Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Last Friday, pictures emerged from the UK showing President Bola Tinubu seated in what appeared to be a private office.
He was dressed in a casual navy blue zip-up jacket and matching baseball cap, seemingly too relaxed for someone with an economy in turmoil back home.
The room looked familiar, similar to the one he used for his photo shoots during the campaigns. The background featured wood-panelled walls, red velvet drapery, and an ornately carved wooden desk. A cup of tea sat on the table, while his Special Assistant on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, was seated across from him.
It was proof of life; the first image of the President Nigerians had seen since he departed Abuja for a two-week working leave to the United Kingdom, on October 2.
Masari tweeted, “Today, I had the honour of visiting President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu GCFR at his private residence in the United Kingdom, where we engaged in productive discussions. We then departed for Paris, France, for another important engagement.”
Masari’s post suggested that, perhaps, Nigeria’s challenges require solving only in rooms across European capitals and that the real work of nation-building happens only in foreign lands – if charity begins at home, it can begin abroad too.
However, the President’s Special Adviser, Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said “President Tinubu is on leave for two weeks. He is not restricted to the UK. It is his private time. He can go anywhere he so desires. He is still observing his leave.”
For many Nigerians, though, the recent hike in petrol pump prices seemed like a good enough reason to recall the President from leave, much like an employee recalled during an emergency.
It’s no news that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company raised the fuel price to N1,030 per litre in Abuja, up from N897 just the previous month.
In Lagos, prices are hovering around N998 per litre, while other parts of the country, including the northeast, are experiencing prices over N1,100.
This marked the second price hike in less than a month, contributing to growing frustration among Nigerians who are already grappling with the high cost of living.
In the wake of the price surge, many filling stations temporarily closed, leading to long fuel queues as citizens scrambled to buy petrol.
The NNPC attributed the surge to a combination of factors, including the withdrawal of its exclusive supply agreement with Dangote Refinery and Nigeria’s reliance on market forces following the full deregulation of the petroleum sector.
The price hike follows the removal of the fuel subsidy earlier in 2023, which had already caused a sharp increase in fuel prices.
On the side, the Federal Government is heavily preaching the alternative gospel of Compressed Natural Gas. However, the adoption rate, impeded by high conversion costs and scepticism, feels like trying to win the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race driving the 1970 Volkswagen Beetle.
Nonetheless, the President appears resolute to continue his annual leave. After all, it’s a “working leave,” as we saw from Masari’s tweet last Friday.
In the meantime, he spent the past week operating through his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and wishing a ton of happy birthdays to his October-born friends and mourning with those who were grieving.
On Monday, Tinubu declared open the 6th Economic and Financial Crimes Commission/National Judicial Institute Capacity Building Workshop for Justices and Judges at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja.
In his address, he said frivolous appeals, alleged intimidation of judges by lawyers and judgments delivered on the grounds of technicalities are factors impeding the war against corruption in Nigeria. He argued that these factors will continue to hamper the speedy adjudication of corruption cases until they are curtailed.
The President urged the judiciary to ensure that the courts have the required knowledge to handle cases involving these new forms of crime.
Later that day, Tinubu, played arbiter for the umpteenth time in the Rivers State political crisis when he urged Governor Siminalayi Fubara, political leaders and their supporters to exercise restraint and uphold the rule of law.
Tinubu asked the political actors and their supporters to settle their differences in court and ordered the Nigeria Police to restore order, overriding an earlier directive by the Inspector-General of Police.
On Tuesday, he declared open the 54th annual accountants’ conference in Abuja, pledging to leverage technology to bolster fiscal transparency and improve governmental efficiency.
On the birthday scene, Tinubu penned personal tributes to the ex-National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Chief Jola Ogunlusi, 90, and the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede who turned 70.
He also felicitated renowned businesswoman, Mrs Bola Shagaya, at 65, the CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa at 62, Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State at 63 birthday.
The president also felicitated Nigerians who clinched influential spots on the international scene. They are the Managing Director of the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority, Dr Olufemi Ogunyemi, who was elected to the Board of World Free Zone Organisation and Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, who became the first African to be elected President of the Union for International Cancer Control.
Tinubu mourned with the Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, over the passing of his father, Alhaji Abdullahi Sabi and the Group CEO of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, over the death of his daughter.
As the President worked remotely, his wife, the First Lady received an Okorocha gift from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, in Île-Ife, Osun State.
Remember that year when the former Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, kept moulding prominent people as part of his governance strategy? The revered monarch may have been taking notes.
To mark his 50th birthday on October 17, he unveiled the OJAJA hostel, a 2.7-kilometre road and a pavilion named in Mrs Tinubu’s honour at the Obafemi Awolowo University, her alma mater. That included a golden statue of her at the school’s campus.
The First Lady thanked the Ooni for the gesture and announced a donation of N1bn for the restoration of the “horticultural landscape” of the university.
“The campus used to be beautiful when I was here. Ife is crying out for help. It used to be a beautiful campus, and the beauty must be restored,” she said.
Who knows? Maybe restoring the beauty would involve more statues.