How do I tell the President he lied?

An old man stole a chicken and was caught by the village youths. They took him, with the bird inside his bag, before the council of elders. The thief stepped forward, opened his bag and greeted his fellow elders. “Fathers of our land, use the eyes of elders to look inside this bag. Is there any chicken here?” One after another, the elders peered inside. Each saw what the youths had seen; each declared that there was no chicken. Between their eyes and their mouths, the bird had flown away.

The above fable underscores the Black Race ethos of ultimate respect for the elderly irrespective of how outlandish the elder behaves. The Yoruba ethnic group incorporates the unwritten code in one of its value systems, where it cautions that the initiate must not reveal the cult secrets to the uninitiated (Awo kò gbudò ti ojú ogbèri da Ifá nù) This is the rule of the game of the black man. That is our culture as Africans; that is our way of life as a Black Race.

“Falsehood has no feet.” The Greeks are credited with this witticism, which was derived from the misadventure of their ancient god of falsehood, trickery, and guile, Dolos, as recorded in many ancient Aesopic fables.

In one of the fables, the 1st Century AD Roman poet and fabulist, Gaius Julius Phaedrus (c. 15 BC – c. 50 AD), in his Prometheus and Guile (trickery and cunning), recalls how Dolos, a sculptor apprentice under the tutelage of the master clay sculptor, Prometheus, takes advantage of his master’s brief absence from the kiln, and goes ahead to fashion an exact duplicate of Prometheus’ artwork, Truth.

As fate would have it, before Dolos can make a complete object, he runs out of clay. What he produces thereafter is an object without feet. When his master, Prometheus, returns, he simply fires both clays in his furnace and both figures come to life with striking resemblance.

The problem begins when Truth, the original clay figure by Prometheus, comes out, walking majestically for those who gather by the kiln to see and cheer. Dolos’ imitation, however, remains in one spot because it has no feet to walk on. Hence, the people name it Falsehood and from there the saying: “Falsehood has no feet”, which means that at the end, lies will ultimately fall short.

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The well-trained Yoruba child is in the dilemma of the Race’s ethos of Omoluabi which forbids him from saying that an elder is a liar. Even when the lies told by the elder fly in our faces, the training says no child is allowed to look straight into the eyes of an old man and say: E n paró (you are lying).

Rather, different euphemisms like Qr ò rí béè (the issue is not like that), ohun tó sele kó nì yen (that is not what happened), e ro òrò yìí dáadáa léèkan sii (think about this matter very well once again), are used instead of telling an old fella that he is a liar from the pit of hell.

And this, exactly, is my predicament here today. How do I tell President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that his last Wednesday declaration that he would not be attending all the presidential campaign trail of his All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 presidential election because he wanted to attend to State matters is all lie without betraying the Omoluabi ethos?

Which language will I use to tell Mr. President that he lied, and blatantly too, when he said: “You’ve warned me not to allow the rigour of the campaign to distract me from governance, I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now?” How do I tell him that nobody warned him without sounding impudent?

From where do I start? Which consideration should I foreground here? His age, attainments in life; or present position?

How do I say that the president lied when he submitted that he would not be attending all the campaigns for his second term because, according to him, “the American creditors cannot wait?”

How do I navigate the cultural barrier of utmost respect for the elderly by not calling the President a liar, when my inner mind tells me that the man who spoke last Wednesday at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council told nothing but white lies from the beginning to the end? If I end up by saying President Tinubu did not say the truth, does that mean I call him a liar?

Watching President Tinubu speak at that inauguration event, the words of World War II British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, came readily to mind. The famous British statesman, while addressing the Joint Session of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. on December 26, 1941, just 19 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, delivered the What Do They Think We Are address.

Hear what Churchill said: “What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?”

This is exactly what I intend to ask President Tinubu here, today: what kind of people does President Tinubu think Nigerians are? A people without brains, memories and ability to reconnect the past with the present? Hey, how can the same Tinubu who started campaigning for a second term right on the podium where he took the oath of office on May 29, 2023, suddenly realise that governance must come before politics now that the electioneering has kicked off?

Where is this sudden love for Nigeria and Nigerians coming from? What has the President done in the last three and half years other than play politics; and dangerous politics for that matter? Or is it not the same Tinubu who jets out of the country at the snap of the fingers without an iota of feeling for the suffering masses now talking of giving more attention to State matters?

