Category: Dayo Sobowale

Nigerians are in the  throes of pain, anguish , and serious suffering   over  a lack of money and fuel to move their vehicles and run their businesses  on the eve of an election . Similarly   in   the   US,  Americans   suffered  the humiliation of watching a strange  balloon hovering over their  continent from the skies later identified as Chinese ,  before a frightened and dithering government summoned the nerve  to have it shot down . Yet  in a scheduled state of the    union address  expected to be      the annual  rendering of government accountability on performance and mandate  , the US president gleefully  asserted  this week    that   America  has never had it so good  . That   drew   the ire of   a furious   Republican    opposition legislator   who  shouted  ‘ liar’  to his face and in his presence in the Capitol ,America’s seat of power in Washington DC  .

Today   I draw a fascinating comparison between the political culture , government and security of  my nation Nigeria , the   largest black nation in the world , the  USA the   largest democracy and presidential system  in the world , and   little  Israel ,  the most  cantankerous   but   very   security conscious  nation in the Middle East  and scourge of the Arab world as well  as   the Islamic state  of  Iran .  The   lines of comparison are thick and obvious between  Nigeria and the US .  This is because Nigeria evolved  from colonialism   as a parliamentary democracy  at independence in 1960 before the military  coups of  1966    and   subsequent    ones later  ,  diverted our political course and destiny towards  ,  at first ,   a unitary command system   and   structure  of government and later the  American style  of presidential system of government  and separation of powers .  It  is the use and separation of powers  in these three nations that  arrest  our attention today  in terms  of time and space  and the scope of power transition.  Especially at  times of elections  and  refreshment  of power ,  which  are expected to be conducted in a safe and secure environment  in any democracy .

Let  me start  with initial observations on the political  situations in these nations as of today before darting into   historical  comparisons   and  analysis .  Israel ,   in the face of  rocket  war with Hizbollah and Gaza is rocking from huge  democratic protests against   planned   judicial   reforms  of   the newly elected government of Benjamin Netanyahu  who  has  just claimed the democratic mantle  to  govern for the  sixth  time,  in a vastly unstable  system  of  government  which  must  be second only to that of Italy in terms of  frequency   of  change of government at numerous and various  occasions and based on many issues and contentions . Nigeria  on the other hand faces a presidential  election on February 25 but the electorate  is not focused on the election but on how to survive as human beings looking  for   food , fuel and money  which   have    become rare   commodities   in  these  hard  days  and  times.  These   translate into how to have money to eat and pay for transport at affordable prices which is  hard  and   impossible because the  banks  have literally  seized  customers deposits and money because of the unavailability of money  from the  Central Bank  .     This    arose   from   a policy     of a new currency design and confiscation of old notes , all  on the eve of a   long planned    presidential election slated for this month on February 25 2023 . In the US a   balloon floated  over sites   and    cities  harboring nuclear weapons and military arsenal and the Chinese owned up it was theirs  . But  a sitting US government accepted their excuse that  it was for meteorological  research  before shooting it down days later in the shoddiest manifestation of deterrence by a world power . This   is   because   the US ,   diplomatically and militarily , accepts that China is a potent enemy and adversary of the US globally and second only to Russia in that regard .

Obviously all  three nations face different types of security   problems but the US  just had   its mid term elections  last year and  will  not  have a presidential election till  2024.  Whilst Israel  just had Netanyahu elected as PM of  what is said to be the most radical far right coalition in the Jewish  state recent history  . Nigeria  on the other  hand  is having its  presidential election this month and Nigerians are beset  with problems of hunger and mobility  such that it is apparent that voter apathy will  be a major determinant of the   result of the presidential  election if it takes place as scheduled .  I  pray    it  is not postponed because  of  the high fuel cost and  crippling  non availability of money and funds for Nigerians to go about  of  their daily  duties and eke out a living most especially at  an  election time such as we are in .

