WEEP FOR NIGERIA, NOT TINUBU

Whatever you want to call it, what occurred yesterday at Chatham House London was a total farce. The Bola Tinubu managers seriously stumbled and botched the situation. He was presented as a packaged invalid. It would have been preferable to portray him as a smart politician and administrator who is capable of having independent thinking, flaws and all. No man is flawless. It would have been easier to forgive and accept his mistakes… He was expected to promote his own goals and objectives.

However, what we witnessed yesterday was an absurdist theater. It brought back memories of our late great president Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and how some of his advisors presided over the country by proxy while he inexplicably vanished from radar. In 2010, I participated in the Enough-is-Enough rally in Abuja against the Yar’Adua cabal. With the advantage of hindsight, what was unacceptable back then is even more unacceptable today. Friendship should not come before our country.

The truth is that some acolytes’ obscene ambitions to maintain their relevance in the power structure at the expense of the long-suffering country frequently exacerbate Nigeria’s problems.

Everyone who was with Tinubu yesterday knew the unpleasant truth but decided to deceive Nigerians. One of them was seen urging Tinubu to dance to the hit song Buga by Kizz Daniel because “that’s what the millennials want to see,” according to a viral video. And lo and behold, Tinubu changed into a skilled choreographer right away.

It’s very terrible and sad that every time we believe Nigeria will never fall further into chaos, something happens to shake us out of our complacency. When Muhammadu Buhari went to Chatham House seven years ago, I was there. He had character and charm. He didn’t need anyone to remind him. He responded to questions as intelligently and eloquently as he could.

Tinubu was anticipated to achieve that yesterday. Instead, he did something akin to inviting assistants to a JAMB exam. Watching some esteemed intellectuals, such as Nasir El Rufai and Kayode Fayemi, struggle to window dress Tinubu on a highly revered international stage is horrifying.