Promise Adiele
For the sake of public decency, let us immediately rescue the title of this essay from the depths of immoral, lewd byways of the mind. Whenever penetration and withdrawal occur in any context, they remotely convey sexual idiosyncrasies which presuppose carnal indulgence or tactile gratification. Sex means many things to different people, but for the literary cognoscente, it could be a metaphor to elucidate various issues for public enlightenment. Sex imagery provides compelling illustrations to capture the nuanced province of interaction. In this essay, I have no intention to discuss sex, rather, I will deploy sex imagery, using penetration and withdrawal, the two most relevant words in the sexual act, to x-ray how the present government headed by Mr. Bola Tinubu has ravaged Nigeria through violent, reprehensible penetration. Given that Tinubu’s cruel penetration of Nigeria through his policies has left the country in utter ruins, Nigerians urge him to immediately consider withdrawal, even if it means stewing in the juice of heightened bodily exacerbation. Tinubu has penetrated Nigeria, but his penetration of the country is painful, soul-wrenching, and vicious. To save the country from further anguish, he must withdraw his current penetration and penetrate again in a more humane, considerate way.
Tinubu first penetrated Nigeria, devastating the nerve centres of the country by scrapping fuel subsidy with a wave of the hand during his inauguration in Abuja. That decision, without any procedure to mitigate the severe effects on the people, has plunged the country into the yawning abyss of economic wreckage. During the campaigns, all the presidential candidates avowed that they would scrap fuel subsidy from day one. Tinubu also said so. Perhaps he may have stolen the answer without the formula. He appropriated the machinery without the operating manual. It remains to be seen if the other presidential candidates would have scrapped fuel subsidy without making provisions to cushion its excruciating effects on Nigerians already scourged beyond redemption by Buhari’s eight years of nightmarish torpor. Scrapping the fuel subsidy was a ruthless penetration devoid of all the titillating sensations that accompany normal penetration in the sexual act. There lies the paradox. Therefore, Tinubu must necessarily, as a matter of urgency, withdraw this obnoxious penetration and find a way to alleviate the brutal aftermath on Nigerians.
Although I would not want to be specific or mention names, I am compelled to respond to Prof. Farouk Kperogi’s assertion that Peter Obi would have removed fuel subsidy and Nigerians would have still been in the same economic cesspool as they are now. I disagree with Kperogi. Peter Obi is not Bola Tinubu. Agreed that Obi would have removed fuel subsidy, he would have done it responsibly by providing a workable mechanism that would ameliorate the sufferings of the people. Bola Tinubu has never managed wealth on a personal level beyond politics. The only industry known to him is politics. He does not know how to turn one naira into five naira. He does not understand economic mathematics. That was why he scrapped fuel subsidy without considering the spiralling effects on the masses. He unconscionably penetrated Nigerians and now, that penetration is painful, devoid of any iota of pleasure which normal penetration confers.
Recently, the IMF announced that the Nigerian government is secretly paying to subsidize fuel. There is a whole lot of confusion going on and unfortunately, it continues to increase the intensity of economic crucible on Nigerians. Tinubu’s penetration of Nigeria through the removal of oil subsidy is painful therefore we urge him to withdraw immediately and slowly penetrate again by initiating a workable prognosis that would assuage the severe realities on the people. The level of material poverty in Nigeria is award-winning. For many ordinary people, life and living have become untold horror reminiscent of daily purgatorial actualities The wretched of the earth, the downtrodden, are currently facing gradual extermination through hunger and lack of basic survival essentialities. The middle class, made up of millions of educated people, have become victims of the marauding beast of poverty across Nigeria. Never mind all the pretences and shows of wellness, people are suffering as the prices of goods and services blow off the roof with uncontrolled vehemence. How families survive daily is a mystery deserving of inquest. Yet, people still survive through inexplicable means.
