Opinion/Feature
If I Were Tinubu – Part 1: Like Solomon to Jeroboam, from Obasanjo to Tinubu
But why Tinubu? Of all the three major presidential candidates, he was the one whose past was more shrouded with controversies. From disputes over his age, educational qualifications, where he was born, and past business deals including that he once settled with the US government and forfeited about $460,000 with court documents showing that he was a bagman for two Chicago heroin dealers in the early 1990s.
But if not Tinubu, who? The other two leading candidates have not been reported to be saints either. Atiku Abubakar of PDP is tainted with an unaccountable wealth for someone that was a civil servant who even admitted that he was into importing and selling cars when he was supposed to be working for government. As for Peter Obi of the Labour Party, he had been accused of investing $30million of Anambra State funds in a company owned by his family when he was the governor, among other allegations.
Going into the 2023 poll, Nigerians were presented with the options of the devil or the blue sea. But the questions are, are there still saints in the land? Or have we ever been ruled by saints, will we ever be ruled by saints and is there anywhere in the world where saints are calling the shot?
Not in any way to justify that bad names over good ones should be given a room in our polity and society, Nigeria has been a dysfunctional entity since its creation to make it extremely difficult or impossible not to be lawless or sinner. When you are pushed to the wall by extreme situations, the natural thing will be to first survive, after all the natural law uphold that if a man steal only to quench his hunger, he should be speared.
It has always been a contest between sin and survival (SS) with only one’s conscience that can be the unbiased judge, for any outside judges will be hypocrites who are judging from their comfort moments, forgetting that their secrets which may not be in the news as corruptions are equally sins.
For instance, a dad with a terribly sick daughter got stranded in a Lagos traffic. He had to drive through one-way to make it to the hospital and save his child. He violated the traffic law for survival; a youth spent five years at home after secondary school, taking JAMB over and over to get admission into a university. When he eventually did, he had to spend 10 years for a course that should be four or five years because of perpetual schools closure due to ASUU strikes.
By the time he left school, he was already 30 years old, and the few job vacancies available were asking for youth below 25 years or lower. He was compelled to cut his age by seven years to give him a change to survive in his country; a man had been pushing a business in a federal ministry to the point of approval in Abuja when he was asked to double the figures as the take home for the officials. It was the only condition for him to get the job.
He played ball and would live to argue with his conscience that what he got was for his job with the added tip for the officials not his problem or sin. But he could have walked away to look for another jobs. Yes, he could have walked away to hunger and hopelessness; a nursing mother obeyed a government directive that the old naira notes from her business were being faced out and should be returned to the bank. She did so only to be denied the new notes which were not even available. She had two options to either approach the POS operators and purchase N5000 new notes with N1000 or remain a good citizen and go home to feed her children with excuse and water.
According to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), only 41 million pay taxes in Nigeria out of the over 200 million population. Those that are not paying will have justifications for not doing so; justifications that will make it not to be sin, justification that will make it not to be corruption.
Nigeria is an abnormal society that hardly anyone from other countries can imagine. It perfectly fit the saying that only a mad man will behave normally in an abnormal situation.
Many prophesies had trailed the 2023 presidential election with some from popular pastors going over the bar, but despite that, not a few Nigerians believe that the hand of God was missing from the election of Tinubu. There was a WhatsApp post where someone strongly pushed the God’s factor, saying; Tinubu lost his state, so he won’t brag that he won because of Lagos; he lost Kano so Granduje won’t brag that I made him president; he lost Kaduna so El Rufai won’t think he won because of his radical stand; he lost Katsina so President Buhari won’t think he won because he anointed him; he lost Sokoto the seat of the caliphate so they won’t call him the Northern candidate or the Khalifa; he lost Osun where some say he really came from; he lost Plateau the state of APC campaign DG. Yet he won the overall simple majority votes and made the constitutionally required 25 percent cut in more than 25 states of the federation. What this observer didn’t add is that Tinubu still won despite the extremely oppressive government policies of naira redesign and fuel scarcity during an election period which would have made even the most meekly souls voted against the ruling party.
But in all these, what do we learn from history? Something happened in the old Israel after the reign of King Solomon from about 970 to 931 BCE. Having married 700 princesses and 300 concubines, Solomon at his old age sinned against God as he was led into the worship of foreign gods and became unfaithful to God. And the God verdict came; that he will take the kingdom away from him and give it to one of his servants. This later brought about the enthronement of Jeroboam, a servant of King Solomon, and the son of a widow who became the first king of the divided northern kingdom of Israel.
