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OPINION: Can I Tell Our First Lady That Graduates Drive Cabs Here, Too?

Published

2 years ago

March 26, 2024

By Suyi Ayodele

My people have different social stratifications. One of them is a group of people they call olórí àpésín. That simply means those who chose destiny that makes people worship them. Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu numbers among that group. And when you are an olórí àpésín, you don’t feel what the common man feels. And olórí àpésín is like the proverbial child strapped to the mother’s back. He will never get to know how long the journey is. This is exactly Mrs. Tinubu’s fate. She has been strapped to her husband’s back for too long to know how long the journey has been for an average Nigerian, especially in these nine months of her husband in power.

Again, our first lady is not just an olórí àpésín. She is a lot more than that. Looking at her political, financial and social trajectories in the last 25 years, we can comfortably call her an obìrin tí a nfi orí è súre fún obìrin (a woman whose destiny we call upon as blessing to other women). When you are in that classification, reality is completely lost on you. No matter how people in that stratification struggle, they remain apathetic. When you see such persons, you don’t blame them when they are in their most insensitive mode. Rather, you pity them. And, in all honesty, Mrs. Tinubu, and everyone in her class among the pitiless Nigeria’s elite class, has my sympathy.

Last week, Mrs. Tinubu played host to three senators from her home state, Lagos. The trio of Senators Adetokunbo Abiru, Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni and Ranti Idiat Adebule were in Aso Rock Villa on a courtesy visit to the First Lady. Just imagine how many lucky Nigerian women and housewives have the privilege of receiving in audience, three councillors from their wards. But here, three ‘Distinguished’ senators left whatever they were doing to go to the Presidential Villa to pay homage to the woman after the president’s heart. It was during that visit that Mrs. Tinubu spoke about our conditions. While Nigerians would not know what led to it, we all woke up to watch the video of that visit and what Madam Tinubu said. I hate to make guesses. But, here, I am tempted to think that probably, the three wise men asked Madam Excellency to help talk to her husband to do something about the agony in the land. Don’t take that to the bank, anyway. Then Mrs. Tinubu chose to respond by lashing out at Nigerians who travelled overseas to seek greener pastures and derided them for going abroad to do menial jobs they would not touch with a 10-foot pole in Nigeria.

This is what the wife of our president said: “Look at all those people saying they are going to Japa; they go there. What work are you going to do? You know, work that you refused to do at home where you have loved ones, you now end up to go and do there. With all their education, they’re driving cabs, but they won’t drive cabs here”. She called on Nigerians to help the “poor” among them but added that it is difficult to know the real poor as “…you don’t even know who are the poor. If they don’t ride a car, they will say they are poor. If you don’t have your own home, they will say they are poor.” The president’s wife agreed with the Scripture that “…in the Bible, we even talk about Jesus saying the poor you will always have in the land, and it’s for people whom God has blessed to help the poor.” The summary of her speech as relayed on the Arise TV later is a complete mockery of fellow Nigerians who would not be drivers here in Nigeria but would go to the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and other European countries to go and do menial jobs.

Truth be told, Mrs. Tinubu is right. Yes, Nigerian graduates abroad are cab drivers. Many are caregivers, a euphemism for nannies to old people. Quite a huge number of them are into guard duties. We have those who are cleaners, shop attendants; human payloaders and everything else we can imagine! Many of these folks, and their spouses, hold postgraduate degrees from reputable Nigerian universities. Pity! Again, another truth from Mrs. Tinubu is that these Nigerians would never accept those menial crafts they do with all enthusiasm abroad back home in Nigeria. Truth is bitter. But that is where it ends for Mrs. Tinubu and those other elites with similar warped mentality.