Tinubu has pulverized Nigerians by penetrating them with profligacy and puzzling acts of ostentation. His proclivity to waste Nigeria’s commonwealth is painful and unbearable, therefore he must withdraw and become more prudent in frittering away our collective patrimony. Last October, in his bid to comprise all the lawmakers in Nigeria and forestall possible impeachment, he approved a whopping 57 billion naira to purchase cars for them. This was at a time when Nigerians were grovelling in frustration and poverty. The penetration became deeper when he proposed to spend 5 billion naira on a presidential yacht and a further 1.5 billion naira for vehicles for the illegitimate office of the first lady. A staggering 24 billion naira to subsidize the Hajj pilgrimage when Nigerians are immersed in hunger smacks of insensitivity from Mr. President. He penetrated further by approving 500 million naira for the inauguration of an ordinary committee on minimum wage. He appointed his son-in-law Mr Oyetunde Ojo as the MD/CEO of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and immediately approved 126.5 billion naira for the delivery of 100,000 units of houses across the country in eighteen months. By continuously penetrating the Nigerian commonwealth, Mr. President demonstrates financial recklessness which has partly contributed to the country’s present economic woes.
Mr. President’s penetration of Nigeria through knee-jerk, elementary, short-term approaches to ending the riveting poverty across the country is not only ridiculous but disconcerting and painful. What rationale was behind taking a loan of $800 million and giving each state governor the colossal amount of 5 billion naira to provide palliatives in their states? As a seasoned accountant and a master strategist, Tinubu ought to realize that many Nigerian governors will, in response to their gluttonous impulses, appropriate 99% of the funds while the people will continue to wallow in the whirlwind of poverty and hunger. In cases where the genuinely committed governors provide the palliatives, how long will some cups of rice and a few food items last for a family? $800 million would have gone a long way to providing a sustainable program that would reduce poverty among the populace even if minimally. So, Mr. President only succeeded in sharing free money with the governors while Nigerians continued to gnash their teeth in anguish. It is a malicious kind of penetration to continue to embark on such cosmetic approaches as a response to the growing poverty in the country. Mr. President should withdraw from this validation-seeking, ego-tripping penetration of the country. It serves no purpose.
Another kind of painful penetration which also bears the plumage of collective insult on Nigerians is the continual blaming of the past lethargic Buhari administration as a source of the country’s current economic misery. For Tinubu, the Buhari administration was so perfect that he swore to continue from where the Daura maladroit army general stopped. On many occasions, Tinubu openly praised the Buhari administration for stellar performance in all sectors. Therefore, it would amount to extended insolence for Tinubu and his co-conspirators to point half a finger at the last administration for plummeting the country into the present economic morass. Before the election, Tinubu declared that he had studied Nigeria all his life and knew the solution to the country’s socio-economic challenges. He asked Nigerians to hold him responsible if he failed. It is obvious to all the elementals that populate terrestrial and ecclesiastical order that Tinubu has failed spectacularly. To continue to blame the Buhari administration is a painful, tortuous penetration which requires immediate withdrawal. Governance requires empathy, strategy, compassion and self-abnegation for the good of the populace. All these are lacking in the Tinubu administration which is why the country is in bleeding turmoil.
The current APC government headed by Bola Tinubu should withdraw all the abominable, despicable categories of governance into which they have submerged Nigeria. A government that does not have any identifiable economic blueprint is headed for the rocks. The bazaar and extravagance must stop immediately. To fix prices of goods and services and harass innocent business people in their legitimate endeavor for survival is a rascal attitude that should be corrected by reason. Tinubu’s penetration of Nigeria from different angles is gradually pushing the country to a precipice. If nothing is done and urgently too, the country will implode. The heavens are angry. The land upon which we stand is angry. Prices of essential commodities continue to balloon. The naira continues to lose value. Millions of Nigerians are angry. It is not too late for Mr. President to withdraw and redirect his penetration. Otherwise, Nigeria will certainly and inevitably collapse.
However, if Mr. President does not have the capacity to lead Nigeria, let him embrace the ultimate withdrawal – resign. Millions of Nigeria cannot match to Golgotha for crucifixion because of the ambition of one man. Advising Tinubu to resign is in order because he also asked Jonathan to resign on many occasions. In 2014, during the public declaration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed for a second term in Ilorin Kwara State, Tinubu avowed “in any civilized country, Jonathan should resign”. All the conditions that made Tinubu to ask Jonathan to resign have graduated in leaps and bounds. It is only logical that Tinubu should withdraw his penetration and resign if the conditions in Nigeria do not improve. In any civilized country, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should resign.
Promise Adiele PhD
Promee01@yahoo.com
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