 Some  observers have said that Nigeria’s  unexpected pre election hiatus on fuel  and naira  shortage are self inflicted and   could have been a retaliatory policy of an aggrieved CBN  governor  who also  wanted to be president but was not given the green light to  contest by his boss  who happens to be the incumbent president  .  My take on that is that the CBN  boss is more of the boss than  his legitimate boss  who   happens to be the president . Or else how can  a CBN governor want to be president before resigning  first as required before contesting ?.  It is a clear  case of the tail  wagging the dog that the CBN governor is back on his seat and driving the currency  redesign process after having declared openly that  he wanted to be president and  was not allowed . Yet   he  is   still    driving the currency change   on the eve of an election that he was not allowed  to contest in .  It again shows  the strength of the executive  in   Nigeria’s  presidential system in which the APC is  controlling both the legislature and the  executive  .  Surprisingly      though   ,  it    cannot provide  an  enabling and comfortable environment for its own candidate  ,the   Jagaban , who is the forerunner in this election  to   literally coast  to victory as any government in power is expected to  do   legitimately    for its own  candidate in any  democracy . As Shakespeare  once noted in  the   tragedy  Hamlet  ‘ something is rotten in the state of Denmark ‘  and surely  something is fishy in the way the APC is not  using its executive power to further  it retention of power in this month’s election . It  is in bad taste for a party in power to treat  its candidate like an orphan and create avoidable crisis on the eve of an election it has pledged  support  its    candidate  openly and is campaigning all  over the nation to see this through . The consequences   can be suicidal if not destabilizing both for nation and party . Again a word is enough for the wise .

Aside  from the  floating  Chinese   balloon issue  in the US  , the current  US president is behaving like the proverbial  ostrich with  its head buried  in the sand . The Biden government is in for a hard time  with the Republican  majority in the Lower House  of its legislature . I recall a state of the Union address when Speaker Nancy Pelosi  tore the president’s  speech  being  delivered by Donald Trump .  Pelosi  was seated behind  the president then with his VP  Mike   Pence  . When   Biden  delivered   his state  of the union address  this week  the VP Kamala Harris  was seated behind the president with Kevin Macarthy , the new Speaker  of the House . This is where  the fire works begin for Biden on his mishandling of the US inflation which is said to be the highest in 40 years , a porous border where drugs  said to be enough to kill  every man woman and  child in America   are  smuggled in with impunity  , and   an economy    in which  fuel  prices are   rising like in Nigeria because of Biden’s policy to close down the oil  companies literally because of his priority and pursuit of clean energy and consummation of climate change policy  . The die is cast  for the Biden government and family  given the majority reality   of the Republicans in the House of Representatives  .  This   , together   with  his son Hunter’s  lost lap top and dealings with China   means  the American  president us about to learn  a hard   lesson  that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones .

The  alarm  raised  by the presidential candidate of the ruling APC Jagaban Bola Ahmed Tinubu  that  those behind the present persistent fuel scarcity ,      and   against the  new naira redesign  are against  him  winning  the election of Feb 25 2013   but   that people should just go and vote for him  to win anyway , prompted today’s topic   for discussion  . I  see the alarm as  a follow up  to the topic of last week which  was   about weaponisation  and the topic was  ‘Weapons , Wars and Ideas ‘’.  I leave it to  your  conclusion on whether I am  right  on the matter   or  not     but   that  can only be if you have read the piece . Since habitually I  do  not  dwell  in the past on my write  ups, I     move   ahead   to   take a look   today  at  similar alarms  raised  in the past on not only elections but on culture ,religion  and  especially    politics .   This    is  to  see if such alarms or the signals that prompted them      are  false or  real  and  whether  we can  use the expression ‘ crying wolf where there is none ‘ to describe them or not  .

