I visited Festac Town Lagos in 2006 when Tinubu held sway as the state governor. One thing I noticed without anyone telling me was this high austerity level in the air - which contrasted sharply with my experiences in a couple other parts of the country.
When I asked, I was told that the 3D suffering levels were as a result of The Obasanjo Federal Government withholding the allocation due to the state. I couldn't understand it because I always knew Lagos as a mega state with such a humongous IGR that it could function beyond average even without any federal allocation.
It took me over a decade before I realized what the man was actually doing then under the noses of millions of citizens. I remembered to revisit this issue because I see now a reenactment of what happened in Lagos in those days. The only difference I see is that then, it happened at a state level but now it is happening at the national level.
Here are some of the strategies I think Bola Ahmed Tinubu used to pocket Lagos and is now using on the entire country...
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1. He Impoverishes The Citizens On Purpose So He Can Easily Buy Their Loyalty En Masse
If you have ever wondered how Tinubu succeeded in throwing up such an impervious dynasty in a state as complex as Lagos, now here you might have a clue. As I narrated above, I visited the state and people were suffering excruciatingly amid so much revenue generated within the state.
Of course, there was an alibi to hoodwink the people: The Obasanjo Administration became the easy scapegoat for being so high-handed as to withhold an entire state's allocation month on month. And, of course, as usual, the people took it line, hook, and sinker.
Now, I see the exact same template being used on the country. Otherwise, how come Tinubu was so desperate as to callously announce subsidy removal on his first day in office even far before constituting his economic team? Yet, it's the same subsidy removal he criticized bitterly during the Jonathan Administration!
Even if Tinubu had changed his mind on the subject of subsidy removal during the intervening years, who can explain the absolute desperation and the callousness with which he now approached the issue?
2. He Consciously Embarks On Diverting Citizen Attention Using Policy Direction And The Media
As we all may know, Nigeria became an official global hunger hotspot in only a year of the Tinubu Presidency. It's surely as a result of his acute maladministration. But instead, changing the national anthem became the President's priority? Even the blind should deduce from this a calculated attempt to control the minds of the citizens and keep them down.
For me, the national anthem saga was a ploy to divert citizen attention from the core economic downtime taking place under Tinubu's watch. That's the quintessential Jagaban for you. Anyone who could maneuver the strictly guarded drug market in the United States without getting a jail time, can maneuver almost anything else.
Once the people are deeply hungry but Tinubu has the sole access to the money, getting citizens to sing his praise will be an easy ride. Then, soon, he'd garner such a following that will grow into a nationwide version of his Lagos dynasty.
And this happens whether the man performs well or not. That's why he performed woefully in terms of infrastructural development as the Governor of Lagos but, when the Fashola administration came on board and outperformed him by far, Tinubu's followers still claim he built Lagos.
I used to think he was using 'juju' to secure such an insane level of loyalty. While I still can't rule that out completely, I now realize it is more about understanding Nigerians and controlling them using their 'mumu button'.
3. Borrowing Hugely Locally And Undertaking Ambitious Projects In Order To Make Enough 'Savings' And Kill Local Enterprises
Imagine this! The Buhari Civilian Administration kicked off a coastal rail project meant to run from Lagos to Calabar. That project never saw the light of day until another APC administration (Tinubu's) took over.
Now, nobody seems to be talking about the rail project anymore. Instead, the new administration is talking about a coastal road project running between the same two cities.
You see, instead of continuing the projects initiated by the previous administration, Tinubu starts new parallel ones. Who doesn't understand what this means? Of course, it’s apparently a conduit to siphon state funds even years after the administration is gone. That's why he prefers to negotiate fresh parallel contracts instead of building on what was already started.
Is it any wonder the Tinubu Administration is reported to have borrowed a whooping ₦20.1 trillion from local investors in its first year alone!
It seems to me that this is meant to enable him to ‘save’ funds enough to expand his financial chest in the interest of his empire-building. Analysts have also worried about how such huge domestic borrowing has the potential to steeply drive up both interest rates and inflation, which would drastically militate against the health of local industries.
This way, Tinubu will successfully and effortlessly buy more citizen loyalty including industry leadership. He might even be thinking of raising the austerity levels to the point that even the Peter Obis, Aisha Yesufus, and Rufai Osenis of the country will begin to defer to him just to be able to survive.
4. Installs His Most Loyal 'Boys' And 'Girls' In Key Positions
Once virtually everyone is submissive to Tinubu, the last step, I believe, would be to install those who have always submitted to him to control things for him from the street levels. This way, any possible rebellion would be crushed long before it gains any traction.
To do this, Tinubu might decide to infiltrate such entrenched nationwide groups as NURTW, NLC, TUC, etc. We all know what he did with the transport workers' leadership in Lagos. He will also install his family members as he did with the Iyaloja position in Lagos. Well, it's a template as I already mentioned.
How Can This Trend Be Forestalled Then?
Tinubu's Lagos dynasty was built mainly during his 8-year tenure as the Governor of the state. It was possible for him to pull it off in such a short time only because he started quite early.
Remarkably, it all happened before the unsuspecting eyes of the citizens and especially of indigenous Lagosians like Bode George, GRV, and millions more. If only those indigenous Lagosians were alerted earlier and they took adequate proactive measures against it, I'm certain that it wouldn't have been what it is today.
It never feels OK to let one person have millions of destinies at his beck and call. It's in fact why democracy is widely considered as the best form of human government so far. Now, it's the exact reason why I'm calling on Nigerians to wake up now before it is too late as it became for Lagosians.
At least, you have seen evidences to the effect that Tinubu is already at the works to pocket the country as he did Lagos. You've seen how much he's already done in just a year. Then, you can imagine the much he's going to 'achieve' in the remaining years.
What needs to be done is to let everyone know what's up. A problem identified is half solved as they say. So, please share this and comment your view.
Also, Individual Economic Empowerment Is The Only Way Out
The only way Nigerians can begin to resist politicians attempts to buy them over is through individual Economic empowerment. The Tinubu Administration will take measures to stifle every means of economic empowerment for the people. But, there is always a solution to any problem.
Thus, I wrote this article about how to turn the economic downturn into an advantage. If the government frustrates this option, we can always find another. I urge Nigerians to stand strong at these trying times and they'll soon become beautiful stories of "how the people won at last". No power of oppression ever defeated the people at last. So, our case can't be different. Thank you.
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Desmond Chinedu Nweke is a writer, researcher, editor, and content strategist. You can meet him via LinkedIn.
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