Samson Toromade, Author at Zikoko!

One thousand and one things are happening with a presidential election, especially one as chaotic as Nigeria’s 2023 race.

These are the highlights of the 2023 presidential election campaigns in the past week.

Obi won’t give shishi but he needs a lot of it

The Peter Obi presidential campaign uncovered a deep dark secret last week that stunned everyone across Nigeria: presidential campaigns cost money. Who saw that one coming? Before you know it, someone would tell us Abacha was a thief.

“He was only saving Nigeria’s money for future use”

The national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, opened the door to a dash of public ridicule when he appealed for donations to the party’s campaign for the 2023 presidential election. Crowdfunding for presidential elections isn’t an entirely new concept, but it was a bit comical coming from a campaign that has made penny-pinching a trademark.

Nigeria’s electoral laws set a limit of ₦5 billion to run a presidential campaign. How much of that can the Peter Obi campaign raise?

Tinubu finally wins something, but there’s a twist

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has survived a lot of things in his campaign — there was that pee thing, the constant questions about his health and his many gaffes.

But his campaign has been turning a good corner in the past couple of weeks, and he crowned that last week with an endorsement by Fitch Ratings which projected victory for him in 2023.

Peter Obi has won three major polls released in the past couple of months, but the Fitch report predicted a strong Tinubu victory — an outcome that validates his entitled campaign to succeed Buhari.

But while the report may be good news for Tinubu, it’s not such a great one for Nigerians as Fitch also projected his victory will lead to social instability in Nigeria.

Atiku’s American wonder

Atiku has to tick three things on his checklist whenever he runs for president — prove he’s not a northern extremist, beg Obasanjo to take back the stealing allegations and take a trip to the United States.

Last week, the former vice president packed his campaign team and flew to the U.S. to once again prove that he can waltz into the country where his critics say he’s wanted for corruption. He did a lot of standing around and taking fly jpegs in America and nobody saw him in handcuffs.

Roc Boys no drip pass this one

If the presidential election was a game of stunts, Atiku won last week hands down and should be crowned president as soon as he returns to Nigeria. But if he hopes to have a victorious campaign, there’s one more thing on his checklist he has to resolve and the name is Nyesom Wike.

Kwankwaso has a miracle up his sleeves

Does anyone still remember Rabiu Kwankwaso is in the presidential race? The former Kano State governor was primed as the dark horse candidate to challenge the APC and PDP in 2023. But even though he’s been dislodged from public consciousness by Obi’s rise and is now only rated fourth in a three-horse race, Kwankwaso isn’t giving up without a fight.

The former governor is still rallying his impressive crowd of Kwankwasiyya supporters with their famous red caps and posting photos of large rally crowds on his Twitter.

But does anyone trust it’ll translate into a win for the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP)? A chieftain of his party, Buba Galadima, seems to think he’ll perform the miracle of the five loaves of bread and two fish by sweeping over “50-something million votes” in the north while nicking more votes in the southern region.

If Galadima has seen the state of voter turnout in Nigerian elections, then he’d know he’s building castles in the air, but he’s no stranger to that.

Imumolen is a local champion

At 39, Christopher Imumolen of the Accord Party (AP) is the youngest presidential candidate in the race for the 2023 presidential election, and he won’t let you forget it. He’s made many claims about being the “authentic youth” option and wants young Nigerians — the most populated voting group — to elect him to make a statement.

Imumolen’s campaign got some kick last week when he commenced a tour of Nigeria’s West African neighbours to… campaign for president of Nigeria.

Christopher Imumolen started his tour in Togo with plans to also touch down in Benin Republic, Ghana and Liberia. Even though he refused to be drawn into a debate on why other candidates are doing diaspora outreach in exotic places in Europe and North America, Imumolen seemed to suggest his own West African tour had more substance. We can’t begrudge a man his days of local outreach.

Sowore is pocket-watching

Remember how the law says it should cost a maximum of ₦5 billion to run a Nigerian presidential campaign? Well, it’s kind of an open secret that Nigerian politicians spend more than the limit and they get away with it because authorities don’t enforce election finance laws. The candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, wants that to change for 2023 to create a level playing field.

Which is why you have laws and a referee like INEC

You can understand why this is coming from a candidate who could only raise a grand total of ₦‎1‎57.9 million for his 2019 campaign. But Nigeria does need to get serious with enforcing laws to make sure everyone is playing by the books. Why have laws if you won’t enforce them? Is this a third-world country?

ALSO READ: Village People Stopped These Nigerians from Becoming President
This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.

