Politics
Opinion: Bólèk’ájà Party Primaries, By Lasisi Olagunju
“You heard the commanding voice of Senator Bola Tinubu last Thursday demanding the presidency of Nigeria as a matter of right. “E gbé e fún mi/Èmi ló kàn (Give it to me; it is my turn).” That scene, complete with all the finger-pointing ‘thingfication’ of a sitting governor inside his Government House, reenacted what the conductor did on lorries of the past.”
Bólèk’ájà means ‘come down and let’s fight’. If you lived in Yoruba land of 1970s with its wood-bodied passenger Bedford and Austin lorries, the slang wouldn’t be strange to you. Sometimes, the push for a fight came from the scruffy lorry boy; some other time, it was a bad passenger who wanted a fight in the gutter – or right there on the dusty road. The come-down-let’s-fight challenge might lead to the real thing or it might end a mere bluff and bluster to silence the impudent. But, in both cases, it served to inject some excitement to the capricious life on the road and its insufferable tension.
You heard the commanding voice of Senator Bola Tinubu last Thursday demanding the presidency of Nigeria as a matter of right. “E gbé e fún mi/Èmi ló kàn (Give it to me; it is my turn).” That scene, complete with all the finger-pointing ‘thingfication’ of a sitting governor inside his Government House, reenacted what the conductor did on lorries of the past. Irreverent children of comical remix soon hijacked that “èmi l’ó kàn” battle cry. They’ve weaponised it and it is trending and unraveling an aspiration that has cost decades and billions to erect.
I do not belong to Bola Tinubu’s the-king-does-no-wrong crowd. When some old friends asked me not to share the career-threatening social media remix of his bad outing of last week, I told them that the owner of Lagos himself loves dragging others; his butt knows neither age nor reverence. He would share those stuffs if it was his next-door rival that was in this raging storm. His politics knows no good and bad; what it knows is the ultimate end of his “life-long ambition to be president of Nigeria.” The trending ‘Emi lo kan’ mash-up of Tinubu gives us a reason to smile amidst the devastations of today’s misgovernance. So, why should I not laugh that a cook is getting baked in his own oven? Chinweizu, iconic literary critic, addressed this issue 38 years ago: “There comes a time…in the affairs of men and of nations when it becomes necessary for them to engage in bólèk’ájà criticism for them to drag the stiflers of their life down to earth for a corrective tussle.” That is what the memes are doing right now. We should enjoy them before the next one is created at today’s convention of the ruling party.
It doesn’t rain in Nigeria; it pours. After overlord Tinubu’s portentous demand for the crown came his party chairman, Abdullahi Adamu’s outburst on Saturday. The leader condemned the national leader; he said Tinubu did the unthinkable: he insulted untouchable Buhari. “It must never happen again,” Adamu warned. I listened to Adamu’s foaming response and wondered whether it was not an unnecessary overkill; a completion of the bólèk’ájà construct of that party of commotion. He particularly promised to punish the Lion of Bourdillon. I gasped. Six years ago (2016), there was a video of Tinubu dancing to the beats of a local band. It was during that year’s Iléyá festival. The accompanying song made a lot of political sense, so he danced with gusto: “Òpè ni wón o, won ò mo nkankan/Àjànàkú yo l’ókèrè, wón lo m’oré dání/Erin kojá eran à nf’òpá lù…(They are neophytes, they know nothing/Ajanaku struts out at a distance, they went for canes/Elephant is more than an animal you beat with sticks…).” Headmaster Adamu needs to go and watch that video and study the body language of the man he wants to beat like an errant school boy. But I do not blame Adamu; I blame Tinubu. When an àgbàlagbà (elder) ties corn to his agbádá, he becomes the pecking victim of chickens.
