Renewed Shege: The crushing reality of Nigeria’s ‘Renewed Hope’, by Suleiman Hassan Gimba, Esq

Renewed Shege: The crushing reality of Nigeria’s ‘Renewed Hope’, by Suleiman Hassan Gimba, Esq

After eight gruesome years of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, Nigerians must have felt a bit of relief. No one, they thought, could be worse than the man who inherited Goodluck’s wiltering heaven and turned it into seventh hell. Tinubu’s message was simple yet mesmerizing, it said little yet promised so much. We are not a people in love with the complex, so the simple was enough. We are not a people in love with much talk, no matter how sensible, so the little shouts of “APC”, “Emi Lokan” and all that seemed enough.

But what truly gave him his slight victory was that word that has been dashed many times for Nigerians by military coups, June 12th and currency redesign, that Tinubu sought to renew – hope! (Renewed) Hope bigger than any they have ever had since the return to democracy at the turn of the century. (Renewed) Hope that President Tinubu was going to have the easiest job of all the presidents the country has ever had. (Renewed) Hope that the President’s task is simple – be better than the worst president Nigeria has ever had.

Since the ill-advised removal of subsidy and the subsequent floatation of the Naira, hopes no matter how well polished and anew have faded. He has become the “Suffocator”-in-chief of the poor he wanted to see breathing. He has not only failed but has become the “uck” in Nigeria’s dwindling “luck”; the “dent” in “president” and an onomatopoeia for disappointment! His mantra has been rephrased to “Renewed Shege” on X to better reflect what his government has shown Nigerians, intended or not.

It started from his first day at the helms when in a blind adherence to World Bank policies he announced that “Subsidy is gone.” He later floated the Naira to compete with the dollar only to deflate our foreign reserves to defend the free-floating (or is it the free-falling?) Naira. This attempt of stabilising the volatility in the forex market failed woefully like the attempted rebirth of Nigerian Air. I haven’t since a meeker attempt since Lai Mohammed tried to make NTA compete with CNN.

The country currently produces only 1.3 million barrels per day of crude oil due to uncontrolled militant activities in the Niger Delta. With crude oil proceeds contributing two-thirds of the Federal budget, states are getting less and less allocation from the Federal Government, pushing a whopping 63% (and unfortunately, still rising) of Nigerians into abject poverty.

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But this is not where the problem ends. Gen. Yakubu Gowon famously asserted that Nigeria’s problem is not money but how to spend it. That may be true in our heydays, but Nigeria’s problem today is money and what to do with the little we have. The country is purchasing two presidential jets for the president and vice president, for millions of dollars, so that they can fly to the world and tell them we may be poor, but we have “steeze.” The “steeze” doesn’t end there, the VP also got a new, shiny 21 billion Naira house. I hope it comes with an airstrip to house his jet.

All these came as the promise of distributing 42,000 metric tonnes of grain remains unkept. Tinubu has catastrophized food security when they thought he would renew their hope against hunger. Truly the African man didn’t lie when he said, “he who counts the bits of food he swallows is never satisfied.” While Nigerians may not have food to eat, they have food for thought – Hon. Gudaji Kazaure stated that Nigerians will not eat bridge, now they would bewondering if he lied. Tinubu seems determined to fight their hunger by making them eat road. N15.6 trillion Naira worth of road unilaterally awarded for the Lagos-Calabar highway.

Then there are the lawmakers, wasting what is left from the Executive’s armada. Like vultures, they wait in the shadows, feeding on what is left of the once proud giant of Africa. This has recently come in the form of exotic cars worth billions of Naira, to be purchased by taxpayers of course because the floor members are trekking to the office. Also, because the principal officers only have bicycles. Jokes aside though, I think the legislators value their humongous salaries and allowances so much that they can’t waste it on cars that they don’t need. Prudent businessmen, they are!

Away from the excesses of the elite, negotiations for a new minimum wage, necessitated by Mr Presidents tear-it-all-down approach to the economy, have lingered. While planned strike by organised labour has been abated, it is only a matter of time before his insulting offer of a minimum wage breaks the camel’s back.

And Nigerians have cast judgment. It is not just the sheer number of changes they are irked by, there hasn’t been the slightest indication that those changes were inspired by a cogent plan A, let alone a B to pacify Nigerians. We are simply driving too fast on D4 but moving in reverse, motivated by the driver’s nihilistic ignorance of Nigeria’s socio-political landscape as curious eyes watch. For some, it’s catharsis; for others, entertainment. For this writer, it’s horror. What is it for you dear reader?

Suleiman Hassan Gimba, Esq, writes from Abuja.

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