The elders are always sympathetic to the unkempt woman. They often ask her to profess her dirty nature so that the community can prepare a neat wrapper for her. The president must borrow that wisdom and tell Nigerians the real reason(s) he will be missing at his own ’wedding! A man who has wasted almost four years depleting opposition parties, harvesting governors like maize cobs and harassing opposition key figures, railroading some of them to different jailhouses, cannot just throw governance as the excuse for missing out at the campaign rallies. That is a lie, sir!

And I think those who are close to Mr. President should tell him that the presidential campaign rally is Mr. President’s parade, where; he ALONE can shout the order! He cannot do that by proxy; it will not just work. Nigerians are no fools. Tinubu must be on the campaign stands telling the poor masses the benefits of all his ’economic reforms!

President Tinubu occupies a prominent place among the elders of Yorubaland. It is not in my place to teach him the wisdom of the inner council. His fellow elders say enu olobi ni obi ti ń dún kàún” (the kola nut sounds crisp and crunchy only in the mouth of the kola nut eater). One thousand and one APC National Chairman or Director General of the Campaign Council cannot explain to Nigerians, adequately and accurately, the gains of May 29, 2023 subsidy-is-gone infamy. He should know, or be made to know that that narrative will be best understood when it comes directly from the horse’s mouth. There is no room for any third-party-advocacy.

If the president has nothing to hide from the public, he should not be scared to face the people whose lives, his handlers had said, several times, had been made better by the Tinubu Presidency. It will be lovely to see Tinubu talk to the impoverished people of Ode Aye how his government has improved their living conditions. It will be glorious to see President Tinubu point towards the Port Harcourt Refinery which his government ‘launched’ with fanfare and ask the people to count the number of tankers loading product at the refinery.

The good people of Ilaje in Ondo State are waiting, eagerly too, to hear the President justify the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highways to the inland East-West Road from Edo State, and ask for their votes for a second term. It will be a great honour and privilege to have Mr. President explain to the people of Ekiti North Senatorial District why the Ikole-Ijesa-Isu Ekiti Road has remained impassable and why Ikole-Omuo-Kabba Road remains a death trap and haven for kidnappers.

Up North, Tinubu must be courageous enough, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to face the Idoma people of Benue State, and explain how their land has become a waste in the hands of killer herdsmen and other felons who visit untold massacre on the hapless peasants, daily. He must go to Plateau and Nasarawa to ask the people to quickly bury their dead in the thousands and come out to vote for him for a second glorious term!

Nigerians will not excuse him from going everywhere with the campaign train because “we have bills to pay, and the American creditors cannot wait.” The campaign ground is the best avenue for the President to explain to Nigerians how we came about the debts for which the American creditors are on our necks!

The President must take advantage of going round the entire nation to see the happy people whom his administration has been working for in the last three and half years. A President who has touched base with the hoi polloi should not be afraid to meet the people one-on-one.

I have read different comments by Nigerians who believe that Mr. President’s health is the main reason he has decided to hide behind the proverbial one finger by giving the inexcusable claim of governance and the need to concentrate. I hate to talk about other people’s health matters. But here, President Tinubu is not an ordinary person. We have the right to discuss his health, understand the cause(s) of his frailty and strength.

At the heat of the 2023 presidential election, I listened to a discussion among a group of men over who the best candidate was among the lots then. One man, a friend, stood out in his submissions. While arguing the suitability or otherwise of Tinubu, he asked his fellow interlocutors thus: ‘In the history of football in Nigeria, who is the best midfielder so far?’ The unanimous answer was: ‘Jay Jay Okocha!’

Then he asked again: ‘If we were to assemble a Super Eagles team today to face Argentina, would you field Jay Jay Okocha?’ Again, the party responded, ’No! The gentleman asked why, and the party again unanimously said: ‘Okocha is too old now.’ He concluded: ‘That exactly is my point. The Tinubu of ten years ago is not the same as the Tinubu of today. His age, his health and the challenges of today’s governance are not in his favour!

I cannot agree less!

So, if the state of health of Mr. President is the reason he intends to stay away from his kingship selection process, I can volunteer here that the option of voluntary withdrawal from the race is the most honourable thing for him. At his age, official or otherwise, it is only by the grace of God people of his generation will not experience health challenges.