Subscribe now to get the newsletter in your email inbox at 8 am every Friday instead of three days later. Don’t be LASTMA.

On October 23, 2022, the United States government issued an emergency alert to American citizens living in Nigeria. The notice warned them of imminent terror attacks on any number of assets — especially in Abuja — and preached caution and vigilance.

Of course, Nigerians received the alert as well as you might expect.

[Image source: Tenor]

In typical Nigerian fashion, our own Department of State Services (DSS) quickly dismissed the U.S. alert as an ordinary security headache, not the pulmonary embolism it sounded like. The agency even said something like, “Hey, we’ve also issued similar warnings in the past” — which is true but isn’t the point. It’s not the Warning Olympics.

Whatever calm the DSS response offered, it went down the toilet when the U.S. government made another move on October 25. The U.S. Department of State authorised the departure of non-emergency staff and their family members back to America over the terror threats.

One of the embassy’s helpful suggestions for Americans who choose to remain in Nigeria is to have plans that don’t require the U.S. government’s assistance, which sounds like, “You’re on your own if kasala bursts.”

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

Considering Nigeria’s history with terrorism in the past decade, this week’s events should register some concerns that the Nigerian government should be taking more seriously.

Instead, we’ve got the DSS soft-pedalling the threat and Lai Mohammed doing what he does best — calling Indian hemp spinach. Nigerians were sleeping with only one eye closed before, but we may need to sleep with both eyes open until this cup passes over. It’s time to be more vigilant than ever.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

What else happened this week?

Nigeria’s flooding crisis is a campaign issue

[Image source: Peter Obi Campaign]

It’s been weeks since Nigeria’s 2022 flooding crisis went from “It’s okay, this is normal every year,” to “Too many people are dying, do we still have a government?” The floods continue to wreak havoc around the country leaving 612 Nigerians dead and over 3.5 million people directly affected.

The situation wasn’t tragic enough to stop Buhari from travelling to South Korea this week. And he didn’t even bother to send the Minister of Condolences, Yemi Osinbajo, to have some humane facetime with the victims. His version of taking the crisis more seriously is announcing that he needs 90 days to put a plan together.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

Thankfully, the 2023 presidential candidates are filling the wide gap of humane leadership Buhari has left right in the middle of the flooding crisis. The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, has gone on a donation spree and visited victims, gaining leadership points and photos that’ll look great in his campaign album weeks from now.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar has also met displaced victims, donated millions and made commitments to provide permanent solutions to Nigeria’s frequent flooding problems. And the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, has thrown millions of naira at the problem, even if he’s not found time in his busy schedule to meet the victims.

The good thing here is that as much as Nigeria’s 2023 elections campaign season has been troubled by ethno-religious tensions, it’s also catered to real issues affecting Nigerians. The days when campaigns were about eating roasted corn by the roadside are over. Or maybe we’re just being too optimistic here.

Have You Seen This Video?

We read Tinubu's 80-page manifesto so you don't have to. Here are the things we found. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/BKo4r9ZkQg
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) October 29, 2022

Question of the week

Fuel queues are back in major Nigerian cities and we spoke to a filling station manager about how good or bad a fuel scarcity crisis is for business. We also want to hear how you’ve been dealing with the ongoing scarcity crisis.

Click here to tweet your answer to @ZikokoCitizen on Twitter.

Ehen, one more thing…

Godwin Emefiele’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is redesigning the ₦‎200, ₦‎500 and ₦‎1000 banknotes and one of his reasons is that it’ll minimise the access Nigerians have to large volumes of cash needed for ransom payments.

If you’re a kidnapper in Nigeria, it’s time to find a new line of work. Meffy is coming for you.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget Nigeria still has a president running things in Abuja. You’d be forgiven for thinking the country is on autopilot because the number one citizen is often missing in the face of major issues that affect Nigerians.

Sure, you’ll find Buhari where they’re giving national awards to undeserving public officials or amnesty to thieving former governors or vacationing in London.

But you’d never catch the president taking as much interest in critical issues like fuel scarcity or the flooding crisis that has claimed over 600 lives in Nigeria in 2022.

On October 24, 2022, the president finally decided to take a more active interest in the flooding crisis when he ordered a committee to develop a comprehensive plan of action for preventing flood disasters in Nigeria. We’re assuming he tried to ban the floods first but moved on to the next ridiculous solution when that didn’t work.

Predictably, Buhari’s 90-day timeline for a plan has caused a stir online because it’s not addressing the present crisis. Do you know what can happen in 90 days? The United Kingdom can have three prime ministers, Asake can release seven studio albums, and you can find your soulmate in America if you’re a contestant on 90 Day Fiancé.

