By Ikeddy ISIGUZO<\/em><\/p>\n ONLY a day after the price of petrol, a major liquid that moves Nigerian life was increased again \u2013 for the third time in a month \u2013 Mrs. Remi Tinubu, President Tinubu\u2019s wife, had no soothing words for millions of Nigerians who were groaning under the harsh policies that the President announced while being inaugurated on 29 May 2023.<\/p>\n The most crushing of the policies was the removal of subsidy on petrol which has adversely affected prices across all sides of life. Inflation is racing at a rate the National Bureau of Statistics cannot capture. The people feel it. The pangs of stiff economic conditions are matched by the words and deeds of Mrs. Tinubu. When she speaks, her words are as annoying as the millions that the First Lady\u2019s Office wastes on foreign trips at at time the economy runs partially on borrowed funds.<\/p>\n Mrs. Tinubu was First Lady in Lagos State in the eight years her husband was Governor and a Senator for 12 years, during which nobody remembers her contributions, except an altercation with Dino Melaye on the floor of the Senate where unprintable words were thrown around. She requested for more security following Melaye\u2019s threats to beat her up outside the Senate Chambers.<\/p>\n Her penchant for saying annoying things could earn her an award for excellence in that sphere. Proud of her voice, desirous of being heard, and pointedly distant from issues, she delights in minimalising the sufferings of Nigeria with prescriptions that erect her clear indifference to the agonies the President\u2019s policies have created in 18 months.<\/p>\n She told us to plant our own food as food prices soared, claiming her vegetables come from her garden. Lucky her.<\/p>\n Pump price of petrol has increased from N198 on 28 May 2023 to N1,030 by October 9, 2024. The President rationalises subsidy removal by saying it would free up resources that would be deployed to improve the economy.<\/p>\n Mrs. Tinubu while speaking at the Palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, on Thursday, said the Tinubu administration was too young, and could not be blamed for the nation\u2019s doldrums.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are just two years (actually 17 months) into our administration, we are not the cause of the current situation, we are trying to fix it and secure the future,\u201d she told the gathering.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that subsidy has been removed but with God on our side in the next two years Nigeria will be greater than this. With your prayers in the next two years, we will build a nation for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if the First Lady knows nothing about governance, she knows that most of those working with her husband cannot do much to change the situation. She knows too that the President\u2019s indiscernible commitment to improving the economy is obvious in his policies, long absences and expenditures that rich countries do not make.<\/p>\n The purchase of two new presidential jets, a new accommodation for the Vice President at N21 billion, the Lagos Calabar Coastal Highway, and the First Lady\u2019s trips are drains on resources.<\/p>\n Recourse to \u201cthe grace of God\u201d and prayers are not standard policies, particularly when those resorting to the divine leverages have ungodly tendencies. Mrs. Tinubu\u2019s supported thuggery during last year\u2019s presidential election. One would have thought her exposure would redeem her from narrow views of that nature.<\/p>\n Her insults continue thus, \u201cWith your prayers in the next two years, we will build a nation for the future\u201d. How are we to understand this forlorn hope?<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our prayers will determine what happens. If we do not pray well, or hard enough, Tinubu\u2019s continuous failure would be our fault.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No matter how we pray, not minding our current plight, the results of our pleas to the Almighty would take two years to materialise, that is by 2026. In case Mrs. Tinubu has forgotten, by then we would be in the morass of the campaigns for Tinubu, who has done so well. His magic, strategic vision, sagacity, economic management skills and experience garnered from his days in international organisations would rescue Nigeria from certain doom. We would be reminded that only Tinubu could have steered Nigeria from a certain doom to an uncertain doom.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0More strikingly, Mrs. Tinubu has assured us that by 2026, \u201cwe will build a nation for the future\u201d. Those expecting answers today or in two years, should perish the thought. Tinubu, according to his wife, is building for the future, not for you.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you complain about today, you would be left behind. Only those who understand \u201cbuild a nation for the future\u201d would realise that the presidential jets and ceaseless comforts the President provides for himself are parts of the nation’s future.<\/p>\n We criticise the President in vain when we discuss today, the immediate. The President is in-charge of the future. He has immersed himself in the future hence he has conceded the present to prayers and market forces.<\/p>\n A quick reminder, the President graduated with honours in Economics from Chicago State University, was on the Dean\u2019s List for most of his stay in Chicago. He recalls these achievements with glee. He was a most sought after student by international organisations that tapped into the breadth and depth of his mastery of Economics, Accounting, and Business Management.