Now fast-forward to 1999 to 2007 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo served as Nigeria’s president. To say Obasanjo was specially favoured by God would be an understatement as he had also served as a military head of state from 1976 to 1979. I’ve come across a story that he was specially favoured by God because his father had at his early age donated Obasanjo school fees to complete a local church project. At the time when Obasanjo was the president, Tinubu, the now president-elect was the governor of Lagos.
Obasanjo despite being a democratic president then ruled like a maximum leader with disregard for the rule of law as he would do anything possible to crush the opposition. In 2005, he seized funds belonging to local governments in Lagos State under Tinubu and held on to it despite court rulings against his action. There was also the Lagos armoury explosion on 27 January 2002 which was believed to have killed at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000, with many thousands injured or homeless. In the wake of the disaster the then President Obasanjo who visited the scene told agitated crowd that: “I didn’t need to be here to see anything because my being here will not solve anything. Shut up. I took the opportunity of being here to see what could be done.”
What could be more tormenting and painful for Obasanjo to be alive and see the Tinubu who he once trampled upon as the president-elect of his conquered estate? One can understand his agitation, agony and impatience when the election result was yet to be declared, when he said the exercise should be canceled. Quoting him, he said, “Your Excellency, President Buhari Muhammadu, tension is building up and please let all elections that do not pass the credibility and transparency test be cancelled and be brought back with areas where elections were disrupted for next Saturday, March 4, 2023, and BVAS and Server officials be changed. To know which stations or polling units were manipulated, let a Committee of INEC staff and representatives of the four major political parties with the Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association look into what must be done to have hitch-free elections next Saturday.”
Going forward, it’s instructive to note that comparing the story of Solomon to Jeroboam with Obasanjo to Tinubu has thrown up many lesions to be learnt.
Between Solomon and Jeroboam was his son Rehoboam who became king and foolishly threatened to make life more difficult for the people of the land. He first approached the elders who advised that, “If you will be a servant to this people, be considerate of their needs and respond with compassion, work things out with them, they’ll end up doing anything for you.” But he rejected this counsel and took that of the young men he’d grown up with who were now currying his favor. They asked him to tell them that: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. If you think life under my father was hard, you haven’t seen the half of it. My father thrashed you with whips; I will beat you bloody with chains!”
Also between Obasanjo and Tinubu were Umaru Yar Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari and missed opportunities with nothing to show that any lesion was learnt.
The President -elect seems not yet to be carried away by his new status going by his utterances so far. In his acceptance speech, he said “I want to be your servant and not a leader. Whether you are BATfied, Artikulated, Obidient, or Kwankwasiyya, or any other thing, I want to serve you. The youths, I hear you clearly. We would work together. I will pay attention to your education. You shall be creative. Your four year course will be four years. Your universities will have autonomy.”
But the question is for how long will he remain sane before been negatively influenced and become power intoxicated?
Where will Tinubu seek his counsel and whose advices will he take? Will he seek for wisdom afar and who will he attribute is righteousness to?
“Take away the wicked from the presence of the king and his throne will be established in righteousness.” Is it too early to say that those speaking for Tinubu after his election seem to be saying the opposite of what he had promised and this can only make one to imagine what those who spoke for Rehoboam said before he became power drunk?
The media and communication team of the APC in a combative press conference on March 3, 2023 in a response to Atiku and Obi separate press conferences said, “The combination of the disgruntled youths, the ethnic champions, and commercial clerics were the reason Obi thought he could win a presidential election in Nigeria.”
I don’t think we saw any disgruntled youths that voted during the election, but those that were frustrated and angered that their destinies had been mortgaged by the so called leaders.
The youths had spoken twice now. First with EndSARS and now through the 2023 election. They have the largest population and they are the ones that will elect the president after this dispensation!
If I were Tinubu, I will consult the elders and take to their advice so that history will not repeat itself as seen in the cases of Rehoboam and Obasanjo that lost their relevancies and kingdoms.
*Segun Adeleye is the President/CEO, World Stage Limited; Creator, OELA Music; and Founder/Chairman, Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa (SAFFGLIA).
NEWS
Edo Govt To Raise N160bn For Climate Project While Kidnapping Ravages The State… Is That What The People Need?
As kidnapping and violent crime continue to escalate across Edo State, the government has announced plans to raise N160 billion to tackle ecological challenges, raising serious questions about priorities in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Ecological Fund and Management Commission, Blessing Agbomhere, revealed during a press briefing on Wednesday that the funds would be raised through the Ecological/Climate Trust.
According to him, the Okpebholo Green Revolution for Edo is scheduled to launch next week.
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Agbomhere stated that Edo’s three-year budget would not be enough to remediate gully erosion sites across the state.
The over 60 gully erosion sites identified would be addressed in phases, with some remediation projects costing between N5 billion and N20 billion each.