A match co-produced by sapa and japa

Since we can’t do anything to make Buhari’s timeline shorter, we have some suggestions for what the committee should include in the 90-day plan.

How to be an empathetic leader

You’re more likely to find Buhari at a political event than at the scene of a disaster where the president can show empathy for the affected citizens.

“Can’t I just send a tweet instead?”

Like many other disasters that have happened under his administration, Buhari has kept from visiting displaced flood victims because it’d ruin his manicure or put the hem of his garment in danger of touching the water.

When the committee presents the 90-day plan to him in 2023, there must be an entire section dedicated to “How to be a leader that cares” just for Buhari. They can make it a cartoon if that helps him understand better.

ALSO READ: How Nigeria’s Flooding Crisis Can Go from Bad to Worse

How to make governors useful

The federal government has caught the most flak for the ongoing flood crisis, but there should be some whipping reserved for state governors too.

Nigeria actually has what’s called a “triple response structure” for disasters like flooding. The response starts from the local government to the state before it lands on the federal government when it becomes a national-level emergency. All three levels of government are allocated funds every month for ecology and disaster management.

This means local and state governments should’ve responded better to the disaster before it became as bad as it has in the past couple of months. Instead, governors are carrying their begging bowls to the federal government and private citizens to do their jobs for them. State governors need to be more useful and that should be put on record in Buhari’s plan.

We don’t want them reacting like this:

Thousands of Kogi State residents have been displaced by floods, but you wouldn't know that from looking at Governor Yahaya Bello's social media activity. pic.twitter.com/9D7AVIKx5K
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) September 28, 2022

How to manage a disaster without saying nonsense in public

While millions of Nigerians were reeling from the devastation the floods have caused in their lives, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, was on television trying to explain what caused the crisis. In his losing battle to absolve the government of blame for not preparing well enough, he said the floods were caused by “water that we’re blessed with from the sky”.

Here's what our Minister of Water Resources Engr Suleiman Adamu said when asked what caused the flooding in Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/rXq2ya2lTG
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) October 23, 2022

It’s hard to imagine millions of Nigerians currently consider it a blessing, so maybe he should’ve just called it “rain” like every other person not turned on by public embarrassment.

The plan should include a section on government officials learning to speak like human beings in times like this. But we’re not holding our breath here because the same minister is coordinating this plan Buhari wants to use to fix flooding in Nigeria forever.

How to take medicine before death

The mathematics is simple — over 600 Nigerians wouldn’t be dead, and over 2.5 million wouldn’t be displaced if all levels of the Nigerian government did their jobs. Their failure to be more proactive in disaster management is the reason millions of Nigerians are suffering.

It’d be nice if the committee can find a section in their plan to note that the government sucks and should be doing better.

But while they put this plan together, the more pressing issue the government should address is how to help the victims right now and not in 90 days.

ALSO READ: How to Protect Your Health in a Flooding Crisis, According to WHO
A couple of years ago, federal lawmakers in the National Assembly wanted to do something challenging and decided to amend the constitution. This is usually a good thing — the 1999 constitution was largely copied from the 1979 constitution which was written in an age when the internet was a pipe dream and people thought women only belonged in the kitchen.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

In March 2022, the two chambers of the National Assembly voted on 68 bills covering national security, electoral matters, and debates on whether Nigerian women really need rights. The lawmakers passed 44 of those 66 bills and said no to every single bill that had “women” on it. Maybe it’s still 1979 after all.

But that’s not even the most shocking part of this story.

To amend the constitution, it is not just enough that the elite in Abuja vote on it — no, it is one of the rare times that Nigeria actually functions as a unit. 24 out of 36 state Houses of Assembly also have to accept or reject the 44 passed bills before the president can sign them into law or reject them.

Seven months after the National Assembly transmitted the 44 bills to their state colleagues to consider, only 11 of them have voted. The deputy senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, complained this week that the remaining 25 states have demanded a little something something from the National Assembly before they can do anything on the bills. So they initiated a ransom negotiation.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

The conference of speakers of state assemblies sent a ransom note to the National Assembly highlighting four bills that should be passed alongside the 44. The proposed bills will establish state police, establish state judicial councils, streamline the procedure for removing presiding officers of state Houses of Assembly, and institutionalise legislative bureaucracy.

The National Assembly has spent more than ₦‎1 billion on the constitutional amendment process but it’s in danger of derailment by state legislators who just want their backs scratched.

If the stalling state lawmakers don’t vote on the bills before the National Assembly’s current term ends in June 2023, then there’ll be no constitutional amendment.

Who blinks first?

