Loud Whispers with JOSEPH EDGAR

Bola Tinubu: Are You Fit and Proper?

For me, this is the missing point. Nobody seems to be asking this question as the ongoing drama playing out in a Chicago court ensues. Those days when we just came to Lagos, looking for jobs in banks, they will all be shouting integrity, character. I am very surprised that today, these same people like Wale Edun, who would not employ you in their investment banks if there was a glitch in your character, are today the champions in this spectacle.

Where is the term “fit and proper” in our political lexicon? It appears that it has been thrown into the dustbin as we continue to battle with a huge moral deficit that seems to have taken us down the route of infamy.

All these things we have been hearing from reports in that Chicago court is making me want to cry – do not release my reports because it will cause me irreparable damage, please release but do not reveal my gender- all these reports we have been seeing are saddening. Really saddening, where is the fit and proper that we used to ask for in choosing leaders? Where is the integrity quotient in all of these? Don’t we know that with such a “browned” personal integrity quotient, impeccable leadership is near impossible?

What we fail to realise is that a “compromised leader” will find it almost very impossible to lead; he would be ostracised by the committee of leaders and really not pulled in, thereby making strategic inroads in search for support and partnerships will be extremely difficult. Shebi Biden is reported to have refused to see us, shebi it is the tiny NASDAQ that we are ringing when the far more strategic NYSE is sitting there with DJ Cuppy ringing that bell.

Nigeria ronu ooooo!!!

The Trouble with Being Yoruba

Me, I want to report some Yoruba people today o. I don’t know what entered my head o. That was how I went to write an article with the title “The Trouble with Being Yoruba,” and received the abuse of my life. These bullies did not even take their time to read the article and understand my logic. Immediately they saw that title, hmmm, they came for my blood. My people, they abused me o. There was no name these Yoruba people did not call me o- from miscreant, to mumu, to “aje okuta ma mo mi,” and all.

The one that pained me the most was the one that called me a slave. Yes o, the baba called me a slave that was given an opportunity that is now raising shoulder. By this time, I had felt sufficiently bullied. The WhatsApp group is a group that was supposed to have people of culture. Supposedly refined people but immediately turned into a virtual mob, roasting and humiliating me with the rest remaining in stoic silence.

What did I even say wrong o. I talked about the global prominence of the Yoruba tradition and culture and recognised its current preeminence in leadership especially in politics and in the economy. I however talked about its current denigration of its traditions with the proliferation of traditional stools ending it with the OBJ “edide, ejoko” drama and concluded that the Yorubas should look at leadership as a responsibility for national cohesion and not as a platform for the pushing of superiority or incestuous agitations for self-rule.

My people, that is all o that made these people call me bastard o. I have left the group and even deleted it. I have sworn not to have anything to do with a supposedly intellectual group who will stand by and watch me being lynched simply because I aired an opinion. I even begged them to do a rejoinder, to counter my arguments o. Na lie, na to call me “eru” na him I dey hear.

Please anybody interested should please reach me so I can show you the article so you too can see if what I wrote was enough to be called a “slave.” Me, slave? Sad.

NLC on the March Again

These ones have started again. They have declared October 3 as the day they will shut down the country. Shebi when they kuku finish what is left of the economy, everybody will go and rest. I have shouted severally that this colonial tactic no longer works and this is why all the warning strikes and threats continue to be met with impunity.

You see, the NLC and their partners really do not understand the issues. The government is staring at a bankrupt stand and can no longer meet up with the obligations needed to keep fuel prices at sane levels. The so-called palliatives are nothing but a joke. So, what is N8,000 per person or three cups of garri and rice when inflation is galloping leading to job losses and increase in poverty levels.

What palliatives is the NLC expecting the government to implement that will be all encompassing and remedy the situation, even though the government too is behaving like drunken sailors. Abi, how do you explain the size of the government, the cost of governance and the ill-advised statements like the National Assembly being quoted as saying that they had no expenses to cut since they were not the ones who caused the problem in the first place.

The NLC instead of “shutting” down the nation, should look at other strategic initiatives with which they could make the government to see better reasons with them. But by doing so, they must come to terms with a leadership lacking in moral leadership and as such would pander to the narrow interest of those propping them up. Interests that may not be in tandem with the general interest of the people. This is really a tough one.

Olayemi Cardoso: Soludo Must Go

You know, when you read the old masters, you just shake your head. I just finished reading Debo Sobowale’s article where he was trying to advise the just confirmed CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso. In the article, he reminded him that he had “yabbed” five CBN Governors and that Mr. Cardoso would be the second CBN Governor from the Isale Eko quarters where they all come from, with Ola Vincent being the first. He reminded him of how he kicked against the dual exchange rate that was instituted during the Abacha regime which got him arrested and detained.

