2 weeks ago
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There’s a saying successful the north: erstwhile a antheral keeps repainting his location but ne'er fixes the leaking roof, it’s lone a substance of clip earlier the overgarment starts to peel again.
That’s the representation I spot successful Abuja these days—plenty of governmental painting, little roofing.
Last week offered 3 snapshots of the aforesaid country, each wearing a antithetic disguise. In Enugu, Vice President Kashim Shettima presided implicit the expansive reception of Governor Peter Mbah and his full furniture into the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In Abuja. A time earlier the VP declared that Nigeria was unlocking implicit $410 cardinal successful renewable vigor investments.
And hardly twenty-four hours earlier, helium warned that flood-prone communities indispensable beryllium empowered to negociate their ain safety.
Three events. Three speeches. One question: are we fixing the extortion oregon repainting the house?
Let’s commencement with the defections.
Governor Mbah’s determination to the APC was choreographed similar a homecoming. Michael Okpara Square looked similar a governmental carnival—banners, praise songs, speeches astir “bridges built” and “brooms unhidden.” The Vice President, speaking for President Tinubu, described the defections arsenic impervious that the APC has go “a governmental location wherever ideas find expression, wherever ambitions find direction, and wherever patriotism finds partnership.”
Nice poetry. But I’ve covered Nigerian authorities agelong capable to cognize defections are seldom astir poetry. They’re astir powerfulness and protection.
Every predetermination cycle, politicians migrate the mode herds determination during adust season—toward wherever the writer is greener. Mbah is not the first, and helium won’t beryllium the last.
From Zamfara to Cross River, governors person changed jerseys mid-match and called it “alignment with nationalist vision.” What they mean is “alignment with national contracts.”
Now, Shettima’s code successful Enugu was vintage bluish pragmatism. He said, “It is not the work of the governing enactment to hole the location of the opposition.” Fair. But helium besides reminded Mbah that he’s present the person of the enactment successful Enugu, liable for rebuilding its foundation. That’s a dense assignment.
The APC is becoming the lone governmental supermarket successful town. Everybody wants support space. The question is: what happens erstwhile the store runs retired of stock?
The occupation isn’t the influx; it’s the motive. Most of these defectors are not bringing caller ideas, conscionable aged habits successful caller wrappers. Nigeria doesn’t endure from a shortage of parties—it suffers from a shortage of principles.
Now to the Abuja forum, wherever the aforesaid Vice President spoke with a antithetic vocabulary—dollars, gigawatts, and greenish energy.
He said Nigeria’s vigor modulation could unlock $410 cardinal betwixt present and 2060, with $23 cardinal needed instantly to link the millions inactive surviving successful darkness.
Needless to say, Nigeria desperately needs a renewable-energy revolution. We’ve been promising energy since the days of NEPA. Yet, successful 2025, astir 80 cardinal Nigerians inactive unrecorded without dependable power. That’s astir the colonisation of Germany.
If the authorities tin genuinely propulsion successful $400 cardinal successful caller manufacturing investments—as Shettima announced, targeting star panels, batteries, and astute meters—it would beryllium a superior start.
What caught my attention, though, wasn’t the figure—it was the operation “Nigeria First concern strategy.”
Finally, a enactment that makes sense. If the authorities tin anchor renewable vigor accumulation wrong Nigeria—solar assembly successful Lagos, artillery recycling successful Ogun, powerfulness retention plants successful Jigawa—that’s the benignant of section contented that creates jobs. But this volition request much than MoUs and photo-ops. It volition request laws that support investors, unchangeable tariffs, and ministries that don’t termination projects with bureaucracy.
The VP said Tinubu’s medication is gathering a self-sustaining renewable market. Good.
Then came the catastrophe absorption conference—the astir grounded of the 3 events.
Shettima’s code present was little political, much human. He said nary magnitude of preparedness volition output results if communities are not empowered to instrumentality complaint of their safety.
That enactment should beryllium printed connected each authorities bureau wall. Because erstwhile floods come, it’s not the minister’s location that gets submerged—it’s the farmer’s hut.
Nigeria loses an mean of $6 cardinal annually to flood damage, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). In 2022 alone, floods killed much than 600 radical and displaced implicit 1.4 million. Yet, each twelvemonth we repetition the aforesaid ritual: warnings, committees, condolences.
Shettima...
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