What else happened this week?

INEC isn’t down with the violence, guys

[Image source: Premium Times]

Nigerian elections aren’t complete without all the fake promises, malfunctioning voting equipment, vote-buying, ballot snatching and senseless violence that puts voters in harm’s way.

This week, the gloves started to come off just a little bit on some of the ugly sides of contesting for seats in Nigeria. On the soft spectrum, the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, called the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, “a clown” on Twitter. It was an unprovoked tweet from a governor bragging about not exercising his power to set security forces loose on a presidential candidate. It’d be nice if he can set them loose on the terrorists in Kaduna State instead.

As distasteful as El-Rufai’s tweet was, we witnessed a more horrifying display of real-world violence at the campaign rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in Kaduna State. Thugs targeted PDP supporters at the rally and unleashed chaos just over a week after political thugs attacked an LP meeting in Enugu State.

Being the referee for the 2023 general elections, INEC already doesn’t like the handwriting on the wall. A violent electioneering campaign will likely lead to a violent election. So in a very brief message to parties, candidates and their supporters this week, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said:

Have you seen this video?

Nigeria’s worst flooding crisis in over a decade has left over a million homeless and hundreds dead. How’s the government responding to the disaster?#NigeriaFloods pic.twitter.com/kieAKDv79p
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) October 19, 2022

Question of the week

This week marked the second anniversary of the historic #EndSARS protests of 2020. We’ve spoken to activists to hear what has changed about police brutality since then, but we’d also like to hear from you.

Click here to tweet your answer to @ZikokoCitizen on Twitter.

Ehen, one more thing…

Nigeria is still suffering from the devastation of floods that have affected millions of people and are expected to cause problems till the end of November. Please follow us to keep up to date on government warnings in case you’re in an area at risk of flooding.

Don’t forget to lend a helping hand to victims in whichever way you can.
Two years ago, on October 20, 2020, security forces marched to the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos and shot unarmed Nigerian youths protesting against police brutality. No one has been held accountable for the tragedy the government insists didn’t happen.

That night continues to be the defining moment of a movement young Nigerians remain proud of. But there are still questions about if it was worth the sacrifice and if it changed anything.

We spoke to Nigerians who’ve been vocal about the movement for their thoughts.

Obianuju Iloanya — social justice campaigner

“Being a survivor of police brutality, I can assure you nothing has changed for most families — and I’m in contact with most of them. It’s still business as usual. We went to the judicial panels, but some states didn’t even release their reports.

They say they disbanded SARS, but what happened to the people working under SARS? Were there psychological evaluations for them or were they just added back to the Force? I don’t think there’ve been any marked changes within the Police Force or the government.

Is it that the Nigerian Police is unchangeable and cannot be reformed? Is it the leadership or the junior officers not getting the memo from the top? We need the police to be overhauled, and maybe we do need community policing. We need the police to be responsive.”

Olubiyi “Oli Ekun” Tobiloba — actor, influencer

“The EndSARS protest was successful, but not all the way. When everybody came out, it was more like, “We really have to come out for this, and they have to hear our voice”. Unfortunately, the protest was disrupted by the massacre in Lekki.

The protest wasn’t fruitless because they know what we can do now. As a result of our actions, police officials are more responsive to complaints from the public. I’ve seen them bring rogue officers to book and show them to the public. That wasn’t happening before.

But more can be done. I’d love to be able to dial an emergency number to report crimes in progress. And officers should be paid well.”

Eromosele “Eromz” Adene — activist

“One can’t ignore that the police force have put a lot of PROs online just to show people, “We’re here, and you can talk to us.” To an extent, police issues are easier to deal with because a lot of people who would naturally message me, or other civilian activists, now message these PROs. From the feedback we get, most of them have their issues resolved. The PROs’ numbers are also out there online, and you can call them at any time of the day.

Has the harassment reduced or stopped? I’d say, for me, it’s reduced because of fear on the side of the police that the youths may organise a bigger EndSARS, not because they really want to. The police still physically abuse many people. I still get complaints about harassment and extortion by the police. It may not be of the same magnitude as before the protest, but it’s still there.

EndSARS didn’t need to happen for the police to stop killing people — it’s basic empathy and respect for human lives. There are so many things the government can do to reform the police. Once you pay well, half of the issues will go. You don’t pay them well, their houses are nothing to write home about, their kids go to subpar schools and they’re not even on scholarships. These guys have to feed. It’s not hard to pay them well and stop stealing their money.

Generally, EndSARS was more than successful, and we’ll continue to benefit from it. If you check the attitude of the youths, it was the first time we came together, putting everything aside, to make demands for better leadership. EndSARS was a catalyst for a lot of things.”