This  alarm  by the Jagaban  can be viewed  today  in the context  of his now timely and  righteous indignation of ‘ its  my  turn ‘ indignant  outburst   in English  ,  which   he said   in Yoruba    –  Emi   Lokan  – before his party’s   presidential  primaries that secured him the presidential  ticket  of the ruling APC . I    will  compare  the Asiwaju’s alarm today with  that  of two  world  leaders who  were  suspicious  of the circumstances they  found  themselves and the odds against  their  leadership at  a point in time and who  saw signals that they raised  alarm over  and what  happened thereafter . One was Donald Trump  and his alarm  over covid lockdowns on the eve  of his  re election campaign   in   the 2020  US presidential    election which    he lost .  The    other   leader   is President Vladmir Putin  of Russia  and his fears  that the Obama Administration  was  planning against  his return as president  of Russia after    his   first   tenure    [ 2000 — 2008 ]   when his surrogate  Dmitry  Medvedev  was president [  2008  – 2012 ] and he was  PM for  one term [ 2008—   2012  ] in consonance with the provisions of the Russian  constitution then . Which he later amended   to literally  become president  for life on his return  as  Russian  president culminating  in the invasion of the Crimea in 2014  and the  on going Russian  invasion of Ukraine .

Let  me now  examine  these three  events    first  in the signals they emitted and  the context of today’s  topic . Briefly  and  in Nigeria ,  the Jagaban is saying that  his opponents  are trying to  foment trouble and confusion  on the eve of the Feb 25  elections but that if the  voters turn out as he urged      them   confidently,  he would win .  That sounds   like a  reasonable   fear ,  albeit an alarm and  it is logical  for him to assume   and raise   the alarm that a peaceful election is a sine qua non  for  an enabling environment to conduct a fee and fair election   which   he plans to win . I  ally myself with  his alarm and wish  him well  with his ambition . 

In  Donald  Trump’s  case  I   wrote  before that  he saw  a premonition that  he would lose the 2020 presidential  election if he allowed  the  shrilly  fear  of covid  on health and lock  down the US economy . His  opponents knew this too and forced his  hand and had  a willing collaborator in the Covid  health  authorities ‘ and    fought back  Trump’s  desperate efforts  to down play covid and  prevent the lock down of the US economy . Indeed his  opponent who eventually  won was locked down  in his  bunker during the election campaigns . If  the issue  of the lost  lap  top of  President Joe Biden’s  son   Hunter   had become an issue too on the eve of the 2020 presidential  election ,  as it should indeed have  been , there is no doubt that  Trump  would have been re elected .The   Russian Collusion that trailed Trump  presidency which turned  out to  be false was another false alarm use to derail Trump’s  reelection  chances .  That  he later turned out to call the election  of his opponent as president a  ‘stolen election ‘ is a result of his frustration that  all  the alarms that he raised on the signals he saw which  the media and big tech companies branded as misinformation or fake news  ,  were  not heeded . That  of course was the nature of US politics in an unexpected time and regime  of a global  pandemic  and Trump  perished  politically  in terms of  his lost  presidency making Joe Biden the new president and main beneficiary of the covid presidential election of 2020 .

In  the rift  between the US and  Russia  which  the present Russian invasion of Russia has escalated ,  leadership  personality clashes  between the Obama Administration   and   Putin’s    regime played  a major part . A look at Putin’s two  presential  tenures will show that he was more at home with Republican  US  presidents   namely George Bush 2001 – 2008  and  Donald Trump 2016 – 2020 . He  had    disdain for the Obama  Administration because he thought it was indecisive on issues and  the fact  that it made gay politics and sympathy a corner piece of its administration . Even though Russia is communist  its government sees itself as quite democratic. That  was what it was trying to show the world when Putin stepped down  to be PM and  return as a more powerful president later .  In addition  Putin  has accommodated the Russian Orthodox Church which again is  anti gay and anti abortion which the Democratic Party  support  fully in the US . Before the Russian Invasion  of   Ukraine  Putin  hinted  at   ‘the arrogance of  some leaders to think  they own the world ‘  It  was    a veiled   reference  to the Biden Administration  . He  tested the mettle of the Obama Administration twice when he supported the leader of Syria who was using chemical  weapons against  his people and Obama promised to do something to stop it but did nothing . This  emboldened Putin  to invade the Crimea in 2014    and he got away   it   with,  hence the Invasion  of Ukraine later ,  on the excuse of NATO   encirclement  and security  concerns .

