Of fallacies, forgery, fakery II

Tinubu: Imperial rulers like you who do not listen populate the ignoble dumpsites of history

By Prof. Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.

Since the beginning of the year, our time, I watched the razzmatazz and funfair with which nations welcomed the New Year.

The earliest celebrations took place in and around the islands of Kiribati, Chatham, Samoa, and Tonga. By the way, Chatham Island is in New Zealand. Australia, Russia, Papua New Guinea, China, et al., in no particular order, were among the early birds of 2026.

In Nigeria, what remains remarkable year in, year out is the religiosity of the moment—particularly the crossover night services and the so-called “prophecies,” mostly churned out by merchants of faith. I sincerely hope that in 2026 we do more work than praying.

Now that our imperial king and ruler, along with his minders and court jesters, have imposed a forged tax law on Nigeria and Nigerians, should we pray and fast, or should we agitate and mobilize against it?

Must we allow this descent into dictatorship and despotism, or must we fight for the soul of our nation? Make no mistake: the universe is just. As we make our bed, so shall we lie on it.

I am certainly unwilling to address the New Year goodwill message of a president whose whereabouts I do not know. I am also unwilling to join issues with those who insist that it does not matter.

If it does not matter to them, it matters to Nigerians that our president is presently the most travelled president in the world, and about the only one who delivered his New Year message from a foreign land. We must lampoon his absenteeism and be ready, at all times, to call a spade a spade.

On the forged tax law: if we allow this fake and forged legislation, we must be ready to embrace more forgery and fakery in 2026. After all, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration lacks scruples; it is shameless and manifestly rogue.

Do we need any more evidence? Is implementing a forged law not the very definition of rogue conduct? And by the way, is our president in France, England, or Italy? Oh! I forgot—according to Egbon Bayo Onanuga, he is “in Europe,” wherever that is.

The year 2026 promises great spectacles, starting today—definitely. I am not prophesying like the merchants of faith; I am merely stating the obvious. It is the year of politics, with 2027 next door. It is the year of long knives, betrayal, subterfuge, and perfidy.

It will undoubtedly place the interests of men and women of power above the nation and her citizens. They do not care about us and are unwilling to do so.

Therefore, we must be ready and willing to organize for our collective good rather than agonize—mindful of the fact that the power of the people is mightier than those in power and their shenanigans.

Now that the Nigerian god and those “standing on his mandate” have achieved a near one-party state, we are in for interesting times. The challenge is not merely about forging a credible alternative or building another strong party.

The way out of the present mess is the people. The pathway is the street. The weapon is truth. The manifesto is patriotism and commitment to the common good. No great movement or redemption is served à la carte. We must fight for it, folks—and if need be, we must be ready to die for it.

The 2026 Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly is loudly about them—yes, about the merchants of power. Make no mistake: like the one before it, they will pad and inflate the budget to favour themselves and their cronies. They will pay liars and sycophants to defend it.

They will sing the praises of the mandate forger and gaslight the dumb and the clueless. They will mendaciously declare that Nigeria has never had it so good.

They will lie to themselves, lie before God, and lie with everything sacred—because they are soulless and shameless.
We have difficult days ahead, but we must not give up. We must be ready—strongly so—for eternal vigilance is the price that guarantees freedom.

I do not wish to trouble your New Year’s Day with a lengthy and cumbersome read. After all, we already have a forged tax law to grapple with. However, I promise to return in a few days with Part III, knowing that nothing but the truth can make Nigeria whole.

Happy New Year, folks. The struggle continues.

Nwaokobia Jnr.
Convener, COUNTRYFIRST MOVEMENT
A Good Governance Advocacy Group