One week, one trouble

Chairman, Oshodi-Isolo LGA, Hon. Kehinde Oloyede 3rd right), with Corp Superintendent, Adeniji Jubril (3rd left), during the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LSNC), visit to the council boss, at the council secretariat, Oyetayo Street, Oshodi, recently. 

By Adekunle Adekoya

THE inspiration for today’s discourse is the title of a book, One Week, One Trouble. The author of the book is a world-renowned Professor of Dermatology, Anezi Okoro. Professor Okoro’s academic career in Medicine took him to world-class universities, from our own University College Hospital, UCH, to University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, in the US, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, also in the US and King Faisal University, Damman, Saudi Arabia to mention a few.

But this professor and specialist in skin diseases is not known outside the academia the way his book, One Week, One Trouble, first published in 1972, earned him recognition. To refresh memories, and for those who might not have read the book, it is the story of a young boy, Wilson Ikechukwu Tagbo’s escapades in his secondary school. One which always got me laughing whenever I remembered was how Tagbo, sniffing around the Chemistry laboratory in his school, inhaled nitrous oxide, commonly called laughing gas and subsequently passed out.

The year opened, more or less on a troublesome note for Nigeria and Nigerians, as organized labour  threatened to ground the country through strikes if government goes ahead to remove subsidy on petrol. As the sabre-rattling continued, other inherited and manufactured crises continued to assail Nigerians. The story of Sylvester Oromoni, a teenage student of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos, who died of yet-unravelled causes, continued to get cover page mention in newspapers. In Zamfara State, where terrorists have reduced the governor to mayor of Gusau, 140 people killed by Bello Turji’s gang were buried one day. Sad, unbelievable, but the same people declared terrorists went on rampage in Oyo and Plateau states, kidnapped 12, and killed nine. Not goats or fowls, but fellow humans. Then, former Head of Interim National Government, Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Sonekan, died, and flags were flown at half-staff in his honour. Guy Ikokwu, Second republic politician also died, as well as former Finance Minister, Dr. Chu Okongwu. And then, about mid-January, gunmen killed two soldiers, one policeman, 13 others and abducted many in Kebbi. Meanwhile, the “Monday-Monday” sit-at-home persisted in the South-Eastern states, with attendant ruination of the economy in that part of the country. Those enforcing the sit-at-home wreaked havoc by going to churches to disperse worshippers, and markets to disrupt commercial activities. Then, the pendulum swung back to the subsidy issue, with the National Economic Council announcing after a meeting that a decision will be taken on the matter later, in June. The ink had barely dried on the announcement paper when government told Nigerians that subsidy will remain for the next 18 months, prompting the Governors’ Forum to enlist the help of the labour movement in battling what it called “subsidy untruths,” just as the NNPC said subsidy cost for the next 18 months will be in the region of a paltry N3 trillion. Meanwhile, the PDP was holding its governorship primaries in Ekiti State. Wednesday before the Saturday event, about 105 thugs, with matchetes, guns, and cudgels, were arrested around 3 am.

In between, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu declared his intention to run for the office of president, and indeed, went to Abuja to inform the incumbent. So also did Dave Umahi, Ebonyi State governor. Many others similarly declared their bids, while others still kept mum. Meanwhile, mayhem continued to be unleashed on helpless Nigerians, prompting the Senate to wonder why bandits are still active after being declared terrorists.

The month ended, and as Nigerians were saying “Happy New Month” to each other, many parts of the nation, especially the South-West, got plunged into darkness. Reason: Some crucial installations at Egbin Thermal Power plant, near Ikorodu in Lagos State, got consumed by a fire, and the national grid lost more than 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity in generation and supply. Not that anyone could bet a kobo (?) on electricity supply anyway. It was back full-blast to generators and fuel marketers wore wider smiles to the banks, all at the expense of the ordinary Nigerian who exists at the mercy of the most unconscionable, insouciant, and incompetent power elite in the world.

It seemed all the above were not enough trouble for the common man. By Monday, queues started growing at petrol stations, and black fuel markets, which we thought had vanished for good, started re-surfacing. The conversations moved away from subsidy to adulterated fuel, and the blame game began. 

Midweek, a Divisional Police Officer, a soldier and an unnamed man were killed by terrorists in Jibia, Katsina, while cultists killed seven people in Imo State.

Now, nobody is responsible as the bad fuel just left Antwerp in Belgium for Lagos, Nigeria all on its own, found its way to fuel depots, petrol tankers and fuel stations. Harry Houdini and his Nigerian equivalent, Professor Peller, couldn’t have managed this feat. See how troubled the average Nigerian is, through no fault of his own? One trouble or more, everyday? What a country!