REMI TINUBU’S COMPASSION (2.0)
By Nick Dazang
Life excites and titillates us, perhaps, because of its unmistakable irony. Life is a supreme irony defined largely by the law of opposites: Two antipodal and diametrically opposed characters come together and they hit it off marvelously and to our awe.
Nothing best exemplifies this phenomenon than the curious and interesting case of our first family. Whereas the President, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, seems to find it challenging to connect with ordinary folks who are hurting, and he seems to excel in espousing policies that present him as marble-hearted and uncaring, his spouse, Senator Remi Tinubu, carries on with a superlative empathy quotient. She comports herself with a near unmatched sense of compassion and fellow-feeling. She is at home with, and is in lockstep with, the poor and the traumatized.
Under the auspices of her pet project, RENEWED HOPE INITIATIVE, Senator Remi Tinubu has succored millions of hurting Nigerians. Her interventions, by one authoritative account, have nearly reached the N9 billion mark. The catalogue includes: relief funds for victims of insecurity in Borno State; the welfare of military retirees and senior citizens; support for widows and orphans; aid to victims of flood in Borno State; and support for families of those affected by tanker explosion in Niger State.
Last week, Mrs Tinubu made another sortie to embattled Plateau State. As a matter of fact, following the resurgence of terrorism and genocidal killings in that beleaguered State some two years ago, she had donated N500 million to the families of those negatively impacted across the six Local Government Areas(LGAs) of Bassa, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos, Jos South, Mangu and Riyom.
Following that intervention, this writer had commented in a piece dated 18TH September 2023:”Tinubu’s outpouring of compassion and show of fellow-feeling are significant and unsurpassed. In terms of its size, no humanitarian, thus far, has positively touched the lives of these displaced persons, in Plateau State, as Senator Tinubu has done”.
Senator Tinubu surpassed herself last week. In the aftermath of yet other heinous attacks and genocidal killings in Plateau State, the First Lady has donated N1 billion to the victims. Senator Tinubu deserves our profound gratitude for this kind and generous gesture. This huge contribution will certainly succor and comfort the victims, some of whom are either in Internally Displaced Persons(IDP) Camps or at the mercy of the elements.
This uncommon generosity suggests that Senator Tinubu is a humane and great soul. A lesser person would have deployed these huge sums, which she has gifted to reduce suffering in the land, to the service of massaging her ego and vanity. Other humanitarians and the wealthy among us should emulate her uplifting example.
When Senator Tinubu embarked on this edifying journey some two years ago, I had lauded and commended her. I had also urged the President to reciprocate her generous and thoughtful gestures. Permit me to quote from the said piece(earlier referenced):”While Senator Tinubu’s gracious gesture is laudable, one must hasten to remark that the best way to succor Nigerians who are victims of insurgency, terrorism and genocide is to proactively check these dastardly incidents and to decimate their perpetrators even before they commit their evil deeds”.
It is valid that the evils of insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and terrorism, which confront us today, and which have reduced this country to a vast killing field, did not begin on President Tinubu’s watch. They began nearly two decades ago. In spite of this, the President owes Nigerians, as per his constitutional obligation and his onerous responsibility as the country’s Commander-In-Chief, to bring insecurity to an end and to restore the country to an enduring peace.
Even though others who came before him failed woefully to halt heightened insecurity, the President should view it as a challenge that must be surmounted and effective, immediately. He should pool and focus the country’s resources, martial and financial, to this worthy task.
Many dividends are derivable from halting insecurity and restoring peace to the country. The energies and potentials of Nigerians, encumbered by heightened insecurity, will be unleashed to the country’s betterment and prosperity.
Cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition(SAM), which are afflicting millions and are becoming the new normal, will become history. Farmers, who have scampered from their farms in droves, will return, cultivate them and reap bumper harvests. These rich harvests will, in turn, make food available, bring down the high cost of foodstuffs and invest the country with food security.
Commercial activities, hamstrung by insecurity will resume in full throttle and thrive. These activities will pre-occupy thousands of Nigerians who are idling away their time. They will prosper many Nigerians and give them something meaningful to do.
When insecurity is addressed, head-on and with stalwart resolve, there will be no need for the swathe of IDP Camps strewn across the country. The displaced will joyfully return to their homes, cultivate their lands and carry on with their lives in peace and dignity. Instead of continually relying on handouts from donors, who before long will suffer fatigue and weariness, they will fend for themselves.
It is when Nigeria is secure and peaceful that investments will flow in seamlessly, as a matter of course and without groveling by our officials. Useful energy will not be dissipated and no quixotic quest will need to be embarked upon for Foreign Direct Investments(FDI).
President Tinubu should be galvanized and inspired by the First Lady’s kind and generous interventions. He should halt insecurity and return the country to the peace it once enjoyed. He should seize this inglorious moment. He should make a huge difference by ending insecurity, once and for all. That will enthrone true and enduring compassion, beyond what Senator Tinubu has accomplished. It can be done.
