Pick your poison
Would you rather have Tinubu serve as president for 6 or 12 years?
Good morning, Big Brains. Today’s edition is probably my favourite one of the week. From Atiku being the good kind of hater to Ruto becoming what he condemned – oh, you’re so in for a treat.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1,200
Reading time ~5 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
Atiku wants Tinubu to be president for six years
ASUU is planning another good ol’ academic strike
Kenya wants to impeach its deputy president asap
The Big Deal
Atiku wants Tinubu to be president for six years
We’ve called the former vice-president Atiku Abubakar the bane of President Tinubu’s existence a few times as a joke but we can now confirm that it’s not a joke anymore.
Atiku woke up one day and decided to write to the National Assembly to consider some constitutional amendments. You might like some parts of the proposed amendments but we can’t say the same for Tinubu.
Instead of a Nigerian president being allowed to serve for four years and for two terms, Atiku is suggesting that presidents and governors should now be allowed to serve for only one term and that term should last for six years.
Before you go “Is Atiku’s head correct?”, remember that what the Tinubu-led administration is proposing is worse. Lawmakers are currently trying to extend each term to six years and retain the constitutional right for a president to serve for two terms, making a total of 12 years. You should also know that the bill has already passed its first reading. So pick your poison wisely.
Another thing Atiku is proposing is that the role of the president is constitutionally rotated periodically between the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria so we’ll never have to worry about a presidential candidate demanding votes like it's a birthright.
He also suggested that candidates should start submitting their educational certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). If they’ve lost their certificates, they can submit an affidavit explaining their qualifications, when they got them, and where they studied.
This lowkey feels like a direct attack on Tinubu whose university certificate could not be confirmed or authenticated by the university he claimed to attend. But that didn’t really matter because, under the Nigerian constitution, a presidential candidate is only required to have at least a school leaving certificate. The part where it gets messy is that President Tinubu didn’t submit that either.
Why is this a big deal?
The president of a country can either make or mar things. Nigeria has been leaning more towards the “mar” side since it started practising democracy. In the history of Nigerian elections, the serving president is always most likely to get re-elected necessarily because that’s what the citizens want but because some powerful people can make a few calls to make it happen – basically the result of an annoying thing known as the power of incumbency
Even though Tinubu swears by his reforms, they’ve been shit so far. Nigerians are getting hungrier, poorer, and more frustrated and he hasn’t even spent two years in office. While he insists that these reforms will pay off soon, hungry people don’t have the privilege of being patient enough to believe the words of a man whose presidential victory is still a topic of controversy.
Some of Atiku’s proposals, even though they may be coming from a place of bias, will be great for Nigeria. Tinubu’s campaign in 2023 started a new wave of tribalism with words like “Omo Igbo” (Igbo individual) being thrown around as slurs. If it is constitutionally permitted that Nigerians can choose one qualified individual from each of the six geo-political zones, it’ll likely lead us closer to the united Nigeria we want.
The idea that a president should be able to prove that he’s academically qualified is also great. We want the best of the best ruling our country, not liars and thieves. The hill we’re willing to die on is that a six-year singular term is better than possibly 12 years of bad leadership.
ASUU is planning another good ol’ academic strike
What’s a normal year without a good ol’ academic strike? The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) released an Independence Day statement titled “Nigeria at 64: A State in Need of Deliverance from The Leadership of Perpetual Have-Nots”. If you think this title is dramatic, the union would like you to know that some of its members have died due to financial struggles. The ones that are still alive are either in debt or leaving public universities to lecture at private schools.
The union previously gave the federal government a 14-day ultimatum to attend to their demands but FG has been kinda ghosting. ASUU has stated that if this continues, they’ll be forced to go on another strike.
Since Tinubu got into office, there’s been a trend of Nigerian universities increasing their school fees. Universities like the University of Maiduguri, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and University of Abuja have nearly doubled students’ tuition fees.
Some Nigerians argued that this hike in tuition fees while cancel the possibility of another ASUU strike soon. Well, sike because ASUU strike continua!
So far, Mr President hasn’t said much to address the planned strike. But you know what they say, it’s hard to be moved by something that doesn’t affect you directly.
Kenya wants to impeach its deputy president asap
The last time you read about anything Kenya related was probably when Kenyan protesters were calling for the head of their president, William Ruto. Not his head if we’re being literal, more like asking him to resign as president.
Well, tables have turned now. Ruto himself is now actively making sure his deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua, is impeached. Ruto believes that Gachagua somehow instigated the protests in June. But Gachagua has denied the accusation. Mind you, this protest was sparked by some ridiculous taxes that Ruto was imposing on Kenyans.
About 83% of the 349 lawmakers in the National Assembly supported a motion by Mwengi Mutuse, a member of Ruto's coalition, to impeach the deputy president. This is far more than the one-third needed to move forward with the vote. It’s safe to say that Gachagua is about to get bounced for daring to annoy Ruto.
This Week’s Big Question
“How are/did you celebrate the National Independence Day?”
Barry’s response - “I love you guys but I’m tired of this question. I’m tired of you and all the Nigerians abroad that are still talking about this Independence Day p”
You can also share your response here and if it’s as interesting as Barry’s response, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
The Big Picks
Tinubu Approves E-Vehicles For Use In North-East: President Bola Tinubu has given the green light for the introduction of electric vehicles in Nigeria's North-East region to help improve transportation in the area.
Iran President Vows ‘Stronger’ Response If Israel Retaliates: President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized on Wednesday that Iran is “not seeking war,” but warned that they will respond more forcefully if Israel strikes back after their missile attack.
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