BY UGOJI EGBUJO
THE Afenifere can’t condone inequity. Tinubu’s tribalism has been alarming. They are embarrassed. It’s uncultured. The Yoruba are relatively too advanced for such a retrogressive political palliative scheme. They need neither to be pushed like a battery-handicapped kabukabu nor to be fed mashed food like a toothless adult. On no scale are they backward, comparatively.
They are the proud champions of equity, industry and merit. Tinubu’s untiring devotion to sectionalism serves neither the values of the Yoruba nor the interests of the country. On the other hand, Afenifere’s response could be summed up as a disdainful smirk. Perhaps, Tinubu’s tribalism is a glimpse of the long-prophesied denouement. The belated coming out of the shadows. Are we then now condemned to a few more years of startling self-debasing shenanigans?
The name ‘Progressive,’ which Awolowo, Bola Ige and Abraham Adesanya cherished, has already become almost redundant, a hollow moniker. Perhaps, worse. A useful piece in the paraphernalia of many a Nigerian political sorcerer. Used to bewitch and hold spellbound the famished and luckless electorate thirsting for a democracy that yields development and moral reformation. Tinubu is the last apostle of old school progressivism.
Now, the people must realise that they have been hoodwinked and accept that progressivism in Nigeria politics has been almost irreparably contaminated. It now accommodates all shades of political yahooyahooism. If the nostalgic lovers of progressives remain enthralled with the sentimental idea, then they can continue to wallow in their delusion that progressivism in Nigeria is moral and people-oriented, rather than manipulative shallow Machiavellianism.
That whole idea of a Sovereign National Conference, it now appears, was an elaborate ruse. Its erstwhile imperativeness was carefully contrived. The Sovereign National Conference – the sort peddled by NADECO activists as the alchemy for national preservation, unity and progress – must now be seen as specious sophistry. It has fallen into comical disuse. It has outlived its dubious usefulness. The pro-democracy sermons have yielded the long desired fruit. The foil of democracy was used to conceal the lust for power and a predilection for rabid opportunism. Is the denouement just beginning? That’s the question. Are we destined for more shege?
The Yoruba elite are cringing. Tinubu’s tribalism has no clothes. Those not cringing are sneering at the nation. The stark nudity suggests benign aloofness or devious shamelessness. They say the electorate is to blame. The finger-pointing is now happening in all directions. Yet, a few cannot understand the hullabaloo. They are irritated by the effete sensibilities of their detribalised kinsmen. Power has been grabbed.
Northerners are more fatalistic, they say God gives it. So whether Emilokan, Awalokan or Yorubalokan, it must be attributed to God. So these few have no apologies. Because, it’s turn by turn. “Omo Igbo will be worse”, they say. Though they had a recent turn in Obasanjo, but he wasn’t a turn. It was a forgettable turn, they say. Tinubu, the Asiwaju of the universe, has come to make audacious amends. To give them two turns in one. A reparative double portion. So, he is probably settling many scores. If so, why did Tinubu bother changing the national anthem? Perish the thought that the idea came from the National Assembly.
Our lawmakers will rather discuss Bobrisky in the plenary. Back to Tinubu. He didn’t revert to the old anthem to motivate the nation. He has been too brazen to bother. At his level of self-absorption and indulgence, he could have effected the change to satisfy the urge of nostalgia. The goal was never to rally the riven country or forge cohesion. No, that’s not his current priority. Tribes and tongues may differ all they care, all he wants is for folks to ‘stand on his mandate.’
To be continued