There  is no doubt  that if Donald  Trump  was president Putin  would not  have invaded Ukraine . This is because he has respect  for  Republican  presidents and even rode horse like a cowboy when  he visited George Bush’s  ranch  on a visit to  the US during that American president’s  tenure . In addition Putin   reportedly    seriously   believed  that     protests in Russia    on the eve of his return to office as president    were  encouraged by the American Secretary of State then Hillary Clinton  and there was   no love lost between the two . Anyway  Putin seemed  to have misjudged the timing and duration of his present invasion of  Ukraine . He had planned for a   blitzkrieg like  Hitler  and  like he did in Crimea  but this is turning into a long war of attrition and miscalculation from which it seems  he ccan  ever  emerge  victorious . American  arms and financial  support as well as crippling sanctions which  Russia  lamely claims  it is used to,  have shown that even though NATO and the US  are  shouting from the rooftops that they  are  not at war  with Russia ,  the  world  is not deceived that they  are they  are raising a false  alarm  or sending a wrong signal .

The  word ‘ weaponisation   has been in frequent use nowadays   and it is not only with regard to conflicts and real wars but also  with new emerging cultures and ideas . A    good example is the   observation  by  one of the world’s largest producer of fertilizers   the company  Yara     at    the World  Economic Forum   in Davos ,  Switzerland accusing Russia   of   weaponising not only energy  but also food  in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine .  The  spokes  person from Yara   asked nations to cut their reliance on Russia  because its invasion of Ukraine has  caused  food  supply issues as Russia is a top exporter of fertilisers   and  chemicals used to make them .But  that alarm has ignored the fact that  in a modern world we are in   today  the western media and network  giants like CNN  and  BBC   too , have become potent weapons  of western propaganda against  Russia since it invaded Ukraine.  Both  the EU and US have   poured  millions of real weapons  into Russia   and have held talks and conferences on ideas and strategies  to defend Ukraine and deter  and   disgrace  Russia by all  means possible . Yet   they  do not see their own actions as weaponisation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine   but as mere diplomacy . 

When  disagreements occur and ideas clash ,  words  flow freely and  mostly  subjectively and nowadays the word weaponisation creeps  in inadvertently  and is fast  gaining ground in modern politics  and global  diplomacy . We  shall  look at some examples  today  to see  if the context of usage measures up to the alarm of weaponisation.. For I  ,indeed  , see the accusation of weaponisation   as  an alarm or warning that  something or action is going awry   and that an aberration or misuse of power  or energy  is in the offing .Aside  from the Invasion of Ukraine by Russia which is a real war of   artillery , mortar , tanks and aircraft which are real ammunitions  of war we shall  look at policies and issues in some nations and countries  which  have been  branded as weapons because of the results or unintended  consequences arising from  their use  or  application to on going socio economic or political issues and discussions .

In  the US the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has accused the Biden Administration of weaponisation of both the FBI and the Department of  Justice  in the way it has branded parents who object to their children being taught race and sex issues  at school and the manner  in  which both institutions  have labeled  such parents as’ domestic terrorists .‘  In the UK  ,  the new administration of PM    Rishi  Sunak is planning legislation  that would give more powers to the police  to curb  protests such  that they do not disturb  the entire public  from their  work  while acknowledging that protests are an intrinsic part of any democracy . In Nigeria    the announcement by the Minister  of Police Affairs  that  the Inspector General of Police would stay beyond his retirement age because of the coming presidential elections in February as well as the observation of a former school mate of the late MKO who won the  annulled  June 12 election,   that he could not become president because of  ‘bad belle  ‘ or envy are issues    that can  be branded as both political and historical  weaponisation  which   are difficult  to  view dispassionately  or objectively  .