The government also plans to plant one million trees in four years.
He further raised concerns over illegal sand mining, particularly in Edo South Senatorial District, revealing that many operators have no plans to restore the land after their operations, which continues to exacerbate erosion problems.
“A lot of companies are operating in Edo State. After their operation, they will leave the state without remediating the environment. We are calling on them to tell us their plans for remediation when they leave,” Agbomhere said.
While ecological initiatives are undeniably important, the timing and focus of the government are being questioned.
Kidnapping and insecurity are surging across the state, yet attention and resources are being directed toward environmental projects instead of immediate security measures.
At a time when fear dominates daily life for Edo citizens, raising millions for ecological projects while kidnappers roam freely sends a troubling message: are citizens’ lives being sidelined in pursuit of long-term environmental goals?
Biz Tellers raises the concern: shouldn’t security take precedence over climate projects when residents’ lives are under threat? The government insists that addressing ecological challenges is crucial for long-term development, but for many, this does not answer the urgent question of public safety.
As Edo faces both ecological and security challenges, the debate over government priorities intensifies.
The pressing question remains: is this really what the people need right now?
By Fred Itua
Godwin Obaseki’s latest outburst is not a surprise. It is simply the continuation of a pattern that Edo people came to recognize too late. His years in office were marked by intolerance, vindictiveness and a violent streak that constantly simmered beneath the surface. Those who worked closely with him still carry the scars of his temperament. His former deputy, Philip Shaibu, is the most glaring example.
Whatever their disagreement may have been, no rational leader plots the humiliation and removal of a deputy he once described as a brother. Yet Obaseki manipulated every institutional lever available to him to settle a personal score, using the House of Assembly as a pawn to crush a man whose only crime was falling out of favour with the lord of Osadebe Avenue.
In October 2022, Obaseki’s hateful tendencies were expended on those he promised to serve. He supervised the demolition of roughly one hundred homes across Oke-Oroma, Irhirhi-Obazagbon and Ogheghe communities. Residents insisted they held valid documents, including Certificates of Occupancy, yet he pushed ahead in defiance of a subsisting court order that had restrained any action pending the determination of their suit. The result was devastating. Thousands were displaced and property worth billions of naira were reduced to rubble. Such a vindictive man!
Edo people saw the full extent of this violence during the 2024 governorship election when Obaseki stood before cameras and threatened that Edo would burn if his preferred candidate lost. Those words were not the empty rant of a frustrated politician. They came from a man with a history of weaponizing state power, a man whose administration armed loyalists and created networks of political enforcers who blended easily into the criminal elements that then turned their guns on innocent citizens.
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It is no coincidence that the early days of the current administration were choked with spikes in kidnapping and armed robbery. These were not random crimes. They were the desperate convulsions of an ecosystem built, funded and empowered by Obaseki himself.
Governor Monday Okpebholo has had to stabilize a state that was deliberately left volatile. Through calm leadership and quiet strength, he has managed to rein in the chaos and restore public confidence. But Obaseki, instead of retreating into reflection, has doubled down.
His recent video in Birmingham reveals a man who cannot bear the reality that Edo people have moved on. He accused Okpebholo of being “stupid”, boasted that he is mobilizing the international community against him and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and threatened that the governor “will see”.
These are not harmless statements from an angry former office holder. They are calculated threats from someone who has never hidden his desire to destabilize Edo State whenever power slips from his grip.
He claims that a governor from Irrua cannot dictate to people in Benin. That remark alone exposes the dangerous tribal undertone of his politics. For eight years, he exploited ethnic sentiment to divide communities and isolate opponents. Now, he is attempting to ignite the same divisive flame against a governor who has only focused on governance, inclusiveness and development.
Obaseki’s language in that video is not only reckless, it is incendiary. It hints at an attempt to stir resentment, inflame divisions and rally hostility toward a government that is working hard to rebuild the damage he left behind.
His recent globe-trotting under the guise of “meet and greet” is now clearer for what it is: an effort to secure foreign sympathy, funding and legitimacy for a domestic political battle he has already lost. When a former governor openly brags about mobilizing the diaspora and the global community against the current leadership of his own state, it raises valid questions about intent.
What exactly does he need international pressure for? Why is he desperately trying to create a narrative of crisis where none exists? And who are the people he hopes to recruit from abroad? Edo people have not forgotten that this same man once threatened to burn down Nigeria during an election.
They have not forgotten that his private “security structure” terrorized communities under the cloak of political loyalty. They understand the implications of a former governor seeking global support while trading in fear and hostility.
The uncomfortable truth is that Obaseki’s comments suggest a willingness to collaborate with external actors to undermine the peace of Edo State. A man who once equipped foot soldiers and political enforcers is now boasting about global mobilization.