<\/p>\n The nearest we came to a glimpse of the fecudity of the President\u2019s fondness for the future is what we were told during the campaigns. It was revealed that he made his money through investments in stocks, and futures. We have Chicago State University to thank for helping deliver a President of outstanding managerial skill sets to Nigeria<\/p>\n A minor challenge Is that an undiversified economy for people of diverse tendencies like Nigerians can only be appreciated only in future, certainly beyond 2026.<\/p>\n None understands the future more than the First Lady who has stood with President all these years. She may not speak with that Chicagoan drawl that is exclusive to the President, but knows him enough to speak with a confidence that without assurance hints at a co-presidency that has Mrs. Tinubu as a central partner.<\/p>\n \u201cWe give glory to God for our status, myself and my husband, we are not greedy but we thank God for what God has done for us,\u201d said the First Lady, who was in Ife to inaugurate a hostel and a 2.7 kilometer road donated to ?baf?mi Awol?w? University, OAU, Ile Ife, by the Ooni of Ife. Both projects are named after Mrs. Tinubu.<\/p>\n And we can ask her more questions: Is your status the Presidency? Who dared accuse you of greed?<\/p>\n The Tinubus are the most selfless politicians to have held public office since 1914. It must have hit the First Lady hard for her and her husband to be accused of greed, and without proof.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not common for rich people to get to this seat but I am grateful to God. We cannot disappoint Nigeria and with the help of God, we are getting to the promised land in no distant time,\u201d Mrs Tinubu promised, on behalf of the President.<\/p>\n Until her important speech in Ile-Ife, I considered things I have heard about Tinubu being rich as exaggerated speculations. I would not get into debates on whether he is rich or wealthy or a man of means.<\/p>\n The First Lady could also have been hurt by the lack of public recognition of how rich she and the husband were. Jokes apart, have Nigerians studied the implications of the uncommonness of a rich Tinubu being President? The point should not be pushed further until the President obligises us his assets declaration form.<\/p>\n Perhaps provoked by the insensitivity of Nigerians taking the \u201cgrateful to God\u201d, rich presidential family for granted, the First Lady, a 1983 alumna of the then University of Ife donated N1 billion to the university\u2019s development, doubtlessly, another investment in the nation\u2019s future.<\/p>\n These donations are remarkable and draw attention to the wife of the President and sources of her income.<\/p>\n Mrs. Tinubu is not new to big donations. On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, the 500 families devastated by communal clashes in Plateau State got N500 million from her. She gave N500 million on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 to the flood victims in Maiduguri.<\/p>\n In three weeks, she has shelled out N1.5 billion. An applause is appropriate and more applause when Zacch Adelabu Adedeji, Chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service, FIRS, tells us how much Mrs. Tinubu pays as tax.<\/p>\n We should not wait for the information from Adedeji before commending impoverished Nigerians, who were wherever they were on Wednesday to learn that transport fares had neared the skies with the increase in the price of petrol. How they made it home sprout stories that can fill books.<\/p>\n They are not rich. They are not greedy. Are they being punished for their poverty that is rooted in poor policies and governments\u2019 wastes?<\/p>\n Mrs. Tinubu has answered the questions with the cocksure footedness of the President\u2019s wife \u2013 Tinubu is only after the future, a future that would be clearer from 2026! Side-stepping the present to hasten the future is the major execution strategy.<\/p>\n We have Mrs. Rinubu to thank for revealing what could have been a secret for much longer.<\/p>\n \u2022Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Ikeddy ISIGUZO ONLY a day after the price of petrol, a major liquid that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-view-point"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",650,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1-300x162.jpg",300,162,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",640,345,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",640,345,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",650,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",650,350,false],"elegant-magazine-featured":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",650,350,false],"elegant-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",650,350,false],"elegant-magazine-medium-small":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",300,162,false],"elegant-magazine-thumbnail-small":["https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Remi-Tinubu-1.jpg",50,27,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Imo Trumpeta"]},"category_info":"News Digest<\/a>","tag_info":"News Digest","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44326,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44324\/revisions\/44326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}