Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, seems fascinated with Egypt as a metaphor and throws it around during his political campaigns. While speaking at an event last month, he justified removing fuel subsidies, saying Nigeria would have gone bankrupt if they had been retained. Responding to his opponent Atiku Abubakar, who had promised to restore the subsidies if elected as president, Tinubu stated, “I remember my scripture studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Quran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced a challenge, and the Red Sea parted and gave way. You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt.” A few days ago, he whipped out the metaphor again, this time claiming he learned the story of Pharaoh from his wife. Tinubu related Nigeria to the story of Moses and the Israelites escaping Egypt, only to propose a return because the journey ahead was hard. He said, “Can we go back to Egypt? We must go forward. We go forward, and it’s going forward.”

Anyone who has read the story of Moses would understand why Tinubu chose this metaphor, and why he repeats it like the last song the deaf heard. It is universally familiar and relatable. All he needs to do is state it, and our minds will fill in the rest of the details about a people who walked out of bondage, relating the account to ourselves. Beyond the immediate recognition, it can evoke an emotional response. Tinubu expects anyone who has ever heard a preacher exegete brilliantly on the story of the Hebrews who walked out of slavery, or prayed fervently with the verses of scripture that narrate that account, to transfer the feelings they derived from the experience to him. Putting economic matters in the idioms of religion is a tactical political manipulation, but how relevant is the story to the Nigerian situation? Is the restoration of fuel subsidies truly a return to enslavement or a modest reprieve from it?

When you look at the analogy closely, Nigerians are classifiable as the Israelites enslaved by a king who disregarded the arrangement that previously made them a welcome minority in Egypt. As their numbers grew, it alarmed the Egyptians, who feared they might side with their enemies in case of war. They came up with a scheme to break their backs and spirits, and they put them to the rigorous task of slave labor. In this story, Tinubu is no Moses. He is, in fact, more suited to the character of Pharaoh the enslaver who sought to diminish the children of God by placing heavy burdens on them. Pharaoh would not let them leave Egypt to go serve their God as free subjects of a self-determined nation. For Tinubu to go around casting himself as anything other than the oppressive Pharaoh, he is either trolling Nigerians or genuinely not thinking.

The metaphor of Nigerians as the Hebrews enslaved under a brutal leadership is not a particularly new one. We have been praying “let my people go” prayers in our various churches for long. It was also the theme of one of the first plays written and performed by Hubert Ogunde, pioneer of modern theatre. He staged Israel in Egypt in 1945 to satirize the colonial government (he also followed it the same year with another political satire titled Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign and Belshazzar’s Feast). So, yes, Nigeria has been circling this mountain of seeking freedom from political oppression for decades. We have been using the weapons in our spiritual, social, and political arsenals to criticize the leadership that subtracts from our potential and keeps us from fulfilling our God-given destiny. What we perhaps did not bargain for is that the Pharaoh who keeps throwing one harsh policy after another at Nigerians from his Aso Rock throne will be the one to mock us by designating himself as our Moses. Pharaoh posturing as something akin to Moses is perhaps what the Bible meant when it warns us about Satan himself transforming into an agent of light.

It is evident that Tinubu has not really sat down to calculate what his policies have cost Nigerians, which is why he thinks he is light when he is the darkness we seek to enlighten. If he were not out of touch with reality, he would not be all over the place yelling “Moses!” and “Egypt!” to manipulate us to see him in a favorable light. He would see how much burden he has placed on already beleaguered Nigerians. His lack of empathy and fundamental disconnection from the people he supposedly governs drives him to pile on more burdens on people. If he has set Nigerians to so many tasks during his first term, one can only imagine what he would do during a second term.

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The other trouble with his metaphor is that, like his administration, it looks backward but never forward. We should be wary of leaders who have the language to contextualise the pain of Egypt but lack a coherent vision of the Promised Land and how we should get there. He keeps saying Nigeria would be worse off now if he had not put a stop to fuel subsidies, but how does that help anyone who can no longer afford to live within their means? The productivity Nigeria was promised if fuel subsidies were removed has not happened. Tinubu is borrowing heavily—even more than his predecessors who paid subsidies—and hardly anyone can see where the loans go. Most likely, they are using it to fund his re-election campaign. So, what exactly have we gained from his so-called reforms other than vague promises that translate to little? In all this, he still tells himself that the pain is leaving Egypt. Why not just let people remain in Egypt? Who knows, they may eventually gather enough strength to overthrow their oppressors!

After three and a half years in office, Tinubu should not be telling us about leaving Egypt anymore but showing us the Promised Land. We are not talking about the future of ‘I will give you light,’ ‘I will make food affordable,’ but realistic and meaningful assurances that there is indeed a future for Nigeria. Their Renewed Hope 2.0 manifesto is a rash of rambling promises of what—judging by their precedents—will not happen in a dozen years. Compare their 2027 manifesto to 2023, and you will see how exceptionally talented they are at merely recycling fandazzling promises. For 2027, they promised everything, including “establishing the discipline.” After four years of chaotic rule, they have suddenly seen the need for “the discipline”? Yinmu!

The truth is, Tinubu does not have much in him to deliver more than what you have seen. Anyone who thinks this enfeebled old man, whose two hands they must grip very firmly so that he does not fall on his face on the campaign ground, is the one who will lead Nigeria to the Promised Land has got another thing coming. Like African counterparts such as Paul Biya and Robert Mugabe, and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu is another selfish and entitled old man who will not let the children of God attain their potential. If he wins a second time, he will be worse than a lame duck. He will simply sit inside Aso Rock for four years, marking time like Buhari, who promised us everything from wiping out corruption to producing pencils but spent eight years delivering nothing. The same way they promoted Buhari’s second term as Nigeria’s chance to consolidate her redemption is what they are doing for Tinubu now. Let nobody deceive you; there is no Promised Land for anyone who thinks they left Egypt through Tinubu’s promises. What lies ahead is a long stretch of unending wilderness.

Source: Punch · Abimbola Adelakun

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