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Simple Actions President Bola Tinubu Must Take Now by Olufemi Aduwo
Simple Actions President Bola Tinubu Must Take Now
by Olufemi Aduwo
Very Short Term:
The golden rule when you face a crisis of any sort is to allay fears of those concerned, including you, the leader. Fear kills more than bullets.
Mr. President, sir:
1. Get on the television and radio and reassure Nigerians that you are on top of the situation. It should not be a long speech at all but maximum of five minutes. Translate the speech into as many local languages as possible. Let the governors and parliamentarians do the same to percolate to the grassroots.
2. In that speech, plead for more understanding. Tell Nigerians you will address them again, in four weeks latest, on measures to address the situation. Reassure them that you will tackle the situation decisively. Take the advice I will give you here to your cabinet and the National Council of State so they can make inputs and perfect them.
3. Announce cuts in government expenditure especially the lifestyle of political leaders. Sir, don’t you wonder how Nigerians who bear these unbearable inflation survive? It’s not rocket science, Mr. President. The first rule under hyper-inflation is to go back to that rudimentary economics taught in the secondary school: Scarcity, Scale of Preference, Choices, Opportunity Cost.
This present crisis doesn’t need economic experts to solve. We only need to apply common sense!
(a) Prices are soaring because of scarcity.
(b) Our money can no longer buy all the things we used to buy.
(c) We now have to make a scale of preference. We need the things we need (not want) on a scale of preference. Non-essential things are off that list right away.
(d) We now make choices (priorities), purchases within that scale. This means that even not all the items that make that scale will make it in our Naira allocation.
(e) We now increase our earning to cover those items on that scale (remember they are essential) but even essential things vary in terms how essential. Some can tarry for a while.
Summary:
When in hyperinflation, don’t panic. Panic will complicate the problem. And may even kill. Smile broadly. Then, Think. Plan. Be honest. Have that will power.
That is how we have been surviving. Every poor, even illiterate Nigerian family heads; this is what they have been doing, sir. They may not know any economic terms, but that’s what they do. And I am writing here, as a social crusader with common sense; it is for you as the head of the Nigerian household economy, just do the above. Expenditure saved is income earned. It starts from you, Mr. President.
That moves us to the short term.
Short Term (After one year)
1. Stop all new civil projects at the federal level for the rest of the year. Advice states to do the same. Divert money saved to agriculture. It takes between three to eight months for most food crops in Nigeria to be ripen for harvest. Thank God, the food crisis is happening at the very beginning of the agric season. And, sir, a farmer that doesn’t plant at the beginning of the farming season, won’t reap anything at harvest time. That’s what Adam Smith meant in his ‘Theory of Factors of Production’. It doesn’t need PhD to understand and apply, sir.
2. Continue funding of already approved civil projects so that real income will not shrink in the blue collar sector. Do mostly direct labour so income can circulate to Nigerians.
3. Import strategic food e.g. rice, beans, tomatoes, pepper, groundnut oil, etc. There is no shame in this, sir. It’s food first in the hierarchy of needs. Whatever it will take in the short run, make food available to Nigerians. Don’t go into who caused the food problem, for now. ‘Ebi kii wo inu, ki nkan mii o wobe’. (A hungry person will not listen to any other thing except you give him or her food). The dead don’t eat food.
4. NNPCL must start pushing locally refined petrol (and diesel for the real sector). Meanwhile, give NNPCL dollar at controlled rate to import fuel. Call it subsidy or whatever name, if you like. Peg the sales to control prices and monitor ruthlessly. We are in serious crisis. Be ruthless, sir. Some people have said you can fast track Dangote. Anyhow. Just make fuel available, sir. Again, Adam Smith! Production!
5. Identify growers of major foodstuff and support them directly through state governments.
6. Release CBN probe report and government white paper. Sir, you are wasting too much time on this!
Medium Term (12-18 months):
1. Probe the banking sector and follow up with an enabling law to jail culprits.
Trial should be through Tribunals, not courts. Trial should be statute barred so that in ten months, the Supreme Court can give final judgments. From Tribunal to Appeal Court, to Supreme Court!
