It started like-play,
like-play. Ruto was the peoples’ choice, pulling unimaginable crowds
during campaigns and promising to uplift the hustlers. His victory was an
evidence that democracy has matured in Kenya because with voters’ support, he
defeated the principalities and powers ( Ephessians,6:12)of
Kenyan politics, those who have been passing Kenya like a football
amongst themselves over the generations. The voters were happy and they looked
forward to a new Kenya. However, before long, they agreed with Jean-Baptiste A
Karr (1849)that plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the
more things changed, the more they remain the same). It appeared
that they had perceived him as a saint because he never had the opportunity to
steal previously! Like other African politicians, he ignored the people, took them for granted, prioritised
his personal comfort and sold Kenya to
foreign interests. These are modern day Shylocks who would loan you money
without asking how you spent it and encourage you to squeeze the life out of
your people to payback the loans and while the repayment capability gets
bleaker and bleaker, they loan you more
and more and start puppeteering the government. You cannot think straight in front
of your creditor when your debt is bad to the power of 1001!
Ruto introduced new taxes and raised old ones. Tax on salaries was
raised from 30% to 35%( the highest
ever) while introducing
a new 1.5% housing tax, a 2.75% hospital insurance fund levy, a 3% turnover
(gross sales) tax on small businesses and a doubling of taxes on fuel to 16%,
among others. Consequently, Kenyans changed his name to Zakayo –
Swahili for Zacchaeus, the greedy tax collector( Luke,19:1-10). Somebody
should please remind me of the name of the Chairman of our FIRS!. While
taxing the people to death, he raised presidential ostentatiousness notches higher
to the extent that Kenya's
Controller of Budget publicly complained
over wasteful spendings. Foreign trips became the cornerstone of state
policy (more than 50 of since trips since 2022). The last trip to US became a sore point both for its
cost ($1.5m just to charter a private
jet) and the agreements. Ngugu wa Thiongo was so
embittered that he accused him of selling Kenya cheap by agreeing to
become a non-member ally of NATO
and in the process becoming an ‘errand
boy in Americas struggle with Rushia and China for access to resources in the
Continent’ Despite the wrenching economic situation for Kenya and Kenyans,
his spending for both
domestic and foreign travels for 2023 was over 1.3bn Kenyan shillings ($9.2m;
£7.3m), exceeding the travel budget for the previous year by more than 30%.He
spent much money and days on foreign travels
that BBC crowned him as Africa’s Flying President, denying
BAT who came second that bragging right.
Flying President………………………………………Ngugi wa
Thiongo
The 2024 Finance Bill, which taxed all taxables,
including bread, data and money-transfer was the last straw that drew the ire of the people, who were convinced that he had betrayed his key campaign pledge to champion
the interests of "hustlers", the masses, whom have been thrown under
the bus by the deteriorating macroeconomic realities. It is the
usual practice in Africa: government squandermania has to be
covered with foreign and in this instance, people have to be taxed to raise $2.4bn ‘now-now’ for debt servicing
and repayment. And part of the debts is to service the offices of the First
and Second ladies. At least, Nigeria is better in this regard; we only
have one official First Lady
Populist Ruto &
hustlers, a slay-protester, and…. police highhandedness
The people cried, begged, threatened but the President ignored
them, insisting that the US visit and the finance bill were inevitable for
Kenya of his dream. The people saw that the handshake had gone beyond the elbow
and in unison they screamed E!I!!E!!!(
Enough is Enough) . He thought that it
was the usual street-noise but they meant it and then they struck. Police
brutality including murders and kidnappings (remember how Nnamdi Kanu was
kidnapped%) did not deter them because life was no longer worth living. It reminds me of the name: ‘e ji ndu eme
gini’( what is the use of living when life has lost its meaning; under
a subhuman existence?). They became
violent, stormed the parliament, enjoyed
parliamentary lunch, and promised to storm
the Bastille and have lunch with
Ruto the following day. Ruto talked tough, scoffed at the people and threatened
to deal with the troublers of Kenya.(1Kings,18:17). However he
read the handwriting on the wall; he knew that they held him by the ‘blokos’
and were squeezing mercilessly. He repented, surrendered and
with his tails between his legs, he did the best thing under the situation: he reenacted
the prodigal son scenario( Luke,15). Why should he have forgotten the advice of
Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations) that ‘to charge more to someone in dire
need is a sin of avarice or the Churchillian advice hat ‘ for a nation to try to tax
itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift
himself up by the handle.”