I don’t know much about the activities of witches and their act and art – witchcraft. But I know a little bit of their categorisation. I know the female ones called Àjé (witches), and their male counterparts known as Osó (wizards). Àjé and Osó, are the mildest of the group. At times, they can be appeased. Their level of wickedness can also be curtailed and managed. Next to that class is the Olubi (purveyor of evil). This set ranks higher than Àjé or Osó in that you don’t have to offend an Olubi before she attacks you. These ones are simply not at home with their victims’ wellbeing, the generosity or kindness of the victims towards them notwithstanding. In fact, it is better not to show an Olubi any kindness than to seek to please her. The elder sibling of Olubi is Ofíndòdo. Those in this league combine wickedness with fury. They fight their victims without relenting. They are simply temperamental! And they don’t need any reason to strike. They are the sadists of the groupings. The worst of them all is what people in my locality call Ukòtò (Pit). Ukòtò does not fight her victims. She swallows them. She afflicts them with all manner of plagues. Ukòtò ruins her victims to no end. If for instance, a victim is taken to those who should know and they discover that he or she is under the affliction of an Ukòtò, the one consulted to help stylishly backs out. Why? Ukòtò gets angrier the moment an attempt is made to pacify her. Victims of an Ukòtò don’t get help; no antidote works for them. They are simply ruined for life except the cosmic intervenes on its own. Nigerians are at the mercy of Ukòtòs at the moment. Our leaders combine all the peculiarities of the aforementioned esoteric beings to afflict the citizenry. That is why they have no pity on us. They speak to us as if we don’t matter. And, really, we don’t matter to our leaders. Their hearts have been seared with hot iron; they have sold their souls to Hades. They are as cold-hearted, as they are dead to our pains. Nothing moves them. Nothing pricks their conscience.

A woman at the level of Mrs. Tinubu should have been more circumspect. But she can’t be because that is not the nature of people in her caste. Yes, Nigerians go abroad to work as cab drivers; a job they would not do in Nigeria. But, has Madam Tinubu asked herself where the roads for those Diasporan Nigerians to drive cabs in Nigeria are? If they elect to be drivers here, who guarantees their safety from kidnappers, killer-herdsmen, bandits and other criminals that have taken over our highways and local roads? Does it occur to our First Lady that many of those Nigerians driving cabs abroad were frustrated out of this country? The other time, I saw a video of a young lady, who left her banking job in one of the most prominent banks in Nigeria to pick up a cleaning job in the UK while also going to school there. I asked a friend who also left that same bank as a senior manager to take up a less paying job somewhere else in Nigeria, what the problem is with that particular bank. His response was that the problem cuts across the Nigerian banking industry. He explained that our banking industry is a place where you employ a young graduate and you give her unachievable targets. When such a marketer, mostly a beautiful lady, cannot go the “extra mile”, a sort of euphemism for “corporate prostitution”, she gets fired! He added that that is what is responsible for high staff turnover in most banks. What other options do those victims of the wicked corporate environment have other than to Japa (migrate) to go and do cab-driving (for the males), and cleaning or care-giving (for the females). The banks and other exploitative corporate bodies get away with all the inhuman treatments of their employees because the regulatory bodies saddled with the responsibilities of checking those excesses and near-second slavery treatments have been compromised. That in itself is a failure on the part of the government and that is where Mrs. Tinubu should direct her attention to rather than deriding Nigerians who travel out to do jobs that are below their qualifications. At a time in his life, Mrs. Tinubu’s husband also japed to God’s Own country, America, before he became somebody. So, what’s the fuss about?

It is convenient for the First Lady to talk the way she did because she would never be in the position of parents who laboured to train their children and wards in schools and those graduates stay at home for years without any job. Mrs. Tinubu’s children, I believe, have never had any reason to Japa, because they are either Abimbola (born with wealth), or Mobolanle (I met wealth at home). Her children will never think of going abroad to drive cabs because if they are not Iyaloja General of Nigeria, their husbands are chairmen of Boards of big government parastatals. When we talk about children born with silver spoons, Madam Tinubu’s children simply swallowed the silver spoon and the melting machine at birth. How would their mother not reason the way she did? Has it occurred to her that most parents, whose children are the cab drivers she referred to, are at pains seeing their medical doctor-trained children turn mere cab drivers? When was the last time Mrs. Tinubu took a cab in Nigeria? I have come across scores of Bolt cab drivers who are university graduates on the streets of Nigeria. So, I can conveniently tell Her Excellency that it is not true that Nigerian graduates are not cab drivers here. Some of them are dry cleaners, shoemakers, sales girls and boys in malls and other menial jobs. Most kiosks where the business of Point of Sales (POS) is carried out are owned and manned by graduates! Madam first lady should get on the street to know this fact!