I know many of them are your paddy. But they have had enough, sir. Tell them ‘O To Ge’ (It’s enough). They will understand, if they are honest. They have bled Nigeria for too long. Nigeria must not die in your hands. Sing Sonny Okosuns hit track to them; “Which way Nigeria”.
Let’s save Nigeria. So Nigeria won’t die
2. Start Civil Servants Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal to jail corrupt civil servants. Like the bankers, the civil servants will also understand. Those doing the damage in the system are not more than two per cent of civil servants! You know this, Mr. President.
3. Rejig the National Food Policy to plan how we can be food sufficient. Sir, we have not been able to feed ourselves in Nigeria. Bible says a man not able to feed his family or household is not fit to head that family. It means if you are president and the nation is not self-sufficient in food production (not food importation), then you are not fit to be president, sir. I am not the one saying so, sir. It’s God. You are the Head of this household called Nigeria now by His grace. God has blessed us too much. What we cannot grow in Nigeria does not exist!
4. License new agric banks (at least 10 of them, facing agriculture funding squarely). They must be operational before the end of this year, nationwide.
To hell with all these criminal banks! License at least 50 small medium industry banks and 50 agriculture micro finance banks to start operations before December 2024. Commercial farming should be the goal here. They must be monitored to stay within their portfolios.
5. Make 40 modular refineries strategically located nationwide to be operational. State and local governments can save 50 per cent of their allocations for four months to own not more than 20 per cent equity in these small refineries within their states. This will not only solve the petrol problem on time but also serve as IGR for them in the near future.
Long Term (2 years and above):
1. Sustain medium-term policies highlighted above. In strategic road mapping, execution is key, sir.
(2.) Resume civil works in the public sector to create employment and incomes.
(3). Start agro processing for exports. No export of raw agriculture products again.
(4). Rejig all Federal Universities of Agric to face agriculture, or scrap them. State governments should start Universities of Agric. A state like Ogun with excess varsities and polytechnics should convert quite a number of them to Agric varsities with emphasis on practical training. All polytechnics should be converted to technical universities to work out how to manufacture so many things that we import, preparatory to banning their importation. Local industries cannot survive if we don’t ban these imports.
(5.) Sir, Adam Smith is turning in his grave, cursing Nigeria. We are poor because we do not produce, our taste is strictly for what we don’t produce! We can never be rich like that, unless we go into banking, politics or religion! Each time Nigerian Customs says it has made billions of Naira, I cry. They should make income from excise income (exports) not imports. Imports increase the need for dollars! Exports bring in dollars! Common sense nah.
(6.) Ban frivolous imports. Notice should have been given right now that in 12 months, these useless imports ‘are gone’. They are the ‘subsidies’ that must be ‘gone’, not the one on petrol. In the real sense, Mr. President, you actually ‘subsidize’ these frivolous items; toothpick, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. name it. Enter any supermarket or market, 80 percent of goods there are bought with dollars. So, when dollar goes up, the prices must go up. Sir, ban them! Don’t follow Reno Omokri’s lame advice that Nigerians should boycott imported goods. Omokri lives abroad. We here can only buy what we see. Enabling laws are needed here, so that if you display banned commodities, you go to jail. Please expand this for effective implementation of these laws.
(7.) My President, I have not suggested Price Controls. They don’t work. I am a practical person. I am driven by theories driven by research. There is no economic theory bigger than the Theory of Demand and Supply. So, do not waste time and money setting up price controls? The moment supply exceeds demand, prices will crash. And when we have excess food, we store, process and export to countries like Niger, Mali. We export to USA and UK. Check out the foodstuff prices in the UK. They are high sir. We can make good dollars and pounds exporting food to them there sir.
Finally, sir, execution is important. Our problem has always been lack of executive will, not lack of ideas. I have never been scared of any crisis in my life. As the crisis is brewing, God is already giving me ideas to tackle it. And it’s so for most Nigerians at household levels.
See, Mr. President, this economic crisis is no big deal if you want to tackle it. I swear. There is no need for any economic wizardry. We need just common sense and discipline or willpower. It’s the same way we manage our household income. It’s the same way my students are managing their incomes and expenditures! My students are fine! They are not happy, but they are fine. They are still making their hairs and coming to classes! But many of them have reduced what they eat and how many times they eat daily.
