And Four Other Things…

MOTLEY MASS

Nigeria’s debts are doubling. Boko Haram keeps harming Chibok. ISWAP is sweeping the north-west. Bandits are butchering villagers en masse in Zamfara and Sokoto. IPOB wants to take the Igbo out of the Nigerian “zoo”. Sunday Igboho, backed by professors, is saying give me Oduduwa Republic or I die. Crude oil is daily stolen in hundreds of thousands of barrels. ASUU is eternally on strike. Unemployment is sky-high. We cannot fund education, cannot build hospitals. Nigeria is broke. Yet, politicians are jostling like mad to become the next president. The ruling APC alone has about 100 million presidential aspirants. Is there something the politicians are not telling us? Wonderful.!

THE GAME

Still on the number of contestants for APC’s presidential ticket, many Nigerians have been worried or even disgusted by the crowd. The N100 million price tag that is supposed to discourage them is appearing to be more of a magnet. We may not be able to explain all the reasons for the surge, but being a presidential contestant gives you some leverage. You are at the table when the negotiations and calculations are being made. In the end, you can be well positioned for appointments in the new dispensation — if APC wins. You can be minister, ambassador, agency head, etc. You can even be asked to nominate people into positions. Just be part of the process. The game is the game. Politics!

MIMICKING MTN)

The next president will have many things to deal with, but accelerating the growth of the private sector must be paramount. The figures presented by Mr Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, at the LBS recently sent my head spinning. The telco alone has paid a total of N3.5trn in taxes and levies to government since 2002. That is about N1trn more than it has paid as dividends to its investors. Toriola said MTN has made over N3.4trn in capital investments, mostly sunk costs on building infrastructure and network roll-out. We need a business-conscious president who can drive unprecedented investment by the private sector. That will mean a lot for job creation. Crucial.

LASSA ALERT

I wish to draw our attention to the growing cases of Lassa fever in Nigeria. Because COVID-19 disrupted international travels and changed our way of living, we seem to have forgotten that there are other diseases still hanging around our necks. So far in 2022, Lassa has infected 751 Nigerians and claimed 140 lives, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). These are the confirmed cases. Some cases may never be captured officially. Lassa may not get many inches in the newspapers because it is associated with the poor — it is spread mainly by rodents — but it is in 22 states and killing human beings like us. Government needs to step up public enlightenment. Deadly.