Methinks our leaders need to think more deeply before they talk. Nothing is more painful for victims of Ukoto than to see the same people who put them in such terrible conditions laugh at them! Mrs. Tinubu’s husband was once a senator. He later became governor of Lagos State for eight years. For those eight years, Madam was the First Lady of Lagos. She had all the good things in life. At a time, the husband made her a senator and she occupied that position for another 12 years. In the last nine months, Mrs. Tinubu has occupied the unconstitutional office of the First Lady of Nigeria. A few months ago, she had the privilege of having the sum of N1.5 billion ‘voted’ to her office for cars and other sundry items. Everything she has enjoyed in the last 25 years is at the expense of our common patrimony. In the real sene of it, she an omo ijobo (government pikin)! She is the typical ant in a bowl of sugar (eera inu sugar); she can never understand that there is pain in the land. She lives in a fortress, secured by the State. When she ventures out of the Villa, she has a company of soldiers and other security agents attending to her safety. How would she know then that many of us recite Psalm 91 almost seven times before we dare travel from one location to another? She is a typical eni aye ye (the one life has favoured). The tendency for her to look down on others is high. I only hope she knows the full meaning of Atubotan (the hereafter). Vengeance will one day cry on all our leaders! Ise!

It is sad that Nigerians are being shipped daily abroad for second slavery. If our leaders, especially of this ruinous epoch, had done what is right, we would have no reason to travel to be slaves in the UK, Canada, or any other country for that matter. My late parents-in-law studied in the UK in the late 60s. My late mother-in-law told me that they did not wait for the results of their final examinations to be out before they sailed back to Nigeria. Why? Because Nigeria was good then. That was a period we had human beings as leaders; leaders who put the country first before selves. Those were leaders who never boasted of being richer than a state. Our situation became bad when locusts took over our political space. We are worse off now because we have Ukotos at the helm of our affairs. Witches and their siblings don’t normally fly in the daytime. However, the present ones in power hold courts in broad daylight. While the electioneering that brought Mrs. Tinubu and her husband to Aso Rock lasted, she told all of us that her family was too rich to be bothered about our treasury. Mrs. Tinubu knows how far her riches and those of her husband would go in solving the problems of our graduates going abroad to drive cabs! In her last week’s engagement, she referred us back to the Bible. She made a biblical allusion to the presence of the poor in our midst. I love that! Today is Tuesday. As a good Christian, and in the spirit of Bible study, permit me to commend Her Excellency to the injunction of our Lord Jesus Christ, who told one of the ‘righteous’ Pharisees thus: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven; and come and follow me” (Matthew 19-21).

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OPINION: Nigerian Leaders And The Tragedy Of Sudden Riches

Published

8 minutes ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

By Israel Adebiyi

It is my sincere hope that by now, the wives of the 21 local government chairmen of Adamawa State are safely back from their exotic voyage to Istanbul, Turkey, a trip reportedly bankrolled by the local government finances under the umbrella of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). A journey, we are told, designed to “empower” them with leadership skills. It’s the kind of irony that defines our political culture, an expensive parade of privilege masquerading as governance.

But that is what happens when providence smiles on an ill-prepared man: he loses every sense of decorum, perspective, and sanity.

I am reminded of a neighbour from nearly two decades ago, a simple man who earned his living as a welder in a bustling corner of Alagbado, in Lagos. One day, fortune smiled on him. The details of how it happened are less important than the aftermath. Overnight, this humble tradesman was thrust into wealth he never imagined. His first response was to remodel his one-room face-me-I-face-you apartment. He then bought crates of beverages for his wife to start a small trade. Nights became movie marathons, days were spent entertaining friends and living large. Within a short while, both the beverages and the money were gone. The family consumed what was meant to be sold, and before long, they were back to where they began, broke and disillusioned.

That, in many ways, mirrors the tragedy of Nigerian leadership. It’s the poverty mindset in leadership.