I watched Abdullahi Adamu’s threats and felt like abusing him in defence of Tinubu. But I reasoned, what is my own in that family feud? Tinubu should be clear on why he ate what he ate – the fúra that is giving him the trending constipation. If you live in harmony with God’s reason for your existence, you won’t go stray into the snare of the world’s fowler. That is what has happened here to a man who thinks he is surer than fate. May we not be too big to think the eyes of the earth are fitting stool for our beaded feet. Ìwà rere l’èsó ènìyàn (good character is man’s adornment). Good character has properties; arrogance is not one of them. Greed is not. The principles of Ìwà contrast sharply with a life of clutter and entitled gluttony. Chaos, frustration and failure are natural outgrowths of non-alignment with the foundational principles of Ìwà. The big man, Tinubu, lamented that for over 25 years, he had served his boys; he called them ‘àwon omo’ (children). I suggest he reads Sara Berry’s ‘Fathers Work for Their Sons: Accumulation, Mobility, and Class in an Extended Yoruba Community.’ The book is an anthropological account of cocoa farming in my and Tinubu’s part of Yoruba land. It is about kinship as investment and about what Dwayne Woods, a reviewer, describes as the “perpetual restlessness” that makes people move from old fields to new ones. The fathers in that book did not regret or complain about the service they rendered as fathers. And the sons were good too; they did not undermine their father. It is tragic that all the field commanders whom Tinubu kitted up for this day are on the side of the enemy. But with him they share hubris and whatever he suffers they will suffer.
You’ve seen how the PDP did its 2023 primary thing. You are seeing APC’s ‘Anointing Oil’ politics with its Bólèk’ájà counterforce. The grand finale starts today. It will be Soyinka’s ‘A Dance of the Forests’ with Dead Man, Dead Woman and Half-Child and all other characters to, once and for all, settle their unfinished business. In all these, let me ask: where is the face of deliverance for the hungry and the ill in unlit cities and villages? Evil appears to have triumphed in Nigeria. It is not as if God has stopped creating good people. They may exist in the country but they are silent (or silenced), resigned and lethargic. Lethargy means “a lack of energy and enthusiasm”; it also means “deep inactivity.” Thomas Jefferson, author of America’s Declaration of Independence, in a 1787 letter described ‘lethargy’ as the “forerunner of death to public liberty.” We’ve almost lost it completely here. Jefferson’s American project has been a success because its conscience is not clogged by a complicit culture of silence and inactivity. Here, everyone is scared or bought. The price is high.
Let us go back to Tinubu and his eruption. Was he wrong to say that the presidency is not for the North alone? He was very right; no one could fault him on that. Perhaps, that was the real reason Adamu was very angry. Why should anyone be angry because of that basic truth of our nationhood?
There is a man called Babachir David Lawal. He used to be Nigeria’s Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) until his friends yanked his fingers off the soup pot. His enemies call him ‘the Grasscutter’ and that is because, as SGF, he awarded multi-million naira grass-cutting contracts and got caught. The case is still in court. Like Adamu, Lawal spoke in response to Tinubu, particularly on this North thing and what it could do if southerners continued to say stuffs bigger than their mouths. Lawal is (or was) a loyalist of Bola Tinubu. He was unhappy that his favourite Yoruba man misgoverned himself in Abeokuta and said political power was not the birthright of the North and that it was the turn of the Yoruba – and his turn – to be president. Lawal felt that this Sango miscarried his baby. So, the ex-SGF forgot their friendship and came out firing as an enemy: “When Yorubas vilify the North like this, our sense of fear and insecurity under a Yoruba presidency gets heightened and in the end, pushes us to rethink our support for not only Bola (Tinubu) but any Yoruba as president for that matter.” Errant, promiscuous fruits always invite stones to their mothers. Lawal did not stop at the bashing of his friend and benefactor; he had to extend his insolence to every living Yoruba man. He thinks the northerner is the only one with unconditional rights to Nigeria’s presidency; anyone else who claims it is a threat. But Lawal himself is a butterfly calling himself a bird. He is a Christian from Kwambila village in Adamawa State. Can he ever be president of Nigeria under the present unjust system? He is more marginalized and disadvantaged than the Yoruba man that he threatened.
I enjoy discussing Nigeria and its politics with one man I have not met in person. He is from the North. My northern friend insists he is not Fulani; he says he is Hausa. But he believes so much in the North and laments its multifarious illnesses and diseases. He thinks, however, that the permanence of the North’s headship of Nigeria would cure it of its afflictions. Amidst wars and rumours of wars shaking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), my friend would ‘try’ me with a torrent of WhatsApp messages last week: “Let me ask you this…. Do you think power going South is in the interest of the North? We need to be in power to develop our region. You southerners have a strong diaspora population to leverage to fund development in your region. Out of $25 billion remittance from abroad, 95% goes to southern Nigeria. We are very backward and underdeveloped. Catching up with the South is a near impossible mission. You have more wealth per capita than us. May be something like 1:100. Just look at that report on industrial production. Lagos and Ogun account for 98%. By the time you add other southern states, you will have 99.999999%. Where is the economic justice?”