Rinu Oduala — activist and social justice advocate

“After the Nigerian government dissolved SARS in October 2020, the Police Force continued to extort and brutalise innocent citizens. The reports of the judicial panels have not met expectations.

Police reform should be about building trust between the police and citizens. We’re supposed to have the NPF working with technology and social media. I’ve seen a lot of PROs of state commands on social media, but it looks as if their only function is to launder the image of the police force without actually treating the main causes of why they’re there — to make sure citizens regain trust in the Police Force.

The biggest stumbling block to police reform is political will. The Nigerian state isn’t interested in police reform. The police as an institution in Nigeria currently serves the interest of politicians. Why end police brutality if the police are being used to oppress the citizenry? Like Mr Femi Falana (SAN) says, Nigeria has some of the best laws in the whole world, but there’s no implementation. There have been recommendations, reports, committees and panels, but the Nigerian government isn’t interested in them.

What citizens can do is keep using their voices to ask for accountability. As long as the criminals in uniform don’t stop killing us, we need to keep voicing out. There has to be more citizen action.

The EndSARS movement is a success because it’s still alive in our hearts. One of its successes is it unified Nigerians across platforms — we all called for an end to police brutality together. It showed that we could put aside our differences to come together for a common goal.”

Ajibola Grey — influencer

“We had many unspoken goals for EndSARS. We didn’t get to achieve all of them, but the world heard us. We fought, shook the government and passed our message. To an extent, police brutality has reduced. Even in cases where there’s police harassment, the institution swings into action very fast to attend to the situation. We’re now aware of our rights and what’s going on in the country.

But police reform will never be enough until every single policeman in this country respects the rights of citizens. People are more scared of policemen than of thieves.

We need an entire re-orientation of the Police Force. We can’t deny these people need to be taken care of — they’re badly paid and don’t live in good conditions. A hungry man can do almost anything — the government needs to stop making these people suffer because their job is risky.”

It's been 2 years since the #LekkiMassacre & Nigerians are still subjected to various degrees of police brutality.

We spoke about this with @SavvyRinu @Ada_mummyya @Vader_Wildcard @TheAjibolaGrey @Oli_Ekun @simplyEromz @Ridwanullahii

Watch full video:
https://t.co/jLbxAL0ZnC pic.twitter.com/8iEbL53YsA
— Citizen by Zikoko (@ZikokoCitizen) October 20, 2022
More than 2.5 million Nigerians have been directly affected by the flooding crisis ravaging hundreds of communities in 2022. But the worst of it isn’t even over as authorities expect more heavy rainfalls to cause problems till the end of November.

Days and weeks after the devasting flood in Nigeria. People are trapped on the road & goods are perishing because of the flooding.
Over 600 people as been killed,1.4 million people displaced & 340,000 farmlands destroyed while 33 of Nigeria's 36 states is affected.#NigeriaFloods pic.twitter.com/VuLQ7H0io3
— Goodness Dickson (@GoodnessDk) October 18, 2022

For those already affected and those at risk of flooding in the future, here’s a list of things the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends to keep yourself healthy in a flooding crisis.

Know your community’s strategy

Many of Nigeria’s flooded communities are in riverine areas prone to flooding when local rivers overflow. As a member of such a community, it’s critical to be knowledgeable about warning signals and evacuation protocols outlined by the government before your neighbourhood is overtaken by flooding. The knowledge helps to prevent surprises. Part of the Nigerian government’s strategies is warning these kinds of communities ahead of time to move to safer, higher grounds.

Chlorinate or boil water

Floods naturally cause environmental damage, including the contamination of clean water bodies. This is why it’s important to chlorinate or boil water for drinking and cooking. It’s important that the government provides safe drinking water for those affected to reduce the risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

Promote good hygienic practices

[Image source: Pumps Africa]

Floods don’t foster the most hygienic situations so it’s important as a survivor to be extra-vigilant with hygiene. WHO recommends washing your hands with soap and water after contact with floodwater. And it goes without saying that you shouldn’t use floodwater to wash dishes, brush your teeth or cook.

Don’t walk or drive through flooded areas

Quite terrible. This is getting scary everyday. I have some part of my extended family stuck in Bayelsa for days now, they can't leave the state and water has gotten to their doorsteps already. 😭😭😭#FloodsInNigeria #FloodInBayelsa #Flood pic.twitter.com/FNVjbz1AWg
— Uche Crypt (@uchecrypt) October 18, 2022

Flooded areas present life-threatening challenges like an electrical shock from fallen electrical lines or even the abnormal migration of dangerous aquatic animals like sea snakes or crocodiles. Floods can also easily sweep people and vehicles away. WHO recommends that people stay away from flooded areas as much as they can.

