28-5-202.

I have been AWOL the past four days, for reason that most people know, but understood by a few. I am taking about an issue that some may consider as belated, but since I have not read it anywhere to think it that way, I may as well go ahead with my ‘belated’ article.

The United States media station, Fox Television, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch of Australia’s Fox Corporation, does not think President Bola Ahmed Tinubu leadership of the ‘Giant of Africa’ (NIGERIA) was anything to write home about. In a recent news programme (of the Fox News), the station thinks that the regime of Tinubu is not only a roaring FAILURE, but a very CORRUP one too.

For those not fully versed in the media world, Fox Corporation, which ranks fourth (4th) in the world among news organisations, owns the British Sun Newspaper, (the largest in circulation) the British Popular (broad in size) newspaper, News of the World, among the other regular varieties.

According to a special programme it (Fox Television) aired a few days after the Nigerian government sponsored a ‘World Press Conference’ in London, Britain, to ‘showcase its various achievements’ in the country, the station and many other foreign media outlets, think the Tinubu regime in Nigeria is one monumental failure. 

Those whose faces were shown as the organisers of the event, were indeed the organisers, but not the ones who BANKROLLED everything, and everyone from Nigeria and other countries who attended the STAGE MANAGED show. Many ministers, Heads of federal government parastatals and some State Governors attended the event to explain ‘President Tinubu’s wonderful work in Nigeria’.

But a former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) and the Military Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, declared (with somewhat of a finality) that there would be no more Military coups in Nigeria. As if mare wish by the duo is enough to guarantee no more Military interventions when governance from federal to states is taken over by CORRUPTION. By the way, why the talk of a coup, if there is no NEED for it?

In any case, General Gowon is in a good position to know better. He was about 29 years old when some younger military officers staged a takeover of power and he was handed (on a platter of gold) the leadership of the country, to become the second (2nd) Military Head of State of Nigeria. Nigeria was then one of the richest countries in the world, with its currency (Naira) second only to the British Pound Sterling. He discovered that governance from the top was so SWEET, that he kept pushing forward the goalpost for handover to civilians. He was toppled from power after he ruled for nine (9) years by yet other young military officers, who placed a senior officer as Head of State.

As for the defence chief, he would not of course, want any military takeover, as it may spoil the comfortable retirement arrangements arranged for Generals and other senior military officers made by the coup-fearing President Tinubu. The retirement largess do not include the ‘rank and file’ military personnel who have to suffer the elements to get (if they are lucky) their monthly pension.

The average Nigerian knows that military coups are from down t bottom, not the other way round. So the two ranking ( one retired and the other serving) military officers may do themselves a favour, and keep their statements to themselves, because not many people will listen to them.

Also, the compromised APC governors, the rubber stump National Assembly (NASS), and a number of blackmailed leading members of the ruling party, cheered the ‘endorsement’ of Tinubu as the party’s sole presidential candidate for the 2027  election. A bunch of jokers they must be if they think most Nigerians will repeat the mistake they made in 2023, and ‘elect’ Tinubu again. They spoke and endorsed him for themselves, not the suffering voting masses of Nigeria.

In the programme, Fox television called said, “As a Nigerian ask yourself are you better off than you are 702 days ago? Because it is 702 days since Bola Tinubu RIGGED his way into power NOT to LEAD but to DESTROY. He has DESTROYED the NAIRA, he has removed subsidy without a plan in place, leaving millions of people stranded with skyrocketing prices and record breaking inflation.

“He turned the economy into a playground for his cronies. He handed ministries to his loyalists, families and friends, NOT technocrats. Justice is selective, protesters are silenced, critics are hunted. Young Nigerians protesting are beaten and jailed for daring to speak.

“He promised ‘renewed hope’, but delivered renewed SUFFERING and HARDSHIP. Food prices have rippled. POWER supply has WORSENED. Minimum wage can’t buy a bag of rice, or fill a ca’s tank. He calls it reform, but it is DAYLIGHT ROBBERY masked as policies.