The story of my neighbour is a microcosm of the Nigerian political elite, particularly at the subnational level. When sudden riches come, wisdom departs. When opportunity presents itself, greed takes over. In the past years, since the removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent fiscal windfall that followed, all levels of governments, particularly both state and local governments have found themselves with more resources than they have had in over a decade. Yet, rather than invest in ideas that would stimulate production, jobs, and infrastructure, what we have witnessed is an epidemic of frivolities, unnecessary travels, wasteful seminars, inflated projects, and reckless spending.

Across the country, the story is similar: councils and states spending like drunken sailors. Suddenly, workshops in Dubai, leadership retreats in Turkey, and empowerment programs that empower nobody have become the order of the day. The sad reality is that many of these leaders lack the intellectual depth, managerial capacity, and moral restraint to translate resources into development. Their worldview is transactional, not transformational.

Nigeria’s tragedy is not the absence of resources; it is the misplacement of priorities. Across the states, billions are allocated to vanity projects that contribute little or nothing to the people’s quality of life. Roads are constructed without drainages and collapse at the first rainfall. Hospitals are built without doctors, and schools are renovated without teachers. Governors commission streetlights in communities without power supply. Council chairmen purchase SUVs in towns where people still fetch water from muddy streams. This is not governance; it is pageantry.

The problem is rooted in a poverty mindset, a mentality that sees power not as a platform for service but as an opportunity for consumption. Like the welder who squandered his windfall, our leaders are more preoccupied with display than development. They seek validation through possessions and patronage. They confuse spending with productivity. After all, these guarantee their re-election and political relevance.

Take for instance, the proliferation of “empowerment” schemes across states and local governments. Millions are spent distributing grinding machines, hair dryers, and tricycles, symbolic gestures that make headlines but solve nothing. In a state where industrial capacity is non-existent and education is underfunded, these programs are nothing but political theatre.

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Part of the reason for this recurring tragedy is the near absence of accountability. At every level of government, public scrutiny has been deliberately weakened. The legislature, which should act as a check on executive excesses, has become a willing accomplice. Most state assemblies now function as mere extensions of the governor’s office. Their loyalty is not to the constitution or the people, but to the whims of the man who controls their allowances. When oversight is dead, impunity thrives.

The same is true at the local government level. The councils, which should be the closest tier of governance to the people, have become mere revenue distribution centres. Their budgets are inflated with cosmetic projects, while core community needs – clean water, rural roads, primary healthcare, and education – remain neglected. In most states, local governments have been stripped of autonomy, no thanks to the governors, and turned into cash dispensers for political godfathers.

A functioning democracy depends on the ability of citizens and institutions to demand explanations from those in power. Unfortunately, Nigeria has normalised a culture of unaccountability. We applaud mediocrity, celebrate looters, and reward failure with re-election.

Leadership without vision is like a vehicle without direction, fast-moving but going nowhere. Our leaders often mistake motion for progress. A road contract here, a stadium renovation there, a new office complex somewhere, yet the fundamental problems remain untouched.

When a government cannot define its priorities, it becomes reactive, not proactive. It responds to crises rather than preventing them. The consequence is that we keep recycling poverty in the midst of plenty.

Consider the fate of many oil-producing states that have earned hundreds of billions from the 13 percent derivation fund. Despite their enormous earnings, the communities remain among the poorest in the federation. The roads are not just bad but are deathtraps, the schools dilapidated, and the hospitals understaffed. The money vanished into white-elephant projects and political patronage networks.

Visionary leadership is not about having a title or holding an office; it is about seeing beyond the immediate and investing in the future. It is about building systems that outlive individuals. Sadly, most of our leaders are incapable of such long-term thinking because they are trapped in the psychology of survival, not sustainability.

There is a proverb that says: “The foolish man who finds gold in the morning will be poor again by evening.” That proverb could have been written for Nigeria. Each time fortune presents us with an opportunity, whether through oil booms, debt relief, or global trade openings, we squander it in consumption and corruption.

The subsidy removal windfall was meant to be a moment of reckoning, a chance to redirect resources to development, improve infrastructure, and alleviate poverty. Instead, it has become another tragic chapter in our national story, a story of squandered wealth and wasted potential.