Me too, I no longer fry eggs. I boil them.
That way I save money on groundnut oil, salt, gas, onion and pepper. And if yam is not careful, I will ban it, like I did bread. No food is bigger than me in my household. I call the shots. Meat is only for my daughter now. At over 50, I don’t need meat. I take fish. Local fish. Not imported fish. It’s only our government and national assembly that have refused to change. They still use uncommon sense. Every household in Nigeria is applying the common sense!
Sir, economics is common sense made difficult!
Thank you for listening and being ready to take these actions, Mr. President.
Your patriotic subject,
Olufemi Samson Aduwo, Permanent Representative, CCDI to ECOSOC/United Nations.
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President Tinubu in Turkey: Guard of Honor and Strategic Agreements Signal New Era in Bilateral Relations
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, was accorded a full guard of honor during his official state visit to Turkey, a ceremonial reception reserved for world leaders and a strong signal of the respect Nigeria commands on the global stage.
The ceremony, held at the Turkish Presidential Complex in Ankara, featured military pageantry, national anthems, and formal protocol before high-level bilateral talks commenced.
The Presidency confirmed that President Tinubu briefly stumbled due to a camera cable while proceeding to the presidential lodge but stood up immediately and continued his engagements without interruption, stressing that the incident had no impact on the visit or his health.
More importantly, the visit delivered substantive diplomatic and economic outcomes. During talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 27, 2026, Nigeria and Turkey signed nine cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, covering military cooperation, higher education, diaspora policy, media and communication, halal accreditation, diplomatic training, and the establishment of a Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).
At a joint press conference, President Tinubu emphasized the need to deepen cooperation in security, trade, and economic development, while President Erdoğan reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and commitment to strengthening strategic ties.
With Turkey’s strengths in defense technology, intelligence, education, and industrial capacity, the agreements open new opportunities for technology transfer, security collaboration, trade expansion, and human capital development.
In essence, the Turkey visit stands as a diplomatic success, defined not by a fleeting moment, but by honor, respect, and concrete agreements that advance Nigeria’s security, economy, and international standing.
By Prince Adeyemi Shonibare
Preface: The Necessity of Historical Context
Every generation seeks its heroes. In music, this instinct often manifests through comparison—an exercise that frequently reveals more about contemporary taste than historical contribution. In recent years, public discourse, amplified by social media, has juxtaposed Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti with global Afrobeats icons, most notably Wizkid, provoking the recurring question of “greatness” in Nigerian music.
This essay does not diminish the accomplishments of Nigeria’s contemporary stars, whose global visibility is unprecedented. Rather, it offers a scholarly contextualization—one that distinguishes between musical origination and musical succession, and between cultural architecture and commercial dominance—while situating Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti firmly within the category of historical inevitability.
The Problem with Simplistic Comparison
Comparing Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti with contemporary Afrobeats performers is, by scholarly standards, inherently flawed.
Fela’s work transcended performance. He engineered an entire musical and ideological system, fused political philosophy with sound, and permanently altered the trajectory of African popular music. His output represents cultural authorship, not entertainment calibrated to market demand. Fela’s music is timeless precisely because it was never designed to be fashionable.
A Yoruba proverb captures this distinction with enduring clarity:
“Ọmọ kì í ní aṣọ púpọ̀ bí àgbà, kó ní akísà bí àgbà.”
A child may own many clothes, but he cannot possess the rags of an elder.
The proverb is not dismissive. It is instructive. It speaks to accumulated depth—experience earned, systems built, and legacies forged through time rather than trend.
Musicians and Artistes: A Necessary Distinction
A rigorous analysis requires conceptual precision. Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti was a musician in the classical and intellectual sense: a composer, arranger, bandleader, employer of musicians, multi-instrumentalist, theorist, and cultural philosopher. His work demanded mastery of form, orchestration, ideology, and discipline.
Fela composed extended works, trained orchestras, performed entirely live, and embedded African political consciousness into rhythm, harmony, and structure.