He started making hitherto unimaginable
concessions. He cancelled the budget for offices of first and second ladies,
withdrew the contentious and hitherto uninfringeable
,inviolable Finance Bill, ordered
massive expenditure cuts , dissolved
47 parasitic parastatals( without any Oronsaye
report or the multiple white papers), reduced the number of Government advisers by 50%
and suspended non- essential travels. The youths summoned him to the
X-Space and he appeared like a drenched bee, a scrotum in the cold weather, or
like one of our ‘jokists’ said,, like a student coming to defend
his project. They told him to his face what they felt, including incompetence
in government and hobnobbing with thieves. He made promises, including 3600 engineering jobs within a week. He subsequently dismissed ALL his cabinators, WIE(
with Immediate Effect) ,except the vice and two others, and promised wide
consultations on their replacement. The
highhanded IGP, Japhet Koome resigned
and went underground. This has proved one of the ALUTA cries of ASUU: A people united can never be
defeated. The Kenyans are even broadening the scope of their
protests. They are planning to protest
police brutality against Nigerian men, their husbands and baby-daddies. They
are also planning to protest against the Churches for hobnobbing with, or being
soft on, the ‘criminals’. Furthermore, as corpses of people who disappeared are
being discovered, public angst is rising to a new crescendo
Our people say
that when a deity becomes
intransigent, they will show him the tree from which it was carved.
People say that Kenya is NOT Nigeria but there is a WIDE gulf between Kenya of last month and Kenya of today. It took
just a few hours for a new Kenya to
emerge because Kenya has undergone an irreversible CHANGE. We
are far from Kenya but not too far!!!.
And then, it
happened in UK. An election was held,( no agberos, no militarisation, no
intimidation, no public holidays and no restriction of movements) and Labour Party
won landslide (Labour Party again? some people said it was PO
effect).Within 24 hours, the
loser conceded and left NO 10( PMs residence since 1735) and the
winner moved in( same bed, same chairs, same cutleries), appointed his
ministers( there was no screening and test of ability to recite the old-new anthem),
promised the people a government of service- by action- and respect for all irrespective of parties. There was no
mention of a DOT area, those who gave only 5% of the votes . He promised
to prioritise the country, rather than the
party( no kinship corporation) and started the serious business of governance.
There were no
transition committees, no gala night, no Trafalgar square assembly, no budget
for the handover ceremonies, no foreign dignitaries, no repainting and
refurnishing of their Aso Rock, no religious services, no sanctification of
No10 against witches( as Reuben Abati), no congratulatory messages from some rent-seeking emergency groups, no aso-ebi dance troupes, no
snatch-and-run, no COURTocracy, no glitches, no mistaken transmission of a book-cover instead
of results, no opposition party members
were flogged by thugs, no mutilated result sheets( were they even
result-sheets?) , no late arrival of electoral materials, no election tribunals
and no boon for lawyers, judges and legal middlemen (there was NOTHING to sue
for). There was no new fleet of cars for
the First Lady, no new tyres for N250m and no contract for the renovation of
the VPs residence. It was a simple, solemn event, with the new PM conscious of
the challenges he faces and working on his promises already, like cancelling
the Rwanda deportation programme and
getting closer to EU.
Whereas a full-blown
Yoruba man was Igbonised in Lagos and asked to try his luck in ana-Igbo,
there was a pure Yoruba Party in UK, which of course fielded a pure Yoruba man (
and he was shown how not to be narrow minded!); and 6 Nigerians were elected as parliamentarians.
Nobody was asked to go home and vote and none was accused of
trying to take-over UK! People
will also argue that Nigeria is not UK. But as someone had argued, they were the ones who taught us.
Was it that they were bad teachers or that we were and still remain, bad
students? The other day, Dutch PM, Mark Rutt left office after 14 years in
office. He left on a cycle and alone: no guards, fleet of one-in town cars,
sinful and self-serving pension scheme. We do not see, and cannot, imitate this!