The link is not far-fetched. His post-tenure travel pattern, sudden desperation and inflammatory rhetoric open the possibility that he is seeking funds or tacit support to revive the political machinery that once served him; a machinery that slipped into criminality after he left office. Edo cannot afford to overlook this. A man who once used threats to bend institutions is now using threats to intimidate a sitting governor.
And yet, despite Obaseki’s attempt to twist reality, Monday Okpebholo has not threatened him. He has not weaponized ethnicity. He has not responded with abuse. All he has done is to remind the public that the records of Obaseki’s misrule are there for anyone to examine.
The refusal to swear in duly-elected lawmakers. The manipulation of the Assembly to serve private interests. The unprecedented decision to withhold the swearing-in of judges recommended by the National Judicial Council. The demolition of the central hospital without providing a viable alternative for ordinary people. These actions were not just bad governance; they were the height of arrogance and indifference to the people he claimed to represent.
It is ironic that Obaseki now accuses others of threatening him when his own record is littered with acts that undermined the wellbeing of Edo people. His fear is not Governor Okpebholo. His fear is accountability. His fear is that the fog of propaganda can no longer cover the damage he inflicted on institutions, communities and public trust. And so he runs abroad to find new allies, hoping that distance will distort the truth.
His attacks on Governor Okpebholo’s loyalty to President Bola Tinubu are even more revealing. By insisting that Okpebholo should not deliver votes to the President, Obaseki exposes the bitterness that comes from losing political relevance. But governance is not about ego. Performance is what earns support. And Okpebholo’s quiet but consistent reforms across infrastructure, security, social welfare and public administration already place him miles ahead of the eight years of stagnation that Obaseki left behind. Edo people are not blind. They know who is working. They know who listens. They know who respects them. No amount of foreign posturing will change that.
Obaseki’s latest rant is a dangerous escalation from a man struggling to remain politically relevant. It is an open threat to peace and a signal that he is willing to drag Edo into conflict just to nurse his bruised pride. Edo people and the federal government must treat this with the seriousness it deserves. A former governor openly encouraging dissent abroad while tribalizing politics at home is a security concern. His record, his words and his behavior suggest that he is not acting alone.
The time has come for security agencies to take Obaseki’s latest comments and conduct seriously. His public threats, global mobilization and divisive rhetoric raise red flags that cannot be ignored. A thorough probe is needed to determine the intent behind his statements and the networks he is attempting to activate.
His known supporters, online loyalists and political enforcers must be properly profiled and monitored to ensure they do not undermine the peace Edo State is currently enjoying. Edo cannot afford to slip back into instability, and every institution responsible for protecting public safety must act decisively before words escalate into something more dangerous.
Fred Itua, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo wrote from Benin City, Edo State
I have received calls, messages and other inquiries regarding the revocation of the CofO of Presco Plc by Governor Monday Okpebholo. The Secretary to State Government, Barr. Umar Musa Ikhilor, has robustly explained the issues.
Unfortunately, some folks, for obvious reasons, are still yearning for more answers. I’ll explain the facts and I hope this helps.
It has been established that the published Revocation Notice didn’t pass through the appropriate channels. Again, the actual number of hectares intended for excision from Presco Plc’s total landholding was grossly misrepresented in the published text.
For clarity, the Edo State Government has not revoked Presco Plc’s Statutory Right of Occupancy. What was under technical consideration was the excision of approximately 20 hectares—a clearly defined area—strictly limited to the portions of land containing strategic crude oil wells.
This excision became necessary because no individual or company can lawfully exercise proprietary rights over land where mineral resources are located, as such resources are vested exclusively in the Federal Government.
Section 44(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended) provides that:
“Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the entire property in and control of all minerals, mineral oils and natural gas in, under or upon any land in Nigeria shall vest in the Government of the Federation…”
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Section 1 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 similarly states that:
“…the entire ownership and control of all petroleum in, under or upon any lands in Nigeria shall be vested in the State (Federal Government)…”
Section 28 of the Land Use Act (1978) empowers government to revoke rights of occupancy strictly for overriding public interest, which includes matters relating to mineral exploitation.
The Edo State Government advises the general public, stakeholders, and Presco Plc to disregard the notice in its entirety.
Meanwhile, Governor Monday Okpebholo has initiated a formal administrative review to strengthen internal controls to prevent future breaches.
The administration of Governor Monday Okpebholo reiterates its commitment to transparent land administration, orderly engagement with investors, and the protection of public interest, particularly in matters involving national strategic assets such as oil and gas assets.
So, my people, no cause for alarm.
Fred Itua is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State.
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