By Kayode Emola

In the world we live in today, many leaders cling to power as though it is their birthright. In turn, this affects their sense of judgment, thereby undoing years of hard work and personal sacrifice. In the end, it is the masses and several others who will suffer the consequences of that action.

Last week, the UK had local elections in England and parliamentary elections to the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales. If the results were anything to go by, it was a complete disaster for the central Labour government that lost over 1,500 council seats in England and the Welsh Labour government in Wales.

As a matter of fact, the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, lost her own seat and the ability to return to the Welsh Senedd. The first of its kind in any government in the United Kingdom. Yet, all these events did not faze the Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer, into action, other than a mere press conference.

Even though he consistently said he took responsibility for the bad turn of events, he has fallen short of reading the handwriting on the wall. Even in Biblical times, we were told that the great King Nebuchadnezzar read the handwriting on the wall and couldn’t sleep until it was interpreted and remedial actions taken.

It seems that this is not the case for many modern leaders of our time. They cling to power as though it is their birthright, and power revolves around them. I know many good councillors in England who lost their seats and many good people who lost their seats in Wales for no fault of their own.

However, when political leaders don’t learn to do the right thing when it’s time for them to leave the stage, then disaster is bound to strike one way or another. Sir Kier Starmer had even tried to postpone some council elections before he was threatened with court action and made a U-turn. This must show desperation in leaders who believe they have a point to prove and still haven’t completed their political assignments.

Which brings me to what the Yoruba nation would have looked like if we had taken our independence out of Nigeria when Ghana took theirs in 1957. The Yoruba government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo scored first in many areas of development, such that we even had a TV station before France.

The Yoruba government of Western Nigeria gave every child free education that even benefited those who were not originally from Yorubaland. The Yoruba government had an agricultural program that encouraged farmers and made sure every cocoa brought to the Cocoa House was duly accounted for and adequately paid for.

All these great achievements of the 1950s were thrown away for a greater project of building the Nigerian dream. One which will continue to bite the Yoruba people hard into the future unless we decide to sever all ties with anything that has to do with Nigeria.

For all intents and purposes, most Yoruba people do not know that the pain and suffering we are currently experiencing in Nigeria is artificial. Many young Yoruba who live in the homeland have never experienced good governance in their lifetime; therefore, they wouldn’t know one if they saw it.

Fela sang about bad governance a lot in his songs, but his greatest frustration wasn’t with the government, some of the time, but with the people. Even though his song titled “My People Are Useless” was aimed at the government that had previously referred to Nigerians as undisciplined and useless people. Fela knew he was a lone voice fighting for the good of his people, who would not raise a finger when he was in harm’s way.

It would be good for leaders to know when to call it a day. This will save their country and its people from unnecessary hardship that may befall them because of their action. If Sir Kier had seen the handwriting on the wall before the election and knew what was coming, I’m sure he would have chosen a more honourable path.

His claim that the British people gave him a clear mandate of 5 years is just a ruse to continue to perpetuate himself in office. As it stands, if he has any goodwill for his political party, this is the best time to quit the stage and let another person take the reins; if not, the Labour Party as we know it in Britain will become one of the minority parties and nothing to reckon with in the near future.

I pray and hope that when our Yoruba nation eventually comes, God will raise for us leaders who will do their best for the country. They would be ready to call it a day when the time is ripe and not behave like many African heads of government, where the only place they are taking themselves and their country to the grave. My prayer is for God to raise men like Nelson Madiba Mandela who will see power as a privilege and not a birthright.

By Kayode Emola

Over 2 months into the US/Iran war, the effect is beginning to unravel before our very eyes. Anyone observant of the world’s affairs and the effect of globalisation knows that it’s going to take a while before the world’s economy goes back to where it was before the war.

Unfortunately for mankind, whatever goes up in our world economy finds it very difficult to come down, irrespective of where we find ourselves on this planet. It is as though the forces of nature are constantly waging war against our pockets.

Take, for instance, the market of “just in time” we have become accustomed to. This has made the world’s economy into a global village where goods and services are readily available with the click of a button. That economy has been tested very hard by the US/Iran war, and it is about to crack. What happens from here will very much depend on the direction the negotiations between the US and Iran take.

The prices of commodities are beginning to skyrocket even though there hasn’t been an active military campaign since April 7. The damage from the month-long continuous bombardment is leaving countries around the world reeling from the effects of the war.

Many airlines across the globe are now cutting flights drastically, like in the case of Lufthansa, which cut down over 20,000 flights in April. Or Spirit airline that practical shut its door for good yesterday in the US. These are just a few direct consequences of the war between the US and Iran. The indirect consequences down the line may not fully unravel until many months later.

