By OKECHUKWU OGBOO

There is nothing Tinubu does that will surprise me. But it surprises me when Nigerians express surprise at what is happening in Nigeria under the regime of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Many have said that Tinubu has no agenda and capacity to fulfil the constitutional primary purpose of government, which is the security and welfare of the people. Nigerians opine that Tinubu and his gang are heartless, insensitive, and inhumane. With everything going on, it seems Nigerians are not far from the truth in their opinion. I have argued elsewhere that expressing surprise at Tinubu’s non-performance in government is like complaining that the devil does evil or crying so loud about the evil the devil does.

In my “Is Tinubu Not Pouring “P?t?p?t?” On the Faces of Nigerians with His Speeches?” (Pegasus Reporters, 9 November 2025), I showed copious reasons to conclude that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and those he surrounds himself with are daily pouring “p?t?p?t?” on the faces of Nigerians with the president’s few and far between speeches.” Now, the president is burying Nigerians in the “p?t?p?t?” with the use of appointments and selections into his government to reward more charlatans.

So, when some of my friends called me to express surprise at the list of ambassadorial nominees sent to the National Assembly by Tinubu, I responded that I am not surprised and that I will never be. However, Americans will say: “never say never.” So, what may surprise me will be:

• If Reno Bemigho Omokri is not appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to the United Nations by Tinubu.

• If David Oluwafemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode is not appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States of America by Tinubu.

• If Professor Mahmood Yakubu is not appointed Nigeria’s ambassador to Canada by Tinubu.

I will not even be surprised if Nigerians fail to seize the moment to protest conclusively that the above-named characters and a few others in the list will never feature as Nigeria’s representatives in any foreign country, not even Somali, Guinea Bisau, or Afghanistan. Afterall, the posturing of invincibility by our politicians has been demystified by a mere announcement by the POTUS that there will be consequences if they fail to shape up on the killing of innocent people in Nigeria by state-sponsored terrorists. Before Trump’s proposed intervention, the slaughtering and massacre of Nigerians never bothered or attracted the attention of our so-called leaders for years running. But they are now running helter-skelter! Whether they are real in what they are doing now or pretending about it, to me, it’s too little, too late. Millions of Nigerians that shouldn’t have died have been killed. Millions of our women that shouldn’t have ever been seen near these rag tags have been raped and painfully violated by them. Above all, almost every Nigerian has become criminally disoriented simply because those who snatched and grabbed power have failed to do what should be done with power: ensure the security and welfare of Nigerians.

While Tinubu has suddenly learnt to announce to the world about his trip cancellations, Godswill Akpabio is begging Nigerians never to say that he ever mentioned Trump’s name anywhere in his life, admitting with visible fear that Donald Trump is on their necks. All these point to what some of us have been saying since – these criminal politicians do not care about Nigerians, and they are cowards. They use Nigeria’s brand of politics to corner our common wealth for only themselves, their families and cronies, and cower the Nigerian people into painful silence and submission. They are scampering for their safety now only because they have suddenly discovered that Trump is on their necks. Otherwise, the killings could continue unabated. Have you noticed that the Tinubu personal song (or anthem) – on your mandate we stand…, - which members of the legislature and the judiciary have introduced to replace our national anthem, has been suspended temporarily until they are through with saving their necks from Trump? Shame! Even if it will take the devil to demolish these criminal politicians masquerading as leaders, Nigerians will care less!

We have just seen the with-immediate-effect resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (an alleged die-hard terrorist sympathiser and sponsor) as the minister of defence. He claimed health reasons for his resignation. I responded to the text messages from my friends about the resignation on health grounds, thus: “The mendaciousness of Tinubu and his APC people calls for caution in accepting what they say. Not long ago, the former chairman of APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje also resigned on health grounds. But Nigerians know what happened after a couple of weeks of his resignation.”

Resignation by top office holders (whether elected, selected, or appointed), is both rare and strange in Nigeria, even in the face of serious scandals and public outcry against their larceny and other atrocities they perpetrate. But they get away with everything unimaginable because of the docility of the Nigerian people. My father used to say that the millipede, with its million legs, moves annoyingly sluggishly because it finds itself in towns where people do not eat it; in towns and countries where millipede is part of their meal, Usain Bolt will come a distant second.

The question is: should we continue on the trajectory of merely mouthing blame on Tinubu for Nigeria’s descent into a failed state? Or do we look ourselves in the mirror and ask questions about what Nigeria has become and why the likes of Tinubu still hold sway? A man that the Nigerian press has praised to the high heavens as a master strategist cannot strategize to halt the flow of the blood of innocent Nigerians on the streets and bushes of Nigeria! What an irony? Tinubu has the responsibility, as it were, for the security and welfare of the Nigerian people and must prioritize good governance. It no longer matters in the circumstance whether he was truly elected by Nigerians or snatched and grabbed power. It is on behalf of Nigerians that he is occupying that office in Aso Villa as president, and Nigerians should not fold their hands and allow him to maintain a murderous silence in the face of state-sponsored terrorism and insurgency. We must monitor and continuously appraise the operation of that social contract we entered into with him and other elected individuals.

Something in my mind keeps telling me that we should ask ourselves two of many questions at a time like this: One, are we all fools in Nigeria? Two, have over 200 million Nigerians become so denuded of any sense of serious legitimate actions to extricate ourselves from the strangle hold of just one man or a handful? If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, then we should all doff our hats to Tinubu and hold ourselves wholly responsible for his ascendancy - from Senator to Governor to the National Leader of the Ruling Party, and now, to Aso Villa as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, despite all the bags and baggage on his head, hanging around his neck and all over his body.

It should be deeply concerning that in a country where we claim to have patriots, wise men and women, and highly educated people (Professors, Ph.ds, Masters, Bachelors, HNDs and all the high-end professional designations, in all fields of study), a man who doesn’t seem to be garbed in any of these attributes, and who declared openly in 1997 that he doesn’t believe in one Nigeria, is today the president of the same one Nigeria, and uses the power he snatched and grabbed to traumatize all of us. And no persons and/or institutions are holding him responsible and accountable, until the president of another country made a statement about consequences, a word that is not in the dictionary of the Nigerian criminal politicians.

To be clear: I am not a fan of any Nigerian politician and I have said this repeatedly and boldly. But it is worrisome that the so-called opposition parties or politicians are busy opposing themselves while Tinubu is succeeding in caging Nigeria for himself and his cronies alone. Peter Obi, for example, is only out there shouting that he is not desperate to be president. And so, what…? When have ambition and desperation become crimes that one should labour always to distance himself from them? Desperation is not a crime; it is what one is desperate about that could be of concern. Ipso facto, it does not make any sense to continue to spin unnecessary narratives around one’s innocuous desperation to become the president of Nigeria if the objective is really “to make Nigeria work again...” To me, it is Atiku Abubakar’s desperation that may be worrisome, haven failed many times, making the same mistake.

In my published article quoted herein, I also said: “Unfortunately, there is no opposition to latch in on the situation to do the needful. The irony is that the APC and Tinubu rode on the weakness of PDP and Jonathan to snatch power, but the pusillanimity of Nigeria’s opposition parties may pave the way for Tinubu to escape the brutal tragedy of history.” So, let Tinubu ride on with his gang, and let’s just doff our hats to him!

•Okechukwu Ogboo, B.Sc., MBA, CIM, FCA, writes from Calgary, Canada.

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