Last week on social media, the SDP was courted, the NLC went on strike and the PDP was advised to go to court...
Nigeria will be celebrating the 58th anniversary of its independence tomorrow. It’s bound to be a muted event and would be drowned amidst the immediate challenges facing the nation.
It’s flooding across the country, from Jigawa to Anambra to the country’s commercial capital, Lagos. It could easily escape your notice if you’re not personally affected but social media pictures and videos show just how devastating it is.
The strike embarked on by the Nigeria Labour Congress is just as concerning because there seems to be no logical solution. The NLC wants the minimum wage raised from 18,000 to 56,000 naira. Unfortunately, most of the states in the federation owe salaries going back months. It’s difficult asking for a raise when you’re being owed.
Nigerians are coming up with ingenious solutions though. One gaining traction on social media is that senators for starters, should take a huge pay cut on their earnings which is reportedly, in the region of 13.5 million per month. This should help offset the increase in workers’ pay.
If you didn’t know better, you would assume Senator Dino Melaye was fighting the cause of the NLC with his ‘aluta continua’ cry. But no, his struggle is different; he just stepped off a private jet with his political allies, looking unperturbed and unflustered in flowing Agbadas.
The Agbada is equivalent to a threepiece suit; formal attire worn on serious or ceremonial occasions. However, Nigeria’s fashion-forward youth (and the young
at heart like RMD) are jazzing it up by coming up with less traditional ways of wearing it.
The early part of the week was buzzing with the Agbada Challenge, which in essence was an innovative way to premiere a new movie, The Merry Men. The ladies got in on the act too with Kiki Osinbajo aping her father’s style down to the peace sign.
However, the real winners at the end were the designers who proved once again that our exports with the most potential are cultural: fashion, food, music, movies.
About the same time, billionaire pals Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola were spotted at the FIFA The Best Awards, which was a black tie event. Comedian Ali Baba was the first to point out that they didn’t comply strictly with the dress code. His reasoning: if you’re super rich, you can get away with anything.
Could this have been the motivation for Aisha Buhari’s ADC to obtain 2.5 billion naira from lobbyists in her name? He has been arrested by the DSS. She denies being responsible for his arrest but has advised him to return the money.
Unfortunately, chances are we have heard the last of this, because there’s always some other news item to distract you. Like Communications Minister Adebayo Shittu being screened out of the governorship race in Oyo because of failure to serve in the NYSC scheme.
He shouldn’t be too comfortable in his seat. President Buhari probably reads and hears comments put out on social media. How else will he know that he is sometimes referred to as ‘Baba-go-slow’?
The president wasn’t so slow in raising Gboyega Oyetola’s hand up in a symbolic gesture confirming him winner of the hotly-contested and somewhat controversial Osun State election. In the nicest way possible, President Buhari told the opposition to hush and seek redress in court.
An interesting takeaway in the midst of the accusations and counter-accusations of vote-buying and rigging, was the fact that a close race had the two leading parties scrambling to woo the once derided third force, Iyiola Omisore of the SDP.
For Akinwunmi Ambode, the election proved that Osun voted for continuity over uncertainty. You can bet your last naira that he prays the delegates voting in today’s Lagos governorship primaries follow suit.