When money becomes available without the corresponding capacity to manage it, it breeds recklessness. Suddenly, every council wants a new secretariat. Every governor wants to build a new airport or flyovers that lead to nowhere. The tragedy is not in the availability of money but in the absence of vision to channel it productively.

Nigeria does not lack bright minds; it lacks systems that compel responsibility. What we need is a new civic consciousness that demands accountability from those in power. Citizens must begin to interrogate budgets, question policies, and reject tokenism. Civil society must reclaim its watchdog role. The media must rise above “he said, he said” journalism and focus on investigative and developmental reporting that exposes waste and corruption.

Equally, the legislature must rediscover its purpose. Lawmakers are not meant to be praise singers or contract brokers. They are the custodians of democracy, empowered to question, probe, and restrain executive recklessness. Until they reclaim that role, governance will remain an exercise in futility.

The solution also lies in leadership development. Leadership should no longer be an accident of chance or patronage; it must be a deliberate cultivation of character, competence, and capacity. The tragedy of sudden riches is avoidable if leaders are adequately prepared to handle responsibility.

Ultimately, the change we seek is not just in policy but in mindset. Nigeria must confront the culture of consumption and replace it with a culture of productivity. We must move from short-term gratification to long-term investment, from vanity projects to value creation, from self-aggrandizement to service.

Every generation has its defining moment. Ours is the opportunity to rethink governance and rebuild trust. The tragedy of sudden riches can become the triumph of sustainable wealth, but only if we learn to manage fortune with foresight.

Until that happens, the Adamawa wives will keep travelling, the chairmen will keep spending, and the people will keep waiting for dividends that never come.

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JUST IN: Court Orders IGP To Arrest Mahmood Yakubu, Ex-INEC Chairman

Published

3 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Despite his exit as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has again ordered the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the former INEC chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, for an offence relating to contempt of court.

The Court order came a few hours after Yakubu left office as the INEC chairman.

The Action Alliance, AA, had instituted a case before the court challenging INEC and its former chairman, Prof Yakubu, over their non-compliance with the judgment of the Court delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi in suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024.

In the said judgment, the court ordered INEC to put the names of the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, and other members of the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, on the INEC portal.

The Court also held that the names of all the state chairmen of the party be uploaded on the INEC portal.

The court held that the elective convention of the party held on the 7th of October, 2023 which produced Omoaje as the national chairman of the party and other NEC members of the party was authentic as it was properly monitored and supervised by officials of INEC in accordance with the party’s constitution and the electoral acts.

However, INEC claimed to have complied with the court judgment, but the party disagreed with the commission, as the name of Omoaje was yet to be uploaded on the commission’s website despite the orders of the Court.

Although the names of the state chairmen of the party under the leadership of Omoaje and those of the NEC members are already on the INEC portal, Omoaje’s name is yet to be uploaded as of press time, a development that the court frowned at.

The court order obtained by our correspondent dated 7th October, 2025, and signed by Mr O.M. Kilani on behalf of the Court Registrar reads in part, “it is hereby ordered that the Inspector General of Police shall cause the arrest and shall charge the defendant/judgment debtors for contempt and committal proceedings within seven days of this ruling.”

The court also awarded a cost of #100,000 against the judgment creditors.

News

Lagos Closes Adeniji Adele–CMS Lane For Six Weeks Of Repairs

Published

5 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has announced a partial closure of the Adeniji Adele Interchange Junction to CMS for six weeks to allow for rehabilitation works by the Federal Government.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the repair works will run daily between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., starting Sunday, October 12, and ending Sunday, November 23, 2025.

Osiyemi explained that only one lane of the road will be closed during the period, while the remaining lanes will remain open to traffic to minimize disruptions.

He assured motorists that traffic management officers will be stationed along the corridor to ensure smooth vehicular movement and reduce inconvenience during the rehabilitation.

“Motorists are implored to be patient, as the lane diversion is part of the traffic management plan for the rehabilitation of the road by the Federal Ministry of Works,” the commissioner said.

He also urged drivers to comply with the directives of traffic officials on duty to ensure safety and efficient traffic flow throughout the repair period.