In  the US the Republicans  are  set to settle scores  with the Democrats who  lost their majority in the last mid terms  elections to the House .  With  Republicans as chairmen of key  committees   there is bound to be reversals  of many House decision and policies of the last Democrats  house in which Nancy Pelosi was the famous and very powerful Speaker . Now Kevin Macarthy is the Speaker and even though he is hemmed in by some radicals in his party he is bound to lead them in collecting their pound of flesh on many issues especially the Jan 6 Capitol protests called an Insurrection by the Democrats and just a protest  by Republicans .  If  the Republicans are  seen  to be fair in ‘ prosecuting  ‘  key Biden officials  like the Immigration boss  they  will  have the public goodwill  of the American electorate  and  certainly  improve their tiny majority  in the 2024  presidential election which  their main driver and leader has thrown  his cap  into the ring to contest . If  they act  however with the same vindictiveness of the  House Democrats of the Pelosi  era on the impeachment of Trump , the invasion of Mara Lago by FBI  and now  the concealment of documents by the President eight years      ago  now being given  the same legal  inquiry to which  Trump  was subjected   before  , then  they may lose the public goodwill  and that may cost them the 2024 election .  Any way  the coast  is clear  in legislative terms  for the Republicans to show that what is good for the goose  is sauce for the gander . 

In  the UK,  the  coming   legislation to curb disruptive protests  is  long overdue . Anyway  such protests have been  exported and  was the genesis of the unfortunate Stop SARS protests  in Nigeria in which many of our youths  lost their lives unnecessarily  . This last week  German Police had to eject many protesters campaigning   for climate change and   trying to stop government from  turning back to coal  production in the face of the use of energy as a weapon of war by Russia in the war with Ukraine . The new  UK  anti disruptive protests bill is known as Public Order Bill and  its aim is to broaden the   legal definition of ‘serious disruption , give police more flexibility  and provide legal clarity on when the new powers  could  be used ‘  The  PM has said that the right to protest is a fundamental principle of British democracy but it is not absolute .  ’ Which is like telling overzealous protesters that their freedom ends where the nose  of the rest of society begins .

We  come now to the  twin issues of the extension of the retirement of the IGP by the Police Minister and the approval of the president for the 2023 presidential  elections . The funny side of that is that the government   seems  so scared of any   prospect of  failure of the elections that it wants to play  very  safe by relying on a safe tested hand  . It   is like saying that ‘ the devil you know is better  than the one you don’t know ‘ . That  to me is reasonable and   patriotic . Especially   in our Great Nigeria but  I bet the opposition will  see it differently . You  just wait  for their reaction . 

In  the case of the’ bad belle ‘or envy charge against MKO by  his school mate  I also  see the lighter side of a clear  attempt  to use history as a weapon   to settle scores , although  I remind OBJ , a devout Christian  , of the saying that ‘ you do not speak ill  of the dead’ .  I  admire  both school  mates very  much  as God-  given,  highly  talented Nigerian leaders of the Yoruba race . But  peer  rivalry never ends and at the height of the June 12 crisis ,  OBJ angrily    retorted   that MKO was not the Messiah  Nigeria  needed . Yet  no one can deny that OBJ is one of our best Nigerian visionary leaders  as acknowledged by no less a person than former Commonwealth Secretary General  Chief Emeka Anyaoku at his 90th  birthday recently  . Stars in all walks of  life ,  especially   politics ,  do not like sharing the lime light  with any body  . Not even dead ones .But I   assure OBJ that his space in  the  history of our nation is unassailable and   assured  and he can afford to forgive and forget  his peers . That   is magnanimity . More so ,  when they  are dead and buried .

The death of a  rare specie of humanity , a  retired Pope  and the unprecedented burial  by his successor  also  a Pope thrill  my imagination today for the  equally unusual reason that even though I  am  not a Catholic I   normally  refer to the deceased Pope  in private as  ‘my Pope ‘ . Before you  think that I am  perhaps being more catholic than the Pope let  me tell you that more unusual  things happened locally and globally this last week  that we will digest together today in the new year 2023 . Let  me therefore first of all wish my  readers a happy and prosperous new year and a peaceful and beneficial election  for  Nigerians as 2023 is the long awaited election  year    of a new president for our nation .