Throw away food contaminated by floodwater

The five-second rule doesn’t apply to food in floodwater. WHO recommends that you throw away food if it accidentally touches floodwater. Just have it at the back of your mind that floodwater is trying to kill you; don’t give it a helping hand.

Don’t do things like this unless it’s absolutely necessary:

Nigeria is looking for Olympians in swimming.
Lagos floods are training them for free 👇 pic.twitter.com/mYnycBn56b
— Chuba Ugwu (@Chonsyy) July 9, 2022

Clean your home

When the water recedes after the floodwater has visited your home, it’s important to throw out items that you can’t wash or clean up. WHO recommends that you clean the walls of your house, floors and other surfaces with soap and water and bleach.

Protect yourself against mosquitoes

Floods create stagnant water — a breeding environment for mosquitoes. It’s important to protect yourself with clothes that cover your body during the day and use mosquito repellants during the night. Get them before they get you.

It’s critical that the government keeps infectious disease control programmes active and efficient to help citizens in need.
Millions of Nigerians are going through it, as a flooding crisis washes through most of the country. More than 600 people have died and over a million people displaced since the beginning of 2022.

[Image source: BBC]

The coverage of the flood has focused on the immediate impacts including the unfortunate loss of lives and the destruction of property. According to the Federal Government, the floods have fully or partially destroyed over 200,000 houses. But more than the immediate impacts of loss and displacement, floods have social, economic and environmental consequences that outlast them. So, here’s a look at the long-term worries that come as a package deal with these floods.

Food scarcity and inflation

Nigeria’s 2022 flooding crisis has caused the partial or total destruction of 440,719 hectares of farmland across the country. The disaster has visited key agricultural production areas like Benue State. The effect of flooding in these areas will almost certainly impact food production and lead to a shortage. When that happens, inflation is never far behind. Unfortunately, Nigerians already suffer enough from food inflation.

Gas issues

[Image source: NLNG]

Nigeria’s flooding crisis is also going to have a long-term effect on the supply and prices of gas. The floods have forced the shutdown of gas production in affected areas.

The Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG), the company responsible for Nigeria’s gas exports has already declared a force majeure which is contractual jargon for, “This thing don pass us. Anything you see, take it like that.”

Nigeria was already facing a gas supply crisis due to oil theft, and now the disruption caused by the floods will make it even more difficult to earn our daily $2k in the global market‎.

The spread of diseases

Floods create the perfect environment for water-borne diseases like cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid to spread. This is another post-crisis issue that can trouble Nigeria’s already fragile health sector.

Humanitarian crises

[Image source: IOM]

The 2022 floods have already displaced over 1.3 million people from their homes. These people are currently homeless and are now at the mercy of loved ones, kind strangers or the people who hide palliatives.

Many Nigerians who are residents of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps are already complaining of neglect. Depending on the level of the devastation suffered, it’ll take a long time for many of these Nigerians to get back on their feet.

Unemployment

More than losing homes, some Nigerians are losing their businesses to the floods. Some of these businesses will take a minute to resume operations after the water recedes, while some may never even reopen. It’s not the best situation for a country already dealing with record levels of unemployment.

Environmental damage

[Image source: BBC]

Flooding can contaminate clean water bodies, and damage roads and other critical infrastructures like electricity poles and transformers that’ll take the Nigerian government ages — and inflated contracts — to repair.

Disruption of education

Education is one of Nigeria’s important sectors that critically needs a boost. But flooding further complicates the sector’s progress. Many state governments in Nigeria regularly use schools as temporary shelters in emergencies like floods, which further disrupts students’ education.

Trauma

Flooding is a traumatic event. Some of the millions of Nigerians affected by the floods are bound to feel the weight of the devastating losses suffered in the blink of an eye. It’s important that the government provides social support to victims of floods.

ALSO READ: From Homeowner to Homeless — Nigerians Speak On Flood Crisis
This is Zikoko Citizen’s Game of Votes weekly dispatch that helps you dig into all the good, bad, and extremely bizarre stuff happening in Nigeria and why they’re important to you.

Subscribe now to get the newsletter in your email inbox at 8 am every Friday instead of three days later. Don’t be LASTMA.

If you’re feeling mischievous and throw a stone into a United Kingdom hospital, there are good odds it’ll land on a Nigerian-trained doctor who’ll scream, “Wetin be that?”

