26-4-2025.

One of Leo Tolstoy’s short, but powerful and profound books, ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich’, is a poignant remainder of what is happening today in the world about the mad rush to acquire immense wealth through means legal and illegal, without consideration for its consequences on the larger society. Although it is a global phenomenon, it appears to be doubly widespread in Nigeria.

Some leaders in Nigeria seem to be in office for the purpose of serving themselves, not the people of the country. Overnight, they become very rich, while their constituency becomes very poor, with many of the people hardly affording the basic necessity of daily living. They only manage to exist while the leaders, and a select few, live ostentatiously, in a prideful way, too.

Many political kamikaze are being committed these days by hungry politicians who think of nobody but themselves. If there is a political kamikaze, it was committed by Kano State Central Senator, Kawu Sumaila, who recently dumped the political party that gave him the chance to ‘represent his people’ and rejoined the party that had denied him the opportunity to represent them in the Senate, in the first place. 

Senator Kawu Sulaiman claimed in a BBC interview that he rejoined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to make sure that his “people are well represented”. The APC is the political party that had denied him the ticket to represent his people at the Senate in 2023, but the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) provided him the opportunity to go to the Senate to represent his people.

In one of his songs, the legendary Jamaican musician, Bob Marley, did the famous English lines ‘You can fool some of the people some of the times, but you can not fool all the people all the times’. Nothing can be truer. So keep fooling yourself, Senator Kawu Sumaila. Times for politicians such as Kawu Sumaila are hard, and ‘man must continue to chop’ anyhow from the National Cake.

Circumstances have but forced me to revisit the Russian Empire-time writer, Leo Tolstoy, who wrote the ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich’ as if he was referring to Nigeria under the CORRUPT regime of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tolstoy also wrote the classic book yours sincerely had referred to in an earlier article, ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need’?

A Russian Judge, Ivan Ilyich, had lived what he believed was a proper, successful life. He followed the rules, climbed the social ladder, and avoided anything unpleasant. But when he becomes seriously ill, his carefully constructed world starts to crumble. He realises that the people around him, including his wife and colleagues, are more concerned with appearances and convenience than with truly caring for him.

In ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’, Tolstoy uses Ivan’s slow death to question how most people live, especially in today’s Nigeria, (chasing status and comfort), without ever really asking what life is for. That sounds very familiar on these shores, among the judges in the country’s courts from state to federal. Justice in Nigeria is today for the highest bidder, though the unfortunate trend did not start during the present regime. It only got worse under President Tinubu, where the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyson Wike is alleged to be in charge of the judiciary.

Hence the rueful description of Nigeria as under the rule of ‘The Three Arms Of Government’, represented by President Tinubu, in charge of the Executive, FCT Minister Wike, in charge of the Judiciary, and the President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in charge of the National Assembly (NASS).

I have similarly written an article (24/4/2025) on the extreme difficulty in Nigeria under President Tinubu, referring to the country turning into, an ‘Animal Farm’, also a classic book by George Orwell. Tinubu had promised to reduce the level of our suffering before he became the number one citizen in the country, only to increase it to an alarming level when he became the president of the country. Like NAPOLEON, the manipulative pig, did when the animals overthrew the humans to form their own government.

Most of Senator/Governor Tinubu’s accusers of yesteryears have today turned into President Tinubu’s shameless APOLOGISTS. Those who had called him a drug pusher and very corrupt former governor, wherever they found themselves (including in foreign lands), are now his fierce defenders, as if he has changed his old habits when he became the number one citizen in the country. 

The Nigerian President once stated in unambiguous terms that “I do not believe in Nigeria”, and he HAS not left anyone in doubt that he STILL does not believe in the country, going by his pro Southern Nigeria ONLY policy. ALL THOSE appointed in the Commanding Heights of the Nigerian Economy are his tribal people. Name the places, whether a ministry or a parastatal, his tribal folks are in charge. He is making VERY GOOD of his EMILOKAN statement to an exclusive group of Nigerians.

In any case, from the point of view of millions of hapless, helpless, hopeless and pauperised citizens, the president has absolutely changed in no way, apart from his increased bigotry. Plus, the many sponsored supporters, evidenced in the proliferation of government’s social media, and the equally many paid operators.

Some people are by chance ‘invited’ into WhatsApp groups which they should have not been, because they only ‘join’ to promote, propagate, and sell the agenda of the DIVISIVE and CORRUPT Tinubu regime. They make their arguments upside down, respecting everyone to see things in their very NARROW perspective. 

And their narrow perspective is always self serving. No one else sees the ‘good things’ they are always harping about the present regime of dictator Tinubu, who expects to be ‘RETURNED’ for a second term in 2027. 

The North Western part of the country can write volumes about the BAD things that have happened and are happening to it under the current regime. The PERPETUAL sponsored DARKNESS, and the  DELIBERATE INSECURITY that has enveloped (figuratively).  These are but only two of the things we are talking about here.

Both the two Leo Tolstoy’s books, and George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, could have been written on the insatiable greed of Nigerian rulers under the regime of President Tinubu, who late last year (December 2024) was declared as the third most CORRUPT leader GLOBALLY, by the Organised Crime And Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

May God make us to represent our people selflessly, without ABUSING the temporary power we may have, in whatever position of responsibility we find ourselves.

Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.