Opinion
Irony Of Tinubu/Shettima Bishops
The drama and intrigues of 2023 began long before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the election timetable. The wave of politicians who were jumping from one political party to the other in the hope of improving their electoral fortunes was nothing new. In fact, is expected.
The Nigerian political drama series have a fixed timeline, and every four years a new season is released with never-ending twists and turns like Indian soap operas on Zee World; but instead of getting better, things are falling apart, and the centre is currently unable to hold.
The 2023 season of the Nigerian political drama served us a one in a lifetime episode last week; the setting was the Shehu Musa Ya’ Adua event centre in Abuja. And the event was the unveiling of the APC vice presidential candidate, in the person of Senator Kashim Shettima of Borno State. However, it was a low-budget episode that was poorly written; and the cast included people from a nearby motor park. To make matters worse, both the director and the costume designers did a terrible job; and as a consequence, the reputation of the main producer, Bola Armed Tinubu’s has been marinating in the mud since last week Wednesday.
The APC tried to plagiarise a line from the 1964 American musical fantasy film; Mary Poppins, directed by Robert Stevenson. The film had a song describing how a spoon full of sugar helps a bitter medicine go down. Tinubu and his APC knew that the idea of a Muslim – Muslim ticket, or Alhaji and Alhaji, as some persons called it, is a bitter pill for christians across the country to swallow. Therefore, to create a sense of acceptance by the Christian community in the country, Tinubu, Shettima, and APC hired some upcoming Bishops, according to the Director of Media Communication of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
The Shettima Bishops as they are referred to in some quarters were attired in a mishmash of orthodox vestments, particularly of the Roman Catholic Church. But Mr Onanuga lied or spoke out of ignorance when he used the term upcoming Bishops because there are no upcoming Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church. Aside from the Pope, Cardinals, and Archbishops, the position of a Bishop is the peak of a clergyman’s carrier. It could take as much as twenty years to become a Bishop in any orthodox church.
Nigerians are cognisant of various shades and categories of churches, and pastors, so they are not surprised. But APC’s deception and shame are already out in the public square. Their Bishop recruiting committee, because of endemic corruption was unable to pay some of the bishops the amount agreed when they met with them in their Motor Park Cathedral. According to one of the bishops, Joseph Odauda, who spoke to the People’s Gazette, that the APC promised to pay each of them the sum of N100, 000, but some of them received N40,000, while others got a paltry some of N30,0000 for their appearance.
Why was it necessary to deceive Nigerians? The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, chose political expediency over national unity; and his choice of a Muslim from the North speaks to the value, relevance, and capacity of Christian APC members of that region. It creates an unhealthy perception of entitlement for some, and subjugation for others.
Political elites and some religious bigwigs in the North are always trying to sell to Nigerians the idea that the northern electorate is a monolith, controlled by the levers of religion and tribe. This idea is mischievous and most unfortunate, because in some states in Northern Nigeria, there might be more Christians than Muslims. And in some other states, the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups might actually be in the minority. In fact, the use of the Hausa language as a lingua franca bellies the true nature of the demography of Northern Nigeria. That is the issue for another time.
The APC, by its action, is telling the Nigerian voter, particularly Christians, that they have no stake, or say in who rules this country; and that their sensibilities do not matter. Already, the average politically aware Christian must have come to the unfortunate conclusion that a win for the APC in 2023 would cement twenty-four years of Muslim rule. It would be unprecedented, and it might change this country forever. Even now, after only seven years of President Buhari’s administration, it is very hard to recognize this country.
The APC might have elected to field a Southern presidential candidate to beguile Nigerians into thinking that they are the party of equity. But Nigerians are not fooled. Their vault face was apparent to all when they delayed and severely postponed their presidential primaries because of the uncertain outcome of the primaries of the major opposition, PDP. Their duplicity was as clear as glass then.
Going by the performance of Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, Nigerians know that he will be multiple times better than President Buhari. But they are also aware that Buhari’s misrule and mismanagement of the economy in the past seven years have significantly dwindled Tinubu and APC’s electoral fortunes. Another note of caution for Nigerians is that APC’S presidential candidate is no longer the man he used to be, age has taken its toll on him. Even though no one knows exactly how old he is.
In APC’S 2023 presidential calculus, a Muslim – Muslim ticket seems the only variable capable of remedying the albatross of their eight years of misrule, and mismanagement of our economy and diversity. Nigeria is indeed a secular state; however, every aspect of our national life, including politics has a religious component. For instance, aside from Independence Day and Workers Day, all other national holidays are religious holidays of the two major religions in Nigeria, namely, Christianity and Islam.
Beyond public holidays, some Muslim groups led by MURIC are agitating that Muslim students should not be compelled to write national exams on Friday, because of Jumat prayers. In addition, every federal building, including all Central Bank offices across the federation has Mosque. Even though we are a very religious people, there was a time when the religion of the person in power never mattered.
Those were the golden years of national unity, when a Southern presidential candidate, a Muslim, could pick a Northern running mate, also another Muslim, yet win an election. That was in 1993, when MKO Abiola won the presidential election on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, with a landslide, with Baba Gana Kingibe, a Northern Muslim.
