By Bayo Osiyemi
This headline is not really original to me. It emanated from a common song usually rendered for Chief Dapo Sarumi in the late 80s when he emerged in Lagos to spearhead the challenge of the existing order then on “no more Baba so’ pe”; which was meant to question Lateef Jakande’s continuing domination of Lagos politics.
Whether that song was appropriate or inappropriate for the man to whom it was directed then is not the issue here but the essence of that song.
Today, given the harshness of this season on Nigerians, for problems which, in truth, are not of Bola Tinubu’s making, that song needs to be reharsed and rendered for Mr President:
“K’Oluwa maa so e,
O ti di f’Olorunso,
L’owo alaroka
Omo adamo,
Afi-bi-so-lore”.
Yes, as it is said in Yankees’ America, the buck stops on the President’s table, Tinubu has the unfortunate duty of having to carry the can for governmental mishaps that preceded his advent. Political missteps and bad judgements and policies of three or more administrations since the advent of civil rule in 1999.
If marks were to be scored from that time, Tinubu scored high as against the Obasanjo administration, the same way Jakande’s team of 1979 to 83 shone like a thousand stars against the profligate Shehu Shagari squad that ran the federal government till the military halted the drift in December 1983.
I do not have a peep into President Tinubu mind but I doubt if he would have ventured to run for the Presidency, if he knew things were this bad with the economy, courageous and daring as he’s known to be.
It’s very easy to say why can’t he quit now that he has seen the enormity of the problems.
Here, I disagree. To do so is for him to act as a coward, which he is not. Secondly, his quitting in the face of these gargantuan problems is to act against the Yoruba saying that “a kin ko s’odo, ka tun ma beru otutu”; meaning you dont make a deliberate plunge into the river and be frightened of cold.
In any event, what distinguishes a man of courage and honour from a lilly-livered person is where he stands at the moment of challenging crisis.
The man, like Awo, had for long studied Nigeria and the problems confronting her and should therefore not chicken out because of the enormity of the problems.
I say again that if he could riggle out of the stifling that the Obasanjo administration gave his government in Lagos between 1999 and 2003, the magic wand with which he made omelette without eggs, as it were then, could not have deserted him. I believe he is programmed to get this far by God to achieve success where others failed !
With just two years in the saddle, I believe he can still turn things around to ease the pain in the land. I therefore counsel for citizens understanding and patience.
And solving the plethora of problems confronting the nation, is not a one-sided affair. It calls for patriotism and sacrifice from both the government and the governed.
Government should lead by example, if a brilliant piece recently written in Thisday newspaper by Segun Adeniyi about an attitude of “ta lo ma mu mi” of which the federal administration is accused, is not to be taken as regrettably correct.
If Tinubu has had all the blessings God can confer on any human being, and therefore has no more propensity to want to tinker with the public till, what about his several officials at the executive and legislative arms.
If Tinubu can rein in some of his lousy officials whose utterances and ostentatious lifestyle, and curtail them, the citizenry should have self examination of what they are doing wrong that is unhelpful to meaningful development.
“Ebi npawa” singsong is not all Tinubu’s sole creation, afterall. The sellers across board, with insatiable appetite for maximum profit, are creating their own discomfort for fellow citizens through exploitation.
Also, when are those who have bled Nigeria blind, be imbibed with the Murtala Muhammed patriotism and repentance and turn over the excesses in their kitty to the state?
If we all resolve to do our bit to get the country back from the brink and stop heaping all the blames on Tinubu, as if he caused all the problems from Mungo Park and slave trade era, the better for all of us.
Finally, Tinubu has shown enough compassion for those he felt beholden to; those of them not performing to expectation or are busy greasing their palms instead of oiling for national progress, should be shown the way out. There are too many hidden talents out there to help Mr President succeed instead of being held hostage by a few selfish interests whose names are not being mentioned in blaming the head of the Nigerian government.
