With TONY OKOROJI
I have written before about Pa Jacob, the lanky willy old man in my village, a political commentator of some sort, who once, after a few cups of palm wine and sniff of tobacco, took a look around him, could not comprehend what was going on with the world and in a moment of utter astonishment and disillusionment exploded with the immortal statement, “the world has burst its tube and its tire!”, a statement that has remained famous in my village and places around it till this day.
When Pa Jacob of blessed memory made his profound statement, a sizeable loaf of bread was sold for one shilling, and you could cook a good pot of soup with three shillings. If my arithmetic is correct, one shilling was the equivalent of 10 kobo. Please do not forget that it takes 100 kobo to get one naira. In other words, at three shillings for a pot of soup, you could make three pots of soup with one naira and still have enough change to buy garri!
Let me give less than twenty thousand hard earned naira to my people at home to make one pot of soup today, the reaction will tell you all you need to know: “are we sure that this man understands what is going on in the market?!”.
What I am sure of is that in most homes, a raging argument is going on daily about rising costs and dwindling incomes. The bread winner in the family is no longer winning any bread. He is repeatedly being asked to produce more money. I beg you, where does the more money come from? From the stagnant or disappearing income? Please, tell me, how much is our monthly national minimum wage? How many pots of soup can it cook?
If Pa Jacob were alive today, how would the old man have reacted to a bomb exploding on our brand-new Chinese built rail line with innocent travelling Nigerians terrorized, slaughtered or taken away by young crazy boys asking for the kind of money their parents did not make all the days of their lives?
How would Pa Jacob have reacted to our many “Executive” Governors, “Distinguished” Senators, “Honourable” members and the lot who go about showing off like they own the world and would own it forever? Of course, you know the group that demands brand new jets and bullet proof limousines when most of their citizens cannot afford a loaf of bread a day?
What would Pa Jacob have said about the weighty allegations about massive land grabbing and crazy property chasing around the world, recently circulating over a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who likes to drink and dance?
Tell me what Pa Jacob would have said to the people who have built many exquisite mansions in Lekki and its surroundings, who must look for boats and canoes to enter their mansions after every heavy rainfall in Lagos today?
Think about it… What would Pa Jacob have said to EFCC about their ongoing “diligent” prosecution of one Yahaya Bello whom they swore to prosecute with all their power and might, a guy said to be enjoying life today with all the trappings of the ‘untouchable’ in the full view of the almighty EFCC?
How would Pa Jacob have reacted to the fact that in less than three years, my guy, my real guy, Nasir El Rufai, the same man who many claim to be the brain trust that coordinated the northern support that made Bola Ahmed Tinubu President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, would be Tinubu’s No 1 political enemy today?
One thing I am sure of is that Pa Jacob would have laughed heartily at the vanity of our “Excellencies”, “Executive Governors”, “Distinguished Senators”, “Honourable Members”, “Honourable Ministers and Commissioners”, “Our Lords, Spiritual and Temporal”, etc., who are posing and going about behaving like they own the world and will own the world forever and who are presently engaged in Nigeria’s game of mutual destruction. I have been to enough funerals to know that they are all in profound denial.
Oh! How I miss Pa Jacob!
See you next week.
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