By contrast, many contemporary stars—though exceptionally gifted and globally successful—operate primarily as artistes: interpreters of sound whose work prioritizes studio production, performance aesthetics, and commercial reach. This is not a hierarchy of worth, but a distinction of function. Fela’s music demanded study and confrontation; contemporary Afrobeats prioritised accessibility, pleasure, and global circulation—often without courting antagonism.
Afrobeat: An Ideological Invention
Afrobeat, as conceived by Fela, was not merely a genre. It was an ideological framework. Jazz, highlife, Yoruba rhythmic systems, call-and-response traditions, and political chant were fused into a resistant, uncompromising form.
Modern Afrobeats—by Wizkid, Burna Boy, and others—are adaptations and descendants, not replicas. They have expanded Africa’s global cultural footprint, but expansion does not erase origination. Fela’s Afrobeat remains the undiluted prototype upon which contemporary success rests.
Enduring Legacy Beyond Mortality
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti passed in 1997, yet his influence has intensified rather than diminished. His legacy is evidenced by:
– Continuous academic study across global universities.
– International bands, many formed by people not alive at the time of his death, performing his works.
– FELABRATION, now a global annual cultural event.
– Broadway and international stage adaptations inspired by his life and music.
– Lifetime achievement and posthumous recognition by the Grammy Awards.
– Cultural centres, festivals, and scholarly conferences generating lasting intellectual and economic value.
This constitutes cultural permanence, not nostalgia.
Reconsidering Wealth and Sacrifice
Measured monetarily, Fela was not among the wealthiest musicians of his era. His radicalism came at an immense personal cost. He was beaten repeatedly. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was killed. His home was burned. Original artistic archives were destroyed during state-sanctioned violence by unknown soldiers, even though history records who authorised the actions.
Yet Fela gave voice to generations—from Ojuelegba to Mushin, Ajegunle to Jos, Abuja, and even the privileged enclaves of today’s ọmọ baba olówó. He toured globally with an unusually large band long before satellite television or social media could amplify his reach.
Like Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, Fela’s wealth exists beyond currency. It resides in influence, citation, adaptation, and endurance.
National and Global Recognition
Fela received a state burial in Lagos—an extraordinary acknowledgment from a military government he relentlessly criticised. Nations rarely honour dissenters so formally.
Globally, his stature aligns with figures such as James Brown, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones—artists whose music reshaped identity, politics, and social consciousness.
The Crowned Princes: Wizkid and the Ethics of Reverence
Nigeria’s modern stars—Wizkid, Burna Boy, 2Face Idibia, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tems, Olamide, among others—have achieved extraordinary global success. They are wealthier, more mobile, and more visible internationally than previous generations, and they deserve their accolades.
Wizkid, in particular, has consistently demonstrated reverence rather than rivalry toward Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti.
Femi Aníkúlápó Kuti has publicly stated:
“Wizkid loves Fela like a father.”
Wizkid has repeatedly supported FELABRATION, never demanding performance fees. The only times he has not appeared were occasions when he was not in the country. He has remixed Fela’s music, bears a Fela tattoo on his arm, and openly acknowledges Fela’s primacy.
A senior associate and long-time friend of Wizkid has affirmed that Wizkid adores Fela, would never equate himself with him—“in this world or the next”—and that recent tensions were reactions to provocation rather than assertions of equivalence.
This distinction matters. Wizkid’s posture is one of inheritance, not competition.
Seun Kuti and the Burden of Legacy
Seun Kuti is a musician of conviction and lineage. Yet relevance is best secured through original contribution rather than reactive comparison. Fela’s legacy does not require defence through controversy; it is already settled by history.
As William Shakespeare observed:
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
—Julius Caesar
The weight of inheritance can inspire greatness or provoke restlessness. History rewards those who build upon legacy, not those who contest it.
The Songs That Made Fela Legendary
Among the works that cemented Fela’s immortality are:
– Zombie
– Water No Get Enemy
– Sorrow, Tears and Blood
– Coffin for Head of State
– Expensive Shit
– Shakara
– Gentleman
– Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense
– Roforofo Fight
– Beasts of No Nation
These compositions remain sonic textbooks of resistance.