But the one that got me laughing was how he treated my brother Charles Soludo. He started by saying that Nigeria was blessed with three very controversial CBN Governors “lera lera” – that is what Yoruba people call back to back.

He said that a lot of scholars don’t like talking about Soludo’s term beyond the consolidation. That immediately he achieved that by pruning down the banks to a manageable level, the whole thing fell off claiming that it was the “speed” of implementation that led to that. He now regaled us with a very funny story.

He told us of Soludo announcing a policy that would have seen the highest denomination of the Naira to be N100 and according to him, billionaires will now be millionaires and so forth. He said, the then President Yar’Adua just got a call from someone in Kano and that was it for Soludo.

Me, I did not see the head or tail of how these stories would help Mr. Cardoso in his new task, I however just felt that I should give you guys the gist here in case you missed it.

But for me, looking towards Mr. Cardoso for a solution to this crisis, is where we all are making the mistake. The ministers in charge of petroleum, defence and solid minerals and agriculture are better placed to solve this problem than Mr. Cardoso who does not earn dollars but just appropriates it.

Why Ajuri Ngelale Needs to Step up

What we are seeing right now is more than initial job jitters but a major car crash. This young man doesn’t seem to have the maturity or clarity to handle the very sensitive job that has been thrust on his young shoulders. The gaffes have attained international proportions and the apologies and clarifications are becoming just too much. From the Emirate gaffe to the NASDAQ gaffe, the man just needs to stop embarrassing the government. It is no wonder that the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations is pulling his hair. They claim that he is not a trained PR practitioner and that it is even criminal to be practising the profession without necessary qualifications and education.

The NIPR position is very glaring for all to see. Can I advise that the young man should enrol in one quick part-time course or evening school or even go to the National Open University and do a quick one so that his performance would improve because this one that we are seeing so na  “bolekaja” spokesmanship o.

Wike and Gbajabiamila in the Kitchen

Let’s laugh a little bit. If you have not seen the video of the Minister of the FCT, the gregarious and very colourful Nyesom Wike in his kitchen cooking with the greatest Chief of Staff to the President peering over his shoulder with long throat, then you should quickly send me data so I send to you before they delete it.

I don’t know how this one happened. Not sure if Gbaja stumbled in the kitchen and met Wike on duty or that he was invited to come and watch Lord Wike practise cooking before he enters the Big Brother house. Whatever the case was, we saw Gbaja stretching his neck and most likely salivating as chef Wike went about with his cooking.

It was definitely not afang that Wike was cooking since I didn’t see the okazi leaves nor the periwinkles needed to make that globally accepted dish but whatever it was, Gbaja looked like he couldn’t wait to taste the dish. Wike on his part was looking very serious on the job. It’s like madam had made sure he learnt that thing since all of those late night political meetings would have really dragged her to the point of frustration, making her decide to teach oga how to cook. So now Oga has become a culinary expert almost to the level of Chef Hilda Baci.

When I finally meet Gbaja, I will ask him how the experience was. Meanwhile, let me quickly remind them that while they were spending precious time in the kitchen, dollar has reached N1,000 o.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Timely Warning

Now I am not sure if it is that Mr. Governor would need to overhaul his media team or that they should just do better. We do not seem to be feeling him again like before. Since the launch of the blue rail, he seems to have gone into professional hibernation.

But the Sanwo-Olu I know is working o, we just are not hearing or seeing him like we used to and this is why I was kinda excited when I saw the clip of him admonishing some street traders who had turned the side of the rail lines into a market.

The other day, as I came back from Ibadan, I noticed a lot of activities by the rail line. People were carrying on their hustle oblivious of the danger imminent in trading or moving so close to a train. So I was kind of relieved when I saw the governor peeping out of a train and shouting in Yoruba “I have given you two days’ notice ooo;  this is not a market ooo; this will not stand ooo; we will block the road ooo.”

A word is enough for the wise.

For Chioma Okoli, It’s a Sugary Detention

This one na wa. So mummy went to buy tomato paste, didn’t get satisfaction, went on her social media handle to lament and got herself arrested. This level of intolerance by a brand is historic. Even the police sef that are going to arrest, only God knows what the complaint was. Thankfully the consumer protection agency stepped in and freed the woman. If it is not wickedness, why would you arrest in Lagos and transfer to Abuja immediately.

The authorities should not only just effect her release but also must make sure the brand pays adequate compensation for this crap. Na wa.