Politics
Protests: Tinubu’s Real Troubles Are Just Beginning – Farooq Kperogi

Published
8 months agoon
By
Ekwutos Blog
In light of his planned astronomical hike in petrol prices euphemistically called “subsidy removal” in 2023, which his opponents also promised to implement and caused Nigerians embrace as inevitable and desirable, I foretold the imminent social convulsion that is gathering momentum across Nigeria now.
“I can assure Tinubu that if petrol price hikes deepen people’s misery, he’ll have a tough time governing,” I wrote in my April 29, 2023, column. I followed this up with more than half a dozen columns on the same theme.
When you remove subsidies from an all-important product like petrol that literally regulates every facet of life in a country like Nigeria, which also has the dubious honor of being in perpetual competition with India for the status of the world’s poverty capital, and then follow it up with a massive devaluation of the national currency even when the country is hopelessly import-dependent, you unleash existential demons that compel vast swaths of people to choose between life and death.
False assurances that the mass agony in the country is only temporary, or that the pains people are grappling with are mere precursors to future gains, or even that there is light at the end of the tunnel only aggravate people’s angst. There are two reasons for this.
One, most people know that based on past experiences in Nigeria (notably during IBB’s ruinous SAP, which Tinubu merely repurposed and renamed) and elsewhere in the developing world where the IMF and the World Bank dictate economic policies, there has never been a single example of these sorts of pains ever transforming into gains for the masses of the people.
Second, people outside the circles of power and privilege realize that the pains are being borne only by the poor.
Tinubu, for example, bought a new presidential jet worth millions of dollars even before the spineless National Assembly had a chance to rubber-stamp it, as is now their wont, among other profligate expenditures amid a biting economic downturn.
People who are visiting darkness on the poor in the name of a deferred light at the end of the tunnel are glowing in incandescent bulbs of illumination. And the people are intelligent enough to know that what awaits them at the end of this disconsolate tunnel isn’t light. It’s an inferno. It’s a dreary snake pit of doom and gloom.
When people come to this realization, no one needs to “sponsor” them to protest. The pangs of hunger they feel is sufficient to sponsor them to protest. The sensation of hopelessness that overcomes them is a bigger motive force for protest than the political machinations of any politician.
But even if it’s true that opposition politicians are taking advantage of the mass discontent in the country to cripple the government and delegitimize it for their self-interest, that’s not illegal. It’s an intrinsic element of democracies for opposition parties to seize on the missteps of incumbents to displace them.
President Tinubu is in power today precisely because he mastered the art of instrumentalizing the missteps of incumbents to advance his political aspirations. As recently as 2012, he “sponsored” a disruptive protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan that led to the deaths of protesters—for precisely what he is doing to Nigerians now.
No amount of persuasion or financial inducement of traditional rulers, religious clerics, union leaders, or activists will get people to make peace with needless suffering occasioned by a self-centered, hard-hearted implementation of vicious economic policies that snuff the life out of the people. Even if the planned protests are aborted, the predictable is only being postponed.
The only way Tinubu can retain legitimacy and earn the trust of the people is to reverse the deep, stinging hurt his policies have caused to the vast majority of our people. People are no longer interested in progress or the renewal of hope. They just want Tinubu to take them back to where he met them, which was not an enviable state. And that’s not too much to ask.
In a February 10, 2024, column titled “Hunger Protests: Why Tinubu Can’t Govern Like Buhari,” I said the spontaneous, hunger-induced eruption of seething communal anger in Minna, Suleja, Kano, and Osogbo were “a warning sign” that Tinubu couldn’t afford to ignore. He ignored it.
He is probably following the Buhari template of enacting unpopular policies and relying on the blind support of his worshipers to shield him from the consequences of his actions. But Tinubu has no such following, and I am glad he doesn’t, which is why I would hate for someone like Peter Obi or Rabiu Kwankwaso to be president.
They are political cult leaders with unthinking, fanatical followers who lose their damned minds if you as much utter the mildest critical remark about their gods, however factual it may be. Like Buharists, they have abdicated their senses to their political gods.
I reproduce here a portion of the column to remind Tinubu why he can’t benefit from the kind of immunity Buhari enjoyed:
“Had the current president been Muhammadu Buhari and not Bola Ahmed Tinubu, chances are that the worst that would happen amid the adversity people are going through now would be suppressed, barely audible murmurs. It’s because Buhari is a political cult leader with a firm grip on his followers who worship him and surrender responsibility for their lives over to him. Tinubu has no such appeal.
“A psychologist by the name of Steve Taylor came up with a concept he called ‘abdication syndrome,’ which he said disposes people to invest total, child-like trust in a political figure, a cult leader, an opinion molder, etc. in ways that mimic how children idealize and idolize their parents as unblemished paragons of perfection.
“According to Taylor, ‘abdication syndrome stems from the unconscious desire of some people to return to a state of early childhood, when their parents were infallible, omnipotent figures who controlled their lives and protected them from the world. They’re trying to rekindle that childhood state of unconditional devotion and irresponsibility.’
“Buhari is lucky to benefit from abdication syndrome in Muslim northern Nigeria, broadly conceived, which explains why he got away with murder for eight years. When he increased petrol prices by a steep margin in 2016, for instance, there were protests in Kano, Bauchi, and other places in SUPPORT of the increase and AGAINST people who planned to protest the increase. Nigeria had never seen anything like that before.
“Even protests against the unabating descent of northern Nigeria into a theater of bloodshed and abduction on Buhari’s watch provoked counter protests from people who have abdicated the use of their brains in the service of Buhari.
“Tinubu not only does not have the benefit of abdication syndrome anywhere in Nigeria, but he also has the misfortune of having to contend with a peculiar character of Muslim northern Nigeria: we feel the pain of, and react violently to, bad policies only when the policies are hatched and executed by people who have no filiation with our natal region.
“It’s no surprise that the hunger protests against the Tinubu administration started from and spread in the North.
“A powerful indication of Tinubu’s lack of firm emotional support base emerged when Osun, his state of birth where he lost the last presidential election to PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, became the first southern state to join the hunger protests. Should the resistance to his punishingly heartless neoliberal economic policies ignite a nationwide convulsion, the Southwest is unlikely to constitute itself as his bulwark.
“In fact, I hazard a guess that should Tinubu’s unfeeling policies activate the sort of destabilizing national upheaval that we saw in 2012 during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the Southwest won’t be aloof. It is likely to join in.
“And, of course, Tinubu is deeply unpopular in the Southeast, the South-south, and Christian northern Nigeria. In other words, Tinubu is essentially floundering into the most treacherous of social quicksands.
“His only fortification against danger is not just good governance but compassionate governance. The release of thousands of metric tons of grains is a good first step, but it’s not nearly enough to stem the tide of mass rebellion that is brewing in the country. At best, it will only delay the inevitable.
“The truth is that Nigeria can’t survive a total withdrawal of petroleum subsidies without an adequate, systematic, well-planned public transportation system. To do away with petrol subsidies, the government must first create conditions where car ownership and patronage of commercial transportation are a luxury.”
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Violence, Police Collusion As Alleged Ukachukwu’s Thugs Block APC Accreditation In Awka.