Fela in the Digital Age
Had Fela lived in the era of social media, his voice would have resonated far beyond Africa. His music would have found kinship among global movements confronting inequality, oppression, and social injustice.
“Music is the weapon.”
—Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti
Weapons, unlike trends, endure.
Placing Greatness Correctly
Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti’s greatness does not require comparison. He is the great-grandfather of Afrobeat—the musical and cultural architect who cleared the roads upon which today’s Afrobeat princes now travel.
Honouring contemporary success does not diminish historical achievement. To understand Nigerian music’s global relevance is to understand Fela. History, when read correctly, is both generous and precise.
Prince Adeyemi Shonibare writes on culture, music history, and African creative industries. He is a media and events consultant based in Nigeria.
Years after a petition alleging abuse of office, intimidation and institutional misconduct was submitted against operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Hajia Mazangari has drawn public attention to the matter once again, expressing concern over what she described as prolonged institutional silence and the absence of any known resolution.
The controversy arose from a bank draft transaction involving a sum running into several millions of naira, reportedly issued in the name of “EFCC Clients Account” and handed over to one Habibu Aliyu.
According to the account contained in the petition, Hajia Mazangari was later contacted by her bank and informed that an EFCC operative allegedly approached the bank, requesting that the draft earlier issued by her be cashed into another personal account.
The bank reportedly declined the request, insisting that the draft could only be re-issued in the name of a new beneficiary in compliance with established banking regulations. Attempts by Hajia Mazangari, through her solicitor, to retrieve the original bank draft allegedly resulted in hostility from Habibu Aliyu and Ruqqaya Ibrahim, with the situation escalating into what the petition described as sustained malice, intimidation and humiliation.
“It is as a result of this unending malice, torture and humiliation that we passionately plead to you, sir, to save our client who has been run aground by people with personal vendetta disguising as public officers,” the petition read.
In a further petition dated 14 January 2020 and addressed to the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, through her counsel, Ibrahim Salawu, Esq., Hajia Mazangari alleged that Habibu Aliyu (a former staff of the EFCC), Ruqqaya Ibrahim (a serving EFCC staff), Mohammed Goje (a serving EFCC staff) and one Mustafa Gadanya (a former staff of the EFCC) had, on various occasions, stormed her family residence in Kaduna.
According to the petition, copies of which were obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, the individuals allegedly accused her, her son and his associates of being involved in a pension scam, insisting that they were “neck-deep” in the alleged fraud and would be dealt with and made to face prosecution.
Hajia Mazangari maintained that the accusations were unfounded and that the repeated visits amounted to intimidation and abuse of authority.
In a related development at the time, counsel to Ahmed and Fatima Mazangari, Barrister Ibrahim Salawu, also wrote to the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court seeking the reassignment of their case to another court, following the elevation of the presiding judge to the Court of Appeal and the resultant irregular sittings of the court.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations contained in the petitions, efforts to obtain an official response from the EFCC at the time reportedly proved abortive.
Years later, Hajia Mazangari maintains that the institutional silence that greeted her complaints has persisted. She faulted the former Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, for allegedly failing to address the concerns raised in the petitions.
She further accused the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, of failing to intervene or cause a review of the matter despite being formally notified.
According to her, the situation has not changed under the current leadership of the EFCC, which she claims has continued in what she described as the same pattern of silence and inaction, leaving the issues raised unresolved several years after the petitions were submitted.
She also raised concerns over the continued service of an officer identified as Mohammed Goje at the EFCC office in Gombe, noting that other officers of similar standing were reportedly dismissed in the past for corrupt practices. She questioned why no publicly known disciplinary or investigative outcome has emerged from her complaints.
Hajia Mazangari stressed that her decision to speak out again is not based on any fresh incident, but on the need to draw public attention to an unresolved matter which, in her view, underscores broader concerns about institutional accountability. She called on relevant authorities and oversight bodies to revisit the petitions and ensure that the issues raised are conclusively addressed in accordance with the law.
When contacted for comments on the allegations and the renewed public attention surrounding the matter, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had not responded as at the time of filing this report.
However, the Commission is hereby afforded the right of reply and is free to present its position or clarifications on the issues raised.
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