Seven years ago when Buhari became president, only 233 Nigerian-trained doctors moved to the UK. But that’s only 33 more than the 200 Nigerian doctors who moved to the UK in September 2022 alone.

If you had to guess how many Nigerian-trained doctors have relocated to the United Kingdom the entire year, what would your number be? According to the UK’s General Medical Council, the number of fleeing doctors between January and September is 1,307.

And there are more doctors waiting on the queue to get out of the country [Image source: Zikoko Memes]

For a country that already has a shortage of doctors in the health sector, losing even one doctor to other countries is a concern. To lose 1,307 professionals in just nine months is a tragedy. According to research by BMJ Global Health, low and middle-income countries lose $15.86 billion annually when locally-trained doctors migrate to high-income countries. The greatest total costs are incurred by India, Pakistan, South Africa and, of course, Nigeria ($3.1 billion).

The unchecked loss of highly-qualified doctors to new dispensations poses a threat to Nigeria’s already troubled health sector. Not only is it a loss of human capital with economic consequences, but can be a matter of life and death for Nigerians that need quality care.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

Nigerian doctors, like other Nigerians surfing the japa wave, are fleeing poor working and living conditions in pursuit of better opportunities abroad, and you have to wonder when the Nigerian government will tackle the exodus with ideas more sophisticated than just simply chaining them to hospital beds.

What else happened this week?

The 2023 presidential election is finally gaining life

The top three candidates for the 2023 presidential election finally breathed some life into their campaigns two weeks too late. On September 28, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially opened the floor for candidates to start campaigning, but all three have been sluggish with kicking things off.

What changed this week?

The candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, announced a presidential campaign council comprising 1,234 (seriously, this number isn’t a joke) members. Former presidential spokesperson and Obi’s current ride-or-die, Doyin Okupe, is the campaign’s director-general. Okupe boasted Obi already has a minimum of 15 million votes waiting for him at the polls, as long as INEC doesn’t do anyhow.

Notably, Obi skipped the committee’s unveiling ceremony for a speaking engagement at the ICAN 52nd Annual Accountants Conference. But with how low the standards have got, you’re just thankful he wasn’t off somewhere in London secretly treating an undisclosed illness.

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, officially flagged off his campaign and promised Nigerians would never again suffer from hunger and insecurity.

[Image source: Zikoko Memes]

But his campaign is still haunted by the ghost of Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, who predictably didn’t show up at the campaign launch, putting a question mark on Atiku’s high regard for himself as a unifier. In fact, days later, the party postponed two campaign outings in two states reportedly to give the candidate more time to patch things with Wike.

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, also oversaw the launch of the party’s Women Presidential Campaign Committee. He charged his campaigners to preach his gospel and politely tell people that want his party out of government to shut their dirty mouths. It’s a great way to endear yourself to undecided voters if the goal is to lose the election.

Question of the week

What should the Nigerian government be doing about the ongoing flooding crisis that it isn’t already doing?

Click here to tweet your answer to @ZikokoCitizen on Twitter.

Ehen, one more thing…

The governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, appointed over 28,000 officials for political units this week. When you get over the taxpayer cost of these appointments, you have to wonder if the governor is preparing for an imminent war the rest of us don’t know about.
There are certain traits voters look out for in a potential president: a strong vision for the future, the ability to get things done, some swag, and effective communication skills.

On top of all that, it’s also crucial that a potential president isn’t so much of an introvert to the point of shying away from engaging the people whose votes he needs to get into office.

Nigerians already have experience with shy presidents who don’t engage enough with the public — one of them is still sitting in Aso Rock Villa communicating with press statements and pre-recorded video broadcasts.

To avoid history repeating itself, Nigerians must start to question the dodging pattern of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu.

Here’s a quick rundown of his public engagement record since he won his party’s ticket.

NBA conference

The annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) was the first public gathering of presidential candidates after political parties concluded their primary elections in June.

The NBA offered its platform to six candidates, including Tinubu, to address Nigerians on their big plans. Everyone showed up, except Tinubu who sent his running mate, Kashim Shettima, to represent him. Shettima himself raised some eyebrows for showing up like this:

Shettima further goofed by implying he would be in charge of the armed forces as the vice president. Tinubu’s failure to attend the conference predictably caused some backlash and possibly even made it more likely he’ll miss future public gatherings with his opponents.

Peace Accord

The National Peace Committee (NPC) invited all the presidential candidates to sign a peace accord in Abuja on September 29th, 2022. As you can already guess, Tinubu failed to show up there. He sent his running mate one more time to represent him. Shettima’s fashion didn’t ruffle any feathers this time around.