Aside  from the death of  ‘ my  Pope ‘ , Pope Benedict XVI ,real name Joseph Ratzinger , the German Pope who died at age 95 ,  there  are other issues that defy history and beat the imagination in the world at large this week . First  is the rancor in the US legislature over the election of a Speaker that has taken voting six times without a winner which is a classic case of the minority taking  the majority hostage or to ransom  as the saying goes . The  last time this   happened  was 100  years ago in 1923  . Next  is  the news that a former Nigerian Head  of state has endorsed a presidential candidate for this February 2023 presidential election outside the candidates of the two  main parties namely  the APC and the PDP . The  third is the campaign news on the APC Presidential   campaign trail  in Kano that the party will ,  if it wins ,    as  expected ,   establish   ‘ the proposed  Kano Economic City  because  Kano  is the hub of  Nigeria ‘

 Let  me now dissect these unusual situations in terms of candor , trust  and leadership which is the topic of the day  starting again with ‘ my Pope’ .I  first saw the late Pope Benedict XV  on   TV I when he preached at the funeral of the late John Paul 11 at the Vatican and was impressed with his homily and thought he could become the next Pope  , which he did  at  the conclave . I later read a book on him with his name as title and fell literally in love with his life and career hence the nick name ‘ my Pope ‘ Now my Pope is dead and now buried  after his retirement . I was shocked when he retired but I knew the pressure he was under . Pedophilia  dogged his papacy and he was vilified in the west especially  the US for his firm stand on celibacy , sexuality and gender issues . He stood firm as the think thank  of the John Paul 11 papacy and head of  the Catholic Curia and insisted that morality is not a fashion changing with the times even though justice should not be relegated to the background . He was blamed for the disgraceful sexual abuse of priests in his time and under his control . In defence he attributed the social and religious cancer to the wild life of youths in the eighties when he said morality really broke down leading to the rise of pedophilia and homosexual  clubs  even  in  monasteries . A measure of the venom he faced and how he fared  against   till     he  retired ,  can  be seen in the recent news  that the US Transport Secretary a man travelled in an official plane with  his husband a man too . The other news  that would have been most unpalatable to my Pope and my self too was another news picture of the just released US  basket ball player a lady kissing  her wife another lady . Such  issues were what my Pope tried to prevent and obviously lost to powerful interests  groups especially in the present US government  . He  was to be disgraced out of office  but   he eluded his assailants with his great erudition   and   intellectual   sagacity in referring to history and the retirement of a Pope 600 years ago  and  invoking  the simpler   yoke  of retirement albeit  unthinkable till  then  . May  the soul  of ‘ my Pope ‘ rest  in perfect peace Amen .

 The   US Speaker election debacle is our next discussion  . The  presumed candidate of the Republicans  Kevin Macarthy has had over 200  votes six times against 20  votes in his party yet is not electable because he  need  218  votes from his  party to be elected Speaker . Those against him  , a minority of 20 do not trust  him to carry through the agenda of their idol Donald Trump  when he becomes Speaker because he had criticized Trump in the past .  Yet   Trump  too has asked that Macarthy  be endorsed but the rebels against  his election have not budged but  have  just thrown other candidates into the foray . Obviously with regard to their known loyalty to Trump  they are showing that they are getting more catholic than the Pope .Some  have said this is democracy at play but there should be order in any democracy and party discipline  should not be thrown overboard in making a point  . Even  though it was wrong of Marcarthy  to have seized the Speaker’s  office without  being elected on the floor of the house,  his ouster after six failed votes     cannot augur well  for the future of the Republicans as an organized and reliable  political force in US politics and democracy as we know it today

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Another   surprise    on the  issues   locally is the call on Nigerian  youths by OBJ  to  literally take up arms and liberate themselves from the present Nigerian leadership . That  to me is belated and is like arousing an  insurrection like Trump  was accused of on Jan 6 2021 in  the US . OBJ has always said his mind and I admire his candor but he lacks the trust to make the call because he was a great part of the leadership he now rebukes . Any way his choice has no chance in the present political dispensation and it is like he is trying to close the stable doors after the horses have bolted .  I expect  a straight fight between the ruling APC and PDP presidential candidates  next month  . OBJ’s call is therefore a distraction and an  extravagant one at that . He  has in the past made great relevant calls fearlessly and at great cost to his life as with Abacha . This time however the die is cast on the showdown between the two main parties and OBJ’s now diminished   whimper  can be safely ignored . 