Published
1 hour agoon
April 5, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Anambra State descended into chaos on Saturday morning, as thugs allegedly loyal to aspirant Nicholas Ukachukwu, in concert with police officers, violently disrupted the delegate accreditation process at the Beautiful Gate Hotel, Awka.
hotel gate had reportedly been taken over by suspected Ukachukwu’s private security operatives and suspected thugs, who, with apparent support from police personnel on the ground, began preventing accredited delegates without Ukachukwu’s campaign identification from accessing the venue.
Politics
Soludo clinches APGA ticket unopposed for Anambra guber

Published
2 hours agoon
April 5, 2025By
Ekwutos Blog
Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state, has been officially nominated as the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the upcoming governorship election.
Soludo, who was returned unopposed, secured over 3,000 votes in the primary held on Saturday at the Ekwueme square, Awka.
Voting took place across the 21 local government areas of the state, where delegates were asked to cast a simple “yes” or “no” vote.
“Total delegates for this election is 3,260; 3,175 were accredited; 3,172 total votes cast, with four invalid votes,” Uche Nwegbo, chairman of the electoral panel, said.
“The governor received 3,168 yes-votes and no no-votes. By the powers conferred on me, I hereby declare Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as the candidate of our party.”
Soludo accepted the nomination and assured party members of continued development in the state.
“I want to say that I am humbled by this historic display of solidarity to be able to raise the flag of our party again, and I want to say that I accept this nomination wholeheartedly,” he said.
“Anambra keeps rising with the progressive leadership that we have had through APGA, and I will continue to appreciate the leadership of the party.
“I appreciate the members of our party and the INEC observers. I do not think that we have ever had this kind of peaceful election where everything was orderly and in one hour everyone was able to cast their votes.
“In 2021, Anambra interviewed all the candidates and employed me, and all through the journey, three years down the line, you have been able to give us support. That is why we have been able to do what we do, which people say is magical. We are doing this without borrowing one Naira, and I know we will continue to do even more, and we continue to ask for your prayers.
“We are only at the introductory stage; Anambra has not seen anything yet. I appreciate the citizens and captains of industries who have been supporting us, and we will keep growing higher and higher.
“I appreciate the support groups, especially all that endorsed us for a second term. They are still coming up with more donations to the campaigns, and I thank those market women who are still eager to donate to our campaign. Many political parties have declared support for us, and never in Anambra State have we ever had a consensus like what we have today.
“When I took oath of office, I promised not to let Anambra down, not to let my supporters down, not to let my family down, and not to let APGA down. We are working 247 to ensure that. Many people have said we do not have any opposition, but I say that we will not only win all 21 local governments but also the 326 wards. Someone said we should even aim for all the polling units in the state. We want to make a statement.”
Soludo said would retain Onyeka Ibezim, the deputy governor, as his running mate for the November 8 election.
“In 2017, I gave a lecture which I titled ‘If it is not broken, why mend it’, and it became popular. Today, I want to say that I am renominating Dr Onyeka Ibezim as my deputy governorship candidate for the election. If it is not broken, why mend it? I want to say that the battle has only begun,” he added.
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BREAKING NEWS: Chief George Muoghalu emerges the flag bearer of the Labour party.

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Chief Muoghalu is expected to slug it out with Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo popularly known as Solution master who had earlier been declared the flagbearer for the All Progressives Grand Alliance for November 8, 2025 Anambra State gubernatorial election.
we await the outcome of the All Progressives Congress’ primary election results.

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