Tinubu missed the signing because he was away in the United Kingdom “resting”. This rest period stretched into two weeks and prompted rumours that he was sick and receiving medical treatment.

To keep everyone’s mouth shut, he released a short video of himself riding a gym bicycle:

Many have said I have died; others claim I have withdrawn from the presidential campaign.

Well… Nope.

This is the reality: I am strong, I am healthy and I am READY to serve Nigerians from Day One.#BAT23 pic.twitter.com/qqPkgSDYjs
— Bola Ahmed Tinubu (@officialABAT) October 2, 2022

Back to Nigeria

After his gym bicycle stunt met widespread mockery online, Tinubu made what we imagine he considers a triumphant return to the country, fully energised to start his campaign.

He thinks he’s James Bond

When he launched the APC’s Women Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, he said whoever’s demanding a change of party at the national level should keep their dirty mouths shut.

Finally, the presidential candidate was well and truly ready to kick things off and engage with Nigerians, right?

ICAN conference

On October 12th, 2022, presidential candidates appeared at the 52nd Annual Accountants’ Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in their third public gathering since August. Guess who didn’t show up again? Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He didn’t even send Shettima to represent him this time. A moderator of the event mentioned that Tinubu’s team promised he’d be at the event before it ended, but he never showed up.

What’s Bola Tinibu hiding?

Out of three high-profile public engagements Tinubu has been invited to share his plans with Nigerians, he’s not shown up once. He’s also the only one of the three yet to sit down for a TV interview, whether live or pre-recorded. And he also doesn’t have a campaign manifesto for a comprehensive discussion of his plans.

Tinubu’s pattern of behaviour has raised concerns that he also won’t turn up for the presidential debate when it’s time for that. We’d hate to speculate the reasons for his dodgy behaviour but it should worry voters.

Tinubu’s claim to Nigeria’s Iron Throne is that it’s his turn to become president but every time he gets a chance to make his point, he turns up missing. It’s up to Nigerians to decide in 2023 if they want to reward that kind of behaviour.
Exactly eight months after going on strike, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called it off on October 14th, 2022. As usual, the strike revolved around age-old issues of salary structure and payment, earned academic allowances, university funding, autonomy and academic freedom.

Now that the strike is over, what did it cost everyone involved?

Winners

Federal Government

On previous occasions, ASUU usually holds all the cards until it beats the government into an agreement. And this time, the government’s questionable handling of the strike in the initial days contributed to escalating for eight months. But the government managed to come out on top by dragging the union to court to force the suspension of the strike.

CONUA and NAMDA

CONUA and the government made an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” agreement

Before ASUU started strike action in February 2022, it was the only recognised university union in Nigeria. But as the strike dragged on, the government certified two new bodies, the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) as additional university unions. Critics believe that the certification of these unions is an attempt by the government to weaken the influence of ASUU in Nigerian universities — CONUA, especially, as it’s led by former ASUU members who broke away from the union in 2018 and had been battling for legal status since then. The 2022 strike provided the perfect opportunity for the union to finally get its day in the sun.

Landlords

The ASUU strike disrupted the economic activities of universities and put businesses around them in a financial bind. But landlords don’t have such a headache and can lick their lips in anticipation of students returning to pay more rent despite not being around for the past eight months.

Losers

ASUU

ASUU went on strike to force the government to fulfil promises that have been hanging since 2009. But the union failed to get its way eight months later. Suspending the strike wasn’t exactly ASUU’s decision. Rather, it’s in unavoidable obedience to a court judgement. They can’t be considered winners when the key issues they’ve been fighting for remain unresolved.

Even worse, it’s still unclear if the government will pay their salaries for the eight-month period of the strike.

Dr Taiwo Ojapinwa, a lecturer in the Department of Economics of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), told Zikoko, “On resumption, lecturers will have to go the extra mile to cover a lot of lost ground. Some lecturers that are supposed to have been promoted will be delayed by almost a year and some retired in the course of the strike.”

University students

By default, students are always the biggest casualties every time ASUU strikes. They lose time in the classrooms, lose academic momentum, stay home and worry about how long the strike will last, lose the money paid on rent and ultimately have their future stalled. These are the kinds of issues impacting the quality of education in Nigeria.

Prospective students also can’t get into universities because admission processes are stalled and academic calendars turn into a mess.

Is this the end of ASUU strikes?

The only meaningful victory of an ASUU strike is if the result is that another one will never happen. But there are so many unresolved issues from the 2022 strike that the next one is an issue of when not if.

Both ASUU and the Federal Government need to get their acts together and stop sacrificing the future of young Nigerians.