Nigeria is in the valley of the dry bones, with only a flicker of hope. Presently, the country is bleeding, and on life support, unable to breathe because of the nepotism, tribalism, and the unbridled religious sentiment of the current administration. But the party in power is applauding and giving itself accolades whereas the average Nigerian finds it difficult to feed his family with one square meal a day.
The pantomime Nigerians saw last wednesday was enough to show that another eight years of lies and deceit is loading. But Nigerians are now wiser, and votes are beginning to count, as evidenced in the off-season elections in Ekiti and Osun recently. Hopefully, in 2023, a consensus candidate representing every dream of the ordinary Nigerian will win.
By: Raphael Pepple
The line that separates betrayal and corruption is very thin. Betrayal and corruption are two sides of the same coin. Like the snail and its shell they are almost inseparable. They go hand-in-globe. Betrayal and corruption are instinctive in humans and they are birthed by people with inordinate ambition – people without principles, without regard for ethical standards and values. Looking back to the days of Jesus Christ, one of his high profile disciples-the treasurer, was a betrayer. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for just 30 pieces of silver. One of the characteristics of betrayers is greed.
So, when on resumption from his imposed suspension, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminilayi Fubara threatened to bring permanent secretaries who were found complicit in “defrauding” the State during the days of Locust and Caterpillar regime, he did not only decry a loot of the Treasury but the emotional trauma of betrayal perpetrated by those who swore to uphold the ethics of the civil service. Governor Siminilayi Fubara had least expected that those who feigned loyalty to his administration would soon become co-travellers with an alien administration whose activities were repugnant to the “Rivers First” mantra of his administration. The saying that if you want to prove the genuineness of a person’s love and loyalty feign death, finds consummate expression in the Governor Fubara and some of the key members of the State engine room
Some of those who professed love for Governor Siminilayi Fubara and Rivers State could not resist the lure and enticement of office in the dark days of Rivers State, like Judas Iscariot. Rather, they chose to identify with the locusts and the caterpillars for their selfish interest. Julius Caesar did not die from the stab of Brutus but by his emotional attachment to him, hence he exclaimed in utter disappointment, “Even you Brutus”. The wound of betrayal never heals and the scar is indelible. Unfortunately, today, because of gross moral turpitude and declension in ethical standards and values, betrayal and corruption are celebrated and rewarded. Corruption, a bane of civil/public service is sublime in betrayal. The quest to get more at the expense of the people is the root of betrayal and sabotage.
This explains why Nigeria at 65 is the World’s capital of poverty.
Nigeria is not a poor country, yet, millions are living in hunger, abject poverty and avoidable misery. What an irony. Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies and most populous nation is naturally endowed with 44 mineral resources, found in 500 geographical locations in commercial quantity across the country. According to Nigeria’s former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olamiekan Adegbite, the mineral resources include: baryte, kaolin, gymsium, feldspar, limestone, coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium, gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead, zinc, copper, granite, laterite, sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, gamer, etc. Nigeria has a vast uncultivated arable land even as its geographical area is approximately 923, 769 sq km (356,669 sq ml).
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value-chain, for job creation, revenue growth. Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the suffer”, Adegbite said. Therefore, poverty in Nigeria is not the consequences of lack of resources and manpower but inequality, misappropriation, outright embezzlement, barefaced corruption that is systemic and normative in leaders and public institutions. According to the World Poverty Clock 2023, Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world capital of poverty with about 84 million people living in extreme poverty today.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data also revealed that a total of 133 million people in Nigeria are classed as multi-dimensionally poor. Unemployment is a major challenge in the country. About 33 percent of the labour force are unable to find a job at the prevailing wage rate. About 63 percent of the population are poor because of lack of access to health, education, employment, and security. Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) speculated that unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent in 2023. The implications, therefore, is increase in unemployment will translate to increase in the poverty rate. The World Bank, a Washington-based and a multi-lateral development institution, in its macro-poverty outlook for Nigeria for April 2023 projected that 13 million Nigerians will fall below the National Poverty line by 2025.
It further stated that the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without palliatives will result to 101 million people being poor in Nigeria. Statistics also show that “in 2023 nearly 12 percent of the world population of extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day”.Taking a cursory look at the Nigerian Development Update (NDU), the World Bank said “four million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and June 2023 and 7.1 million more will join if the removal of subsidy is not adequately managed.” These startling revelations paint a grim and bleak future for the social-economic life of the people.The alarming poverty in the country is a conspiracy of several factors, including corruption. In January, 2023 the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, in its annual corruption prospect index which ranks the perceived level of public sector corruption across 180 countries in the world says Nigeria ranked 150 among 180 in the index. Conversely, Nigeria is the 30th most corrupt nation in the ranking. It is also the capital of unemployment in the world.