Starmer at No
10 and the Chancellor, Hunt departing No 11, WIE
How long will
Nigerians tolerate the daylight robbery of our commonwealth by our servants who
lord it over us with in your face
impunity? How long will we tolerate this personilisation of power with crude kabyesi tendencies at all levels? When shall we stop tolerating this recycling
of certified thieves and employing law-breakers as our lawmakers? When I was
younger, I participated FULLY in several ‘I-no-go-gree’ activities.
However, some of those in government now were part of those resistant
movements. Why have they forgotten what they said and did before? Should we
continue like this? Will Kenya and Uk happen to us? Some people say Nigeria is
neither Kenya nor UK. But one day, monkey go go market, e no go return.
It may not be today; it may not be
tomorrow but certainly… one day!
Nigeria will consciously
always walk itself to the brink and then, as we are about to plunge, some
invisible hands will pull us back. Look at our debts with nothing to show for
it except government profligacy while we are given sorrow to eat and a
large cup of tears to drink( Psalm 80:5). Things are so bad that a man
prioritises his motorcycle over the wife. I don’t think that we can continue to
be this lucky!
We escaped
the Arab spiring, we escaped
EndSARS by putting out youths to the sword ; we escaped the earlier protest against
hunger, we escaped the recent NLC shutdown (first in history) while the protest against misgovernance is loading ( dis one wey demgive with
notice.?) We may also escape that.
But one-day; just one day!!!
I repeat, we cannot be permanently lucky. I advise that we flee from the wrath to come ( Matthew, 3:7)when we still have the opportunity because this is still the day of favour, the appointed time( Psalm 102:13) I know that it is very difficult for ‘them’ to heed PO’s strident request to dismantle this criminality but one day…
Somebody just
committed suicide around LATSMA office in Ikorodu Sagamu Road, Lagos because
his three-legged car was seized and his
efforts to retrieve it failed. Maybe it was on hire-purchase. Maybe he was just resuming work after 1 week at the
mechanic; maybe he was riding the keke of a friend who travelled. Maybe… This
is VERY sad indeed. When young people in
other countries feel oppressed, they revolt ( not pray)until the situation changes. Unfortunately in Nigeria, as somebody had
lamented, they either japa or they commit seppuku. This paradigm is not
sustainable and it will not continue. Our young ones cannot continue to run
away, to eternity or to other climes. It has to stop one day
Will Kenya and Uk
happen to Nigeria? Some people say
Nigeria is neither Kenya nor UK. True but
one day, monkey go go market, e no go return. It may not be today; it may not be tomorrow but
certainly… one day!
Other ‘Mattersis’
·
Tearful moments in Jos
It was an ocean of blood and tears in Jos
as the school building of Saints Academy, Busa-Buji, collapsed as students were writing exams with 22
dead and 132 hospitalised as I write! A parent
who lost 4 children in the incident has reportedly passed on! Why did
the building not collapse during the weekend? Why not during public holidays? The
other day, it was the centenary building @ CKC and now this. I pray for the
good lord to grant peaceful repose to the dead and console the mourners. But we
must go beyond our tendency make all the right noises and nothing more. Were there signs that
were ignored? Could this have been avoided? Tough questions should be asked, and
tough decisions taken to ensure that this does not recur
·
Lagos in trouble
I am a Lagosian, having been in that
water-logged world since 1994. My house
at Okota has been overrun by water
for more than 6 times in the past 6 years. My major offence
was that I was the first to build in thatpart of Okota and the later builders
raised their houses 50 meters above my own level. In fact, some of them use
stair-case get to the ground floors. So, I understand what many Lagosians are
going through at this season. Even the rich( Lekki) also cried. Unlike the
governor who was giving assurances from atop
the tallest building in Lagos, I took a more practical step. I sought
out the Tinubu-APC bishops and procured them to intercede for
Lagosians. Unfortunately, their intercession, like that of the Baalists yielded no fruits(1kings, 18, 20-40). It
rather angered both God and the gods and that is why we are here!
·
A fervent appeal
I am aware, as a
SPIRIT, that one of my readers is planning to buy three colours of this sandals
for me( black, brown and grey). He knows himself and I am thanking him in
advance. However, I have an appeal to make. I
want him to monetise this gift which can fuel my car to work for at
least 6 months( 100k/monthly).
Please you all
should join me in thanking him and then appealing to him to monetise the
gesture. Just say it in the spirit and he will also receive it in the spirit.
Thanks
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