It  is amazing however that the Governor of Rivers state Nyesome Wike  has endorsed the OBJ  condemnation of his party’s presidential candidate Abubakar Atiku by saying  that some thing is wrong if your principal cannot endorse you . That however is not unusual in Africa . In Ghana’s last presidential election the former VP  a   presidential  aspirant  , was not endorsed by his boss the president but he won . Wike’s  point is however important in that he is still a member of the same party with Atiku and he is campaigning against him and he is even talking of ceding his part of the country to another party in the presidential election next month .  Like I  said before it appears that the PDP  has gone to sleep in a house  with a thatched roof  and  the   roof  is on fire in this 2023  presidential election

Compare  this with the campaign claims and points  of the APC presidential candidate in the city of Kano where the turn out was stupendous and amazing according to reports . The presidential candidate of the APC  the Jagaban Bola Ahmed Tinubu  promised to make Nigeria  safer and better for all Nigerians and he sounded credible and believable because of his track record in Lagos the commercial  capital of Nigeria under great stress from that role given that all Nigerians are literally flocking  to Lagos and literally choking  the traffic and free movement   of the  masses  and vehicles in the city . It  was cheering therefore to hear that the APC presidential running mate Kashim Shettima   while identifying Kano as  ‘ ‘the hub of Northern politics and a [point of political direction  ‘ also  noted that Kano will  become ‘ the hub of Nigeria  when the proposed Kano Economic City is created after the election ‘ That to  me is candor in election promises because I know some mischief makers will want to use that promise to turn the south against the North .  Campaign promises are meant to be kept and the APC is  looking forward in my view to  decongest Lagos from its port  congestion ,    massive  trailers albatross and nuisance to decent living and that is a welcome development and  a delightful    prospect   in my view .That  certainly rhymes  with the Jagaban’s  promise to make life better for all Nigerians and especially those of us living in Lagos  when he becomes president as expected next month .  A  word  is enough for  the wise .

The  new owner of Tech giant Twitter ,  the billionaire   Elon Musk  ,   said recently that he is a  ‘free speech absolutist ‘ and  that   he bought Twitter to save civilization . He  has since made some revelations  on mass  and grave censorship ,  in the ‘Twitter files ‘ containing disturbing information on how the management of Twitter before  his purchase ,  cancelled out users  of Twitter  who  did not share their view points on many issues .Coming at a time when the ‘woke ‘  and ‘ cancel’ culture  that says it is fighting for blacks against discrimination  and racism  in the US  and   is about to rewrite history in the process  , Elon Musk ‘s self chosen role as a defender of   free speech  in his nation could not have come at a better time . This has been given some impetus by the World Cup in Quatar which  was  criticised  by some powerful nations on many scores because   the host nation did not allow protests on human  rights or display of LGBTQ  rights  in the 2022  World   because Quatar is Islamic and is against gay rights in any form not to talk of same sex marriage,  just ratified in the US which  calls itself  ‘God’s own country .Earlier  the President of FIFA  Gianni  Infantino  ,  had   told western nations  who value gay rights to leave such values at home and play football in  a host  nation that does   not share  such  values . The fact that the Final of the 2022 World Cup  is being played  tomorrow  between an all white Argentina team and an almost  entirely black French team which  is the defending champion makes one to wonder which  civilization we are talking about and whether Elon Musk’s concept  of  free speech   agrees with the rest of the world  in terms  of racism , discrimination  and the   freedom of speech  and association which  are the hallmark of any democracy .

Today  we look at the concept  of civilization  in many scenarios especially with the progress of the many nations that participated in this last World  Cup in terms of their history and cultural  evolution .Colonialism certainly played a part with the emergence of mainly black          players for an European nation like France . Does that mean that there is no racism in France ? Are  those who now say in the ‘woke ‘ culture that whites in the US should pay  for the woes they inflicted on slaves who were  mainly black  on the right track ?And  is it right to rewrite history and call someone like Winston Churchill  a racist because he  called India’s Independence leader Mahatma Ghandi a half naked barbarian because of the manner of dressing of the much respected leader ? At  the Quatar  World Cup the FIFA president  Gianni Infantino  was isolated  by EU nations ostensibly because of his insistence on football  over gay  rights championed by Europe and  is that right for democracy and  does  it not show intolerance for other peoples culture ?

