MekunnuKoya

                     POLITICS OF EMILOKAN AND POVERTY OF PHILOSOPHY

The philosophy of the politics of ‘Emilokan’ (ie. turn-by-turn) can best be defined as claiming the right of entitlements by individuals or group of people (ethnic) to the topmost position of the president that is responsible in sharing other offices down the lanes and the attending economic fortunes to followers amongst the ruling class.

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This philosophy has always been there, before proclaimed by Bola Tinubu for reason of personal interest and desperation towards the 2023 general elections. This was the case towards the fourth republic in 1999 as the ruling elites in Nigeria conceded the position of the president by consensus to the Yoruba elites in order to persuade them of denial and wrong doing of the past meted against MKO Abiola who won the presidential election of the June 12 1993 but had it annulled. It was for this consideration that the three existing political parties had a consensus to choose between two Yoruba ruling elites – Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae. Olusegun Obasanjo invariably won the election and steered the affairs of the country for the next eight years (1999 – 2007). So what could have been more than ‘Awalokan’ than this for the Yoruba. But rather than the government led by Olusegun Obasanjo meeting the needs and aspirations of the poor and the working people that include those of the Yoruba; instead the interest of the rich was given priority at the instance of the poor. This therefore put pay to such philosophy as ill informed but only meant to deceive the mass of the people in order to gain political advantage of gathering votes from the Yoruba ethnic group and achieve elite consensus among different factions of the political elites.

A northerner in person of Umar Yar’adua succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo, but could not complete his tenure for reason of ill health and death. The vice president, Goodluck Jonathan completed the two years in office and subsequently spent another four years. By 2015, the northern political elites rose in unison to the occasion to lay claim to rights of entitlements. This was how Mohammed Buhari gained power in 2015 and spent eight years (two terms of four years) in office as president of the federal Republic of Nigeria under the political platform of All Progressive Congress (APC).

At the time Bola Tinubu raised the issue of ‘Awalokan/ Emilokan’ as rights of entitlements in 2022 by way of a slogan to be used in mobilising the people of Yoruba, the political party led by him, All Progressive Congress had been in office for about eight years but a failure. So the need for extra ordinary strategy of mobilisation became imperative as means of appealing to ethnic sentiment in order for the APC and Bola Tinubu to gain votes of the Yoruba. But the Yoruba being politically conscious in comparison with other ethnic groups in the country resisted the alibi of Bola Tinubu and his bedfellows. Lagos, the most urbanised city of the country with huge concentration of the Yoruba and other ethnic groups rejected Bola Tinubu and his political party, APC at the polls. Not only that, he was also rejected in Osun State his country home. He became the most unpopular head of state – president ever elected in the history of Nigeria and he won by only a little over thirty percent of the total votes casted in the presidential election of 2023. The North where he recorded the highest votes would have been embarrassed by the unfolding events of him not having dominant support of the Yoruba.

On assumption of office he further moved rightwards with his anti-poor policies that has subjected the working people to untold and unprecedented hardship in the history of the country. He made good his threat to impose IMF and World Bank policy of removing fuel subsidy (another name for hike in the price of fuel) and dared the labour movement who have been kicking against this. The same day of making his Pius declaration, statistics in respect of the economy revealed how this turned Nigerian situation upside down with consequent implications to the well being of the people.

Nigerian population represents one out of four people in Africa and the highest producer of oil in Africa and Seventh in the world. This put Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, but today under Bola Tinubu, the economy has receded to number five in Africa after South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco

Other unfavourable statistics include inflation now put at 31.7percent (from 22.4percent), this is higher in respect of food inflation that jumped to 70percent. 50percent of Nigerian population now live below poverty line of $1 per day. The rate of underemployment and unemployment stand at 22percent and 33percent respectively. Youth unemployment is 53.40percent.