Truth be told: a Government that is corruption-ridden lacks the capacity to build a vibrant economy that will provide employment for the teeming unemployed population. So crime and criminality become inevitable. No wonder, the incessant cases of violent crimes and delinquency among young people. Corruption seems to be the second nature of Nigeria as a nation . At the root of Nigerians’ poverty is the corruption cankerworm.How the nation got to this sordid economic and social precipice is the accumulation of years of corrupt practices with impunity by successive administrations. But the hardship Nigerians are experiencing gathered momentum between 2015 and 2023 and reached the climax few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed power as president of Nigeria, removed the controversial petroleum subsidy. Since then, there is astronomical increase in transport fares, and prices of commodities. Living standard of most Nigerians is abysmally low, essential commodities are out of reach of the poor masses who barely eat once a day.
The Dollar to Naira exchange rate ratio at one dollar to N1,000, is the most economy-unfriendly in the annals of the history of Nigeria. The prohibitive prices of petroleum products with the attendant multi-dimensional challenges following the removal of the subsidy, has posed a nightmare better to be imagined than experienced. Inflation, has been on the increase, negatively affecting the purchasing power of low income Nigerians. Contributing to the poverty scourge is the low private investment due to.unfriendly business environment and lack of power supply, as well as low social development outcomes resulting in low productivity. The developed economies of the world are private sector-driven. So the inadequate involvement of the private sector in Nigeria’s economy, is a leading cause of unemployment which inevitably translates to poverty.
Igbiki Benibo
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, the pursuit of success and growth has become an all-consuming force. Individuals, organisations, and nations alike, are locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve more, earn more, and surpass their rivals. Yet, beneath this relentless drive for progress lies a silent danger—the risk of self-destruction. This perilous pattern, which I call the self-destruct trajectory, describes the path taken when ambition and growth are pursued without restraint, awareness, or moral balance. The self-destruct trajectory is fueled by an insatiable hunger for more—a mindset that glorifies endless expansion while disregarding the boundaries of ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. At first glance, it may appear to promise prosperity and achievement. After all, ambition has long been celebrated as a virtue. But when growth becomes the only goal, it mutates into obsession.
Individuals burn out, organisations lose their soul, and societies begin to fracture under the weight of their own excesses. The consequences are everywhere. People pushed beyond their limits face anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. Companies sacrifice employee welfare and social responsibility on the altar of profit. The entire ecosystems suffer as forests are cleared, oceans polluted, and air poisoned in the name of economic progress. The collapse of financial systems, widening income inequality, and global environmental crises are all symptoms of this same relentless, self-consuming pursuit. To understand this dynamic, one can turn to literature—and to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In one of the novel’s most haunting scenes, young Oliver, starving in the workhouse, dares to utter the words: “Please, sir, I want some more.” This simple plea encapsulates the essence of human desire—the urge for more. But it also mirrors the perilous craving that drives the self-destruct trajectory. Like Oliver, society keeps asking for “more”—more wealth, more power, more success—without considering the consequences of endless wanting.
The workhouse itself symbolises the system of constraints and boundaries that ambition often seeks to defy. Oliver’s courage to ask for more represents the daring spirit of human aspiration—but it also exposes the risk of defying limits without reflection. Mr. Bumble, the cruel overseer, obsessed with authority and control, embodies the darker forces that sustain this destructive cycle: greed, pride, and the illusion of dominance. Through this lens, Dickens’ tale becomes a timeless metaphor for the modern condition—a warning about what happens when ambition blinds compassion and growth eclipses humanity. Avoiding the self-destruct trajectory requires a radical rethinking about success. True progress should not be measured solely by accumulation, but by balance—by how growth serves people, planet, and purpose.
This calls for a more holistic approach to achievement, one that values sustainability, empathy, and integrity alongside innovation and expansion
Individuals must learn to pace their pursuit of goals, embracing rest, reflection, and meaningful relationships as part of a full life. The discipline of “enough”—knowing when to stop striving and start appreciating—can restore both mental well-being and moral clarity. Organisations, on their part, must reimagine what it means to succeed: prioritising employee welfare, practising environmental stewardship, and embedding social responsibility in the core of their mission. Governments and policymakers also play a vital role. They can champion sustainable development through laws and incentives that reward ethical practices and environmental responsibility. By investing in education, renewable energy, and equitable economic systems, they help ensure that ambition is channeled toward collective benefit rather than collective ruin.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a tangible pathway for this transformation. When businesses take ownership of their social and environmental impact—reducing carbon footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting fair labour—they not only strengthen society but also secure their own long-term stability. Sustainable profit is, after all, the only kind that endures. Ultimately, avoiding the self-destruct trajectory is not about rejecting ambition—it is about redefining it. Ambition must evolve from a self-centred hunger for more into a shared pursuit of the better. We must shift from growth at all costs to growth with conscience. The future will belong not to those who expand endlessly, but to those who expand wisely. By embracing restraint, compassion, and sustainability, we can break free from the cycle of self-destruction and create a new narrative—one where success uplifts rather than consumes, and where progress builds rather than burns.
In the end, the question is not whether we can grow, but whether we can grow without losing ourselves. The choice is ours: to continue along the self-destruct trajectory, or to chart a more balanced, humane, and enduring path toward greatness.
Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