The words were clearly provocative, but I observed that my northern friend was very calm and deliberate in composing and sending his message. It was a direct proposition of slavery. The Ijesa of Yoruba land would say: “orí mi má je kan bè mí l’ébè ìyà (may my head not let ‘them’ beg me to come and suffer).” Wooing a man to come and live in slavery is alien to my part of the world. In a ping pong manner, we played ball with words. I told him the presidency residing in the north for a million years would not make any positive impact and that it would remain a curse there unless they changed their ways. I told him: “Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to keep power beyond your allotted time. Even the British with all their wisdom and sophistication had to leave in 1960. You cannot punish the South for the effects of the choices you made with open eyes. Even as we speak, your people are still opposed to education. You and I know that the only antidote to poverty and underdevelopment is education. We see the effect in our individual lives. I blame you northern elites. You do not love your people. You use them.” My friend agreed that the northern elite are predatory and grossly irresponsible. He, however, added that “we can’t have peace and development when a large part of the country is left behind. A country is only as strong as its weakest part.” I agreed with him but asked why he wouldn’t agree with me that “every part of Nigeria could be made to work without injuring any other part.” My friend loves having the last word, so he said: “the truth is that if southerners want peace and stability in this country, they must get involved in building and developing the North.” Towards the end of last week in Lagos, I showed the chat thread to a friend, an editor with The Punch. He shivered.
And then, the news broke on Saturday night that the APC bloc of the Northern Governors Forum had endorsed the party’s ticket to go to the South. Imperial Buhari followed up with instructions that all the aspirants should go and reach a consensus on one of them before today’s convention. But as of Sunday morning, Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, were still waving the flags of their provocative ambitions. There were also immediate, sponsored plebeian protests against the governors’ position. What could all these suggest? Think. My friend’s reaction to that development was “I honestly don’t want this power to go to the south. We have many problems in the north which can be addressed only by a northern president.” I keep imagining how many of the well-read up there think like my friend. The discussion with my northern friend was a long one; it will likely continue this week after Muhammadu Buhari, Bayajjida II, must have chosen our next president for us.
Politics
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.
The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.
He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.
After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.
He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.
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The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.
Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.
The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.
Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.
“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).
“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.
“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).
“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.
“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Politics
Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe
Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe
Nigeria would have been better than what it is currently if Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had won the 2023 elections, the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said.
Abaribe, who spoke on ‘Politics Today,’ a Channels Television programme, on Monday, said Obi would not have been as nepotistic as the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“Number one, he would not be as nepotistic as this government; he won’t; it’s not in him. That is just who we are; we feel for the other people.”
The lawmaker called attention to Tinubu’s appointment of four ministers from Ogun alone, noting that many other states have just one.
“I say it, and I don’t think so. We are seeing it everyday. I just gave you one example. How can Ogun state have four ministers? Why does he favour Ogun state? Oyo state has only one minister,” Abaribe said.
”The nepotism of Buhari, which nobody followed, has now deepened under President Tinubu because Buhari did it, and nobody said much. I was the only person shouting.”
He said that rather than waiting for presidents to be fair to the people of the south-east, it is high time people of the zone went back to revamp it, make it more livable, better, and more cohesive.
“It’s obvious that if we continue to look at whoever becomes president, they will look at us and do us right. Apart from Obasanjo and maybe Jonathan, I do not think that we have seen that same type of fairness,” he said.
Politics
Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary
Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary
Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has been tipped for the seat of Lagos governor in the 2027 governorship election.
This was according to a video making the rounds on various social media platforms, which Peoples Gazette saw on Sunday.
The video highlights the president’s son’s biography, focusing on his education, career, and humanitarian activities as a Nigerian. It also documents his involvement in youth development in the country.
This biopic comes on the heels of some groups’ endorsements of Mr Tinubu’s son as a potential successor to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2027.
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On Tuesday, the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders issued an endorsement in Owerri, Imo, suggesting that the younger Tinubu would be welcomed to contest the governorship seat in Osun or Imo.
He was also endorsed by Friends of Seyi, a group emphasising his vision and intellectual wherewithal to govern the country’s commercial nerve.
APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, however, described the gale of endorsements as a ploy to undermine the president in a Facebook post.
“Who are these faceless people pushing Seyi Tinubu for Lagos governor? This is a needless distraction,” said Mr Igbokwe. “To pull PBAT down is their target. Ruling Lagos is not the job of boys.”
Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary
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