The value of the local currency – Naira depreciated by 500percent but the wages of Nigerians only increased by 233percent. Such minimum wage of N70,000 per month could not buy a bag of rice that rose to not less than N85,000 for 50kg. While N30,000 minimum wage per month on being introduced in 2019 could buy about one and a half bag of 50kg rice sold for N19,000. The minimum wage is therefore not able to meet the basic needs of the working people; while the people in government choose luxurious kind of life, thereby making social inequality inevitable by increasing the huge gap between the rich and the poor.  

Not a little money finds itself away from the country’s treasury by way of the transaction for corruption. For instance, a report confirms how $400billion out of $700 billion revenue of the country ended up in way of corruption. The imbalance in the economy skewed against the working people is so much and alarming. This is the more reason that while the poor find it difficult to feed and cry of hunger six average banks – Wema, Stanbic, Access, UBA, GTB, and Sterlin Bank recorded superfluous profits of N3.11Trillion (2023). These are the banks that find it difficult to give out loans to grow businesses as the interest rate of over 20percent offered is killing to make any profit. Infrastructural deficiency especially in the energy sector has been a serious hindrance in the way of growing the economy. Not a few companies are leaving in drove for this reason. Accumulated debts earlier put at $91.46billion as at last year has increased in geometrical proportion under the present government. The government instead of addressing the varied problems and challenges confronting the working people, they care less but compounding the problems by introducing different types of taxes and increasing the existing ones (cost of airtime and data, bank charges, electricity charges, etc,) to be paid by the average Nigerians who are struggling for survival.

Federal government led by Bola Tinubu wants the rest of the poor Nigerians to follow his dictation on austerity measures but themselves engaged in stupendous spending as follows:

• Expenses on the last Hajj pilgrimage – N500billion
• National Assembly Car Park – N6billion
• National Recreational Facilities – N4billion
• Office of the First Lady cars – N1.5billion
• Buying more presidential aircraft and Yatcht for president convenience.

This attack on the economic well being of the working people is responsible for having 133million (62.99percent) of Nigerians as multidimensional poor. This caused the provocation and inevitable resistance of the youths to express their hanger with the 2020 and 2024 #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protests respectively across the country.

The successive governments of APC in the last twelve years led by Mohammed Buhari and Bola Tinubu have been one of insensitivity to the plights of the working people. Tinubu in the last two years has come to expose the Abacha in him as a typical dictator in the way he clamped down on the youths, many of whom were minors for protesting against hunger that is their lots. Some of the protesters were killed and maimed while some others arrested were moved from Kano to Abuja without the knowledge of their families. These protesters were badly treated while in the custody of correctional services as they were denied food as a weapon of submission. On the next adjourned date in court report had it how one of the protesters could not withstand the rigours of detention and this led him to collapse in court when their case was to commence.

The action of the Bola Tinubu led central government in the recent period in Rivers State where he declared the state of emergency and thereby removed the governor, Siminalaye Fubara and the deputy governor, Ngosi and the other legislators from office while installing a sole administrator (retired military officer) for the next six months amounts to another aberration tantamount to illegality and dastardly breach of the constitutional order. There is no provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria giving the president such power to act in this way. Such action is therefore superfluous and a negation of a federalist constitutional order. This is a president who came to power upon the promise of a true federalism but instead beheading the existing federalist principle and praxis however imperfect this might be in practice.

It is ridiculous to note that the state of emergency was declared in Rivers State by the president where there was relative peace but political family disagreement; while the government felt unconcerned about the situation in parts of the North and East where challenges of insecurity is obvious even for the deaf. This is a clear indication that politics was involved in the declaration rather than the state of war, social disorderliness and natural calamity – conditions stipulated by the constitution as requisite for the declaration of state of emergency.

The philosophy of Emilokan should therefore be understood for what it is, as one that stands for opportunism to benefit only the rich class while the poor and working people are made poorer and their life span being shortened. It is in this sense that Bola Tinubu led government can best be described as a killer, a typical way of defining a killer by means of manslaughter.    

By Biodun Olamosu

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