It is scarcely necessary today, to ask any Nigerian to find the meaning of tribulation in the dictionary. The streets of Nigeria are painted with different colors of tribulation.

No dictionary is needed to define what has become the emblem of living in an emergent counter civilization foisted on a people by the modicum of epidemic obnoxious policies of the Tinubu,s administration in the last one year.

While the administration rides on with policies draining sweats, tears and blood from the people, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, the catastrophic apathy and indisputable indolence of people have not helped in moderating what is gradually becoming reckless exercise of power on the side of the state authority in policy formulation and execution.

Today, Tinubulation is an apt synonym of Tribulation! Tinubulation is a slum-blind policy making mentality that ignores people and environment in the process and equation of policy making; and does not concern itself with consequences of actions. The policy makers do not want to be bothered with what relative or absolute vulnerability of poor people and dwellers looks like. It is a floating arrogance of power in a nation lying below sea level of rising impunity.

It is the shared space of people frequently marooned by perennial policy-bred- poverty. Furious waves of leadership incompetence, incapacity and ignorance that drive policies that are people blind; astonishingly, aided by copious inability of victims to fight back the onslaught of obnoxious policies.

If not a symptom of megalomania, how do we explain a situation a newly elected President declared on the podium of his inauguration, removal of subsidy from fuel – a policy declaration and personal position when he had not even formed government nor appointed members of his cabinet? That was a classical example of personalization of power, an affront on democracy and culture that sustains it.Policy must be debated. Dialogue must happen to clarify unclear purpose and review its possible implications. Tinubu,s first policy pronouncement was abrasively an insensitive misstep; product of exclusion and arrogance that deepened poverty, widened inequality and created large scale economic crisis with implications for cost of living, cost of production and standard of living. They are characterized by running inflation and shrinking disposable income.

His example was a proof that even in democracy, Nigeria presents a fertile ground for oppression, tyranny and brazen injustices.

She has a democracy that produces imperial rulers, nearly unquestionable kings, much more than it produces accountable leaders. A democracy where the declaration of one person becomes a policy is not a democracy, properly put. At best, it is a monarchy!

Tinubu on fuel subsidy removal put the cart before the horse. His thought of mitigation of the policy with canvassing Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) as an alternative to Fuel for vehicles is a product of the poverty of economic logic that governs policy formulation in Nigeria.

Compressed Natural Gas seems cheaper today because nobody is using it. When demand goes up, we will discover the tantalizing mirage that is now being hawked as bread of hope. A government that cannot temper the furious price of cooking gas can never compress the potentially combustible price of automotive gas. If anything, this charity should begin with cooking gas!

In addition, to the agony of fuel subsidy removal, floating of Naira, devaluation and other breathwood backed policies of Tinubu are poverty generating. The remedy does not lie in salary raise alone.

The Nigeria Labor Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC are myopic in rooting for a single lane wage review. They must go for a dual lane review of both civil and public servants remunerations. We can not build a society where a tiny minority monarchic-ally make prosperity exclusive rights of the few while majority of people is condemned to absolute poverty. No Governor,Senator, President or whoever in the Public Service should earn more than 10% above what a Permanent Secretary earns, allowances inclusive.

The obnoxiously obscene opulence of the governors should not be accommodated under any guise by the governed. If you can not openly budget for Security you should not wickedly cart away common patrimony under the disguise of security votes.

We must not allow those we elected to serve us become our tormentors. Tinubulation or tribulation is what the maverick musician, Portable often called Idamu Adugbo – street chaos! That policy of fuel subsidy removal is causing street chaos. It came with ignorance and arrogance. Indeed, Ignorance is a portable burden converted into heavy yoke by arrogance.

Portable, the musician, has run into some trouble because of the street chaos he has caused. When he was alleged to have assaulted some police officers in 2023, he later waxed a record in acknowledging the good work of police, even though he called himself federal government,s liability.

I wrote about him that,he shook off the toga of timidity imposed by appearance in Court with dexterity of artistic excellence. He projected a tempered clavier of contrite heart by acknowledging the vital roles of police why swimming in a look alike river of repentance, a lyrical lemonade that made police withdraw the charge of assault of its officials against him. He ingeniously converted adversity to ‘moral prosperity’ and fiduciary advantage. He made adventure out of self caused travails. He is uniquely talented but talent has no future without character. He needs full dose of introspection as well as excursion into land of reflection. With that great lyrics, Portable is not what he called himself.
Tinubu should know that a good policy poorly implemented can become a source of affliction. If he cannot repent of the policies like Portable did of his misdemeanor, he should reflect on them and make amend. Decency and civilization have no explanation for manifestly criminal acts, particularly, corruption and the frightening insecurity in the land.
President Tinubu must openly and publicly take position in war against corruption and insecurity.His strategic direction must be unambiguously clear. Insecurity must no longer define us. Corruption must never be allowed to lead our narrative as a nation. The President must support EFCC to fish out every Bellos and Matawales, every Okons and Kayodes. Happy Anniversary, Mr President. Happy Survival Nigerians!
Gbenro Olajuyigbe is the Executive Director of Emergency & Risk Alert Initiative.