Once travel is disrupted, the movement of goods and people from one location to another becomes problematic. This, in effect, affects the prices of everyday supplies that we need to function. Eventually hurting every one of us in one way or another.

The funniest part of this whole situation is that many people in Africa are unaware of what is going on. Some more than others are feeling the pain because their essential commodities have gone up in price.

The most important thing is for countries in Africa that are blessed with good vegetation, arable land, and natural resources to begin to utilise them for their own benefit. This will mean going the extra mile in ensuring that external factors like the war in Iran don’t affect the prices of everyday goods.

As for us, our Yoruba people, the time is now to consolidate on what has been built by the Awolowo government in the 1950’s. We need to dust all the good works of that government and see how we can build something that would withstand unforeseen circumstances now and into the future. This is the only way we can shield ourselves from any external factors that we cannot influence.

At least, the Dangote refinery in Lagos is a blessing in disguise for the Yoruba people and the entire Nigeria at large. Were it not for that refinery, Nigeria would have been in total shambles right now, not least with an epileptic power supply. This is why the Yoruba nation must prioritise the production of its own goods and services that it consumes rather than the reliance on offshore markets or other countries.

By Kayode Emola

There is no doubt that politicians of various political colouration and ethnicity are beginning to prepare for the general election of 2027. Many governors who have served one term are no doubt seeking the opportunity to return for a second mandate, whether their first tenure was a shambles or not.

The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is also no doubt seeking a second term in office, whether the people want him or not. With various sections of the country already queueing up behind him or against him. The opposition is also trying all they can to oust the President, citing broken promises like the uninterrupted power supply that has failed to materialise.

Whether Nigeria will remain one country in 2027 remains to be seen, with several ethnic nationalities, regions and stakeholders pushing to be the dominant power holder in 2027. The President, who is enjoying the power of incumbency, will do everything within his reach to retain power at all costs.

Likewise, the opposition, which is trying to oust the President from that lofty seat, will use every trick in the book to push him out of office. Whether their trick will be enough to unseat the Jagaban remains to be seen. The opposition has vowed to undertake their own live transmission of election results for the whole world to see. How this will be achieved in the face of multiple challenges in Nigeria beats my imagination.

For someone like me who had previously worked as an INEC presiding officer in the 2011 general election, I know that most results that come from polling stations are not what is eventually released to the public. How the manipulation of those results happens in high places is beyond me and a story for another day.

We all witnessed the many irregularities in the 2023 general election that brought this present administration into power. Gross manipulations of election results across several polling stations were the order of the day. Yet, that did not stop President Tinubu from winning the presidency even though he was an outsider. How anyone thinks they can unseat him as an incumbent remains to be seen.

Only time will tell whether the election will make or break Nigeria this time around, as I do not see President Tinubu bowing out after 4 years without a fight. Equally, I do not see the Fulani North enduring another 4 years of Tinubu’s presidency. The Fulani are so power drunk that they may decide to go to war to break up Nigeria if they do not get hold of the presidency in 2027. Their coalition party is not holding up presently, and doesn’t look like a formidable force that can stop President Tinubu from doing another 4 years.

This then brings us to our Yoruba nation struggle in the run-up to the 2027 general elections. Many Yoruba people who were staunch critics of Buhari and the Fulani militias’ merciless killings of Yoruba people between 2015 and 2023 are now suddenly mute because a Yoruba man is the president of Nigeria today.

Should Tinubu finish his presidency in 2031 if he wins a second term, what will be the fate of the Yoruba people, assuming another Fulani man becomes the president of Nigeria in 2031? Every right-thinking Yoruba person must know that with the current chaos in Nigeria, the country may not even exist beyond 2027. The binding glue holding the country together is now so worn out that every facet of the country is bleeding.

The terrorists troubling the peace and tranquillity of the country are now so emboldened that it will take a miracle to get rid of them. The President is not even shying away from the fact that he is not capable of solving the insecurity challenges bedevilling the country. Rightly so, if his predecessor, who was once an Army General, cannot tackle insecurity, how much more President Tinubu, who has not experienced any military training, talk less of combat.

My fellow Yoruba citizens, we must realise that the time to get out of Nigeria is now, and this is not a time to pander to the political machinations going on. We have no business in Nigeria, as there is neither hope nor future in the country that will uplift the millions of our people now trapped in abject poverty. With the abundant human and mineral resources God has blessed us with, I see no reason why we should continue to humiliate ourselves with Nigerian politics that has nothing to offer us or our future generations.