That is just the question that should pop up in everyone’s mind who has read the reactions of both Omoyele Sowore and Peter Obi to the stampedes across the country. Does the president, Bola Tinubu deserve the blame for the tens of persons who lost their lives and sustained injuries in the struggle for survival?
They both squarely put the blame on the president, their rival in the last general elections; and of course jettisoning or overlooking other remote and immediate causes of the disheartening incidents in Ibadan, Abuja and Okija in Anambra State. In Ibadan, a stampede occured on Wednesday. An event organized to let children have fun turned bloody when the venue was overcrowded. People struggled, pushed, and stampeded one another leading to confirmed death of 35 persons, mostly children.
Nigerians were shocked that day as the biggest city in Nigeria was also thrown into pandemonium. As if that’s not enough, on Saturday, 21 December, 2024, more deadly stampedes were recorded in Abuja and Anambra when programmes were organized for the less privileged citizens or the downtrodden. One fact is every Nigerian is either poor or rich. No middle class anymore.
How has Tinubu contributed to the issue? Most definitely, his policies have brought pains to the masses and in several of his speeches, he conceded to the fact and asked the citizens to bear with him while he fixes the problems. He said he would renew their hope. But it’s still discussable that through his economic policies more millions of the people the country have been thrown into abject poverty as they feed from hand to mouth.
The removal of the subsidy on petroleum and electricity coupled with floating of naira to compete freely with the United States dollar (USD) has caused hyperinflation. Small businesses have collapsed and sources of income of the masses have been lost. Hence, they find every means to survive. Little wonder, 35 people lost their lives because of N5,000 (around $3) in Ibadan.
Staple foods including rice, beans, “gaari” are no more affordable to the people. The so-called new minimum wage is not “new”, sustainable and enough for the workers. In fact, the federal government itself is yet to implement it. Therefore, the administration of President Bola Tinubu could be partly blamed for the disasters in the southwest, north central and southeastern part of the Federation.
However, what roles do the governors (and minister of the Federal Capital Territory) have to play in the issue? So far, the monthly allocations to all the tiers of the government have increased exponentially. What have the governors, the FCT minister and local government authorities done with the funds? Why can’t they alleviate poverty and ameliorate the pains of their people? They are simply wasteful, hence, the people continue to be have-nots.
Not only that, events like those that brought stampedes are not within the purview of the Federal Government. They are events that could be monitored, supervised and controlled by the state government, and or the local authority. The local government has been rendered useless by the “emperor” governors. Therefore, they are not competent to avert the disasters.
Anyone can just organize whatever programmes they want. Why couldn’t Peter Obi and Omoyele Sowore tackle Seyi Makinde (Oyo State), Nyesom Wike (Abuja, FCT) and Charles Soludo (Okija, Anambra State) as well? Is Obi afraid of backlashes from his home state and its governor, Soludo? Nigeria seems to be unnecessarily centralized, hence, all blames are put on the occupant of the apex office.
Online Parrot News sympathizes with the people who have lost their dear ones in the stampedes. They deserve to have their loved ones with them for the festive period and beyond. However, while the current administration is not doing enough to help the people of the country, it’s wrong to put all the blames on Tinubu alone.
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