gave this eulogy to Buhari when he was in Yola campaigning to be Governor of Adamawa. Such is the Janus -faced Ribadu who’s no more the moral face of integrity. His lack of integrity is not only because he just accused the ex president of bankrupting the country, it’s more of the fact that Nigeria had witnessed an unprecedented recession during that time, but because he needed PMB’s support, he had to give such embellishments to an undeserving ex president.
Bob Nesta Marley in TIME WILL TELL sang, ” … thinking you’re in heaven but you’re living in HELL…” It’s an understatement to say that Nigerians are living in Apaadi, a Yoruba word for hell( fire), and rather than focus on bringing the country out of the current situation, launching into jeremiads and surrending to overwhelming economic and financial crises seem to be the preferred tactics. As if choreographed, the president at the same time who was out the country gave his ” empty treasury” lamentations.
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Just as Robert Southey wrote in his book, THE CURSE OF KEHAMA, ” curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost”, I knew the braggadocio of President Bola Tinubu would soon peter out for convenient platitudes as ” empty treasury” . This is a president that had long claimed he was not going to make excuses as he knew the task before vying for the office. He has his immediate predecessor, PMB to ape. The latter spent his first 4 years wailing on ” kwarruption” under the PDP.
It’s very easy to engage in trivialities of scapegoating, but Ribadu must accept the facts on ground. PMB left inflation at 22.41% , it’s at 26.72% at October, with a projection by Stears of a spike to 30% in December! The APC in 2015 took over an economy with inflation at a single digit, but mismanaged it with blame games to an unprecedented height never seen in the last 2 decades!
Successive PDP presidents also faced economic challenges but they never made life hellish for the poor masses. The APC came and started singing as if they faced what no presidents ever faced. PMB told us to suffer now and enjoy later, he left after 8 years with more miserable standard of living.
Then came BAT who had campaigned on bringing down the price of PMS, same product he caused its price to be hiked with his infamous and tactless ” subsidy is gone” speech! An aftermath he has failed to contain. BAT can’t blame PMB for his own unforced errors. EX president of the United States, Barack Obama tamed the Great Recession he met in office when the US economy was on the brink of catastrophe. Obama reintroduced some stability and the economy steadied. Nigerians didn’t vote the president to give excuses, in fact, we celebrated the exit of PMB because we knew how kakistocratic his government was. Only only for us to find out that we just booked our passage to Apaara!
Jimmy Carter faced similar economic crisis in 1979 with inflation above 13%, rather than give the US voters undying optimism they are used to, he opted for the easy way out with his ” malaise” speech same year, saying that the US is suffering from a crisis of confidence ” that strikes at the very heart and soul of our natural will”. He was booted out of office after just one term , to be defeated by Ronald Reagan who obviously came more prepared.
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The ulalating President Tinubu and Ribadu should quit their jeremiads and focus on steering the economy out of its rudderless state.
‘Seye Akanmu-Bode is a Political Scientist and author of the book, Ukulele 2023 Electoral Process: ISSUES OUTCOMES AND BEDLAM.