“Insecurity has worsened, and crime rate is on exponential increase. Killer herdsmen and kidnappers have  been emboldened, leaving the Nigerian military demoralised.

“Nigeria is the shadow of a once great country. This ISN’T governance. It is Tinubu’s second chance to finish what Buhari couldn’t. So, no you are NOT BETTER OFF, you are NOT SAFER. Nothing is safer. The ECONOMY is in RUINS.

“And if this is what 702 days look like, imagine another six years. Nigeria deserves better. Bola Tinubu is a ONE TERM PRESIDENT”.

To have better lawmakers in the country, not the destroyers that we presently have, there is perhaps the need for NIGERIA to consider adopting WHOLESOME the proposal made for Papua New Guinea by a patriotic lawmaker of that country, Zawinkio Nabuge.

According to him, “our honourable members of parliament, and the people of Papua New Guinea today I stand before you with a bold but necessary proposal to AMEND our constitution and IMPOSE a TWO-TERM limit on MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. This is not about changing rules, it is about breaking the circle of RECYCLED LEADERSHIP, ending electoral manipulation and creating space for the young energetic leaders our nation desperately needs.

“For too long, we have seen the same faces dominate this chamber, election after election. While experience is valuable, when leaders stay in power for decades, it breeds CORRUPTION, complacency and a culture of entitlement.

“Worse, some cling to power not through merit but through rigged elections, voter intimidation and misuse of public funds. Our people, especially the youth, who make up 60% of our population are demanding change. They see a system where the same leaders rotate ministries, manipulate elections and block fresh ideas. How can we move forward if we keep recycling the same problems?

The solution is a term limit. I propose amending Section 50 of the Constitution to DISQUALIFY any candidate who has served TWO FULL

TERMS (10 years) in parliament. Section 103 to impose this rule in the electoral process. The only deterrent against leaders who abuse power to extend their rules.

“Term limits will break corruption circles. No more LIFETIME MPS treating politics like a personal business. Encourage new leaders. Give young educated Papua New Guineans a fair chance to serve. Restore public trust, show voters that parliament is NOT A PRIVATE CLUB for the elite.

“Some will argue: What about good leaders who deserve more time? Answer: If a leader is truly great, two terms (10 years) are enough to leave a LEGAC. After that, they can mentor others instead of clinging to power.

“Others may say “this is undemocratic”. Answer: Democracy is not just about ELECTIONS, it is about FAIR COMPETITION. Term limits ensure that NO ONE MONOPOLISES POWER INDEFINITELY. We can not keep doing the same thing and expect change.

“Our people are watching. They are tired of empty promises and rigged games. Let us pass these amendments to  END THE ERA OF RECYCLED LEADERS. Stop election frauds and DYNASTIC POLITICS. Give Papua New Guinea youth the future they deserve.

“Our politicians, LEADERS and citizens of Papua New Guinea, the time for REFORM IS NOW. I urge my fellow citizens and LEADERS to PUT the COUNTRY BEFORE AND ABOVE SELF INTEREST and SUPPORT this amendment.

“Let us build a Papua New Guinea where LEADERSHIP is EARNED not INHERITED, BOUGHT or STOLEN. May God Bless Papua New Guinea”.

In NIGERIA, we have an unelected Senator, who parades himself as the Senate President and Chairman of the NASS, telling the world that President Tinubu is the sole candidate of the APC in 2027. This is why some people derisively say that the present Nigerian regime is controlled by the ‘three arms of government’; namely Tinubu (Executive), Godswill Akpabio (NASS) and Nyson Wike (the Judiciary).

It is also nauseating to see the list of the chairmen of some ranking committees in the NIGERIAN House of Representatives. MOST of them (Committee Chairpersons) are children of former or serving governors, former or serving ministers, and ranking members of the existing ruling party.

May God free Nigeria and Nigerians from the suffocating grip of those whose only right to leadership is their being ‘former this, former that’ or the offsprings of people who STOLE unspeakable amounts of money from the Commonwealth.

Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.