It is our duty today to show how Elon Musk  born in apartheid  S Africa  is now the champion of free speech in  a  USA that has forgotten about the  achievements of Martin Luther King  who had a public holiday in the same US named after him because of his fight against racism in the US . We  shall highlight why some former colonial powers did not have the goodwill of soccer fans because of their past  colonial exploitations of their colonies . We shall  look at the  merit approach  that made France win the World Cup in 1998 and is about to repeat the same feat  in Quatar  and wonder whether the same approach justifies the much maligned but now still  very much  on course Muslim Muslim ticket  of the APC presidential ticket of the Jagaban  and Shetima of the APC for  the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria .

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It  is my belief that Elon Musk’s early experience with apartheid in S  Africa makes  him  eminently qualified to take on the establishment in the US especially with the discrimination against Donald Trump by the Democrats and the FBI , the Department of Justice over censorship and the blackout on the contents of Hunter Biden’s  laptop  that  is still  not being covered on any notable scale by CNN and  other anti Trump  media in the US .Elon Musk’s   concept of civilization tallies with that of civilization in Nigeria which  does not recognize gay  right like Quatar  but  Musk  will  be cancelled if he ever expresses  such view in the present cultural climate in the US . Part of Elon Musk  concern on civilization would  include concern on the present favorable mood  towards gender transformation for young people which      many  progressives in the US  see as a right for young  people that should not be allowed to be scrapped like the US Supreme court  did  recently  when it banned abortion by asking  states to decide through their legislature on the matter . Like  I noted before ,  Musk must  be aghast at the Critical  Race  Theory  being taught in some schools that white kids must make amends for treatment of slaves during slave trade  as whites were the oppressors but again Musk  must  be careful  so that   his space business and Teslar his profitable electric car  business are   not  black balled  or cancelled  in the US .

With regard to the former colonial powers like Netherlands , England ,and  France  ,the football field in Quatar became a  very level  playing field and they were all eliminated except France with its array of black footballers . Even  the soccer    majesty  of Argentina was ruptured by Saudi Arabia  in the opening game  before the wizardry of Lionel  Messi  came to  the  rescue to make them reach the final  That  means the civilization of soccer at present has no respect  for past glories . Japan , and  S KOREA showed this in their performance  as they progressed before being eliminated .  More  importantly  Morocco almost  made the impossible possible with bold way it almost dethroned France its former colonial master . All  the same a new hierarchy of soccer super nations  has come into being and I had wanted   Morocco    to  show that a nation outside the royalty of soccer  dominated  by Latin America and Europe can win the World Cup    but the speed and brilliance of Mbappe  made that impossible for the Moroccans  to  become  the first Arab nation to win a competition hosted by  a Middle East and Muslim nation .

France’s   semi final match which she  won against  Morocco must  have created  some  security  worry  for the French authorities and their president and it is no wonder that he was at the dressing room to celebrate the victory  over  Morocco with the French team made up mostly of black stars . Morocco is Islamic and France has the largest population in Europe of Muslims . I wonder where their  loyalty was during the match . France is anti gay and holds the same values with many EU nations on gay  rights and same sex  marriage and France protested on the host  nation’s approach to same sex marriage but  has played football well  to reach the finals instead of poke nosing into other nations’  culture and way  of life . Any   way the French  are  open minded enough to allow that even  their entire  soccer team  can be made up of the black  color regardless of whether they  are Muslim or  not . That  is the message for those who  doubt the  acceptability of the Muslim Muslim  presidential ticket of the APC . Nothing succeeds like merit and performance . That  is the  civilization   and  way of   life   of the French in politics and soccer . It  is a way of life worth cultivating in our own Nigeria too .