As governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu painted Abia State red with projects, pomp and pageantry. Not only was the successful businessman comfortable projecting a larger-than-life image, he was also an avid sportsman, his love for football especially shown in the way he drove Eyimba FC to continental heights with state sponsorship and support as governor.
Since leaving the Umuahia Government House, Kalu has been busy in the National Assembly as Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District. He has defied the fact that he was once convicted of financial crimes to remain visible and relevant.
Maybe, lesser men would have wilted at the battles Kalu has faced, but he has stood firm.
Amidst Nigeria’s soaring cost of living crisis, Kalu has interestingly revealed that President Tinubu sometimes moves around Abuja at night to get a first-hand experience of what Nigerians are going through.
Maybe Orji Uzor Kalu was just singing his principal’s praises, as Nigerian politicians are wont to do. Maybe he was just deploying an anecdote or metaphor to speak of his president’s commitment to the people. What if he was serious that President Tinubu tours Abuja on some nights to feel the pulse of Nigerians?
If the president truly does, what does he find out? How much has he been able to discover first-hand about the welfare of the people thrust under his care since May 29, 2024?
If it is true, then he is a radical departure from his predecessor, who would rather tour the streets of London during his regular medical checkups than go anywhere in Nigeria to check up on the people he hoodwinked into voting him in 2015 with promises of seismic changes.
Every time in Nigeria now appears to be night. Such is the darkness and silence that shrouds the country. Writing the introduction to Poems to Night, a book of poetry by renowned Austrian Poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Will Stone Exmoor writes that” Night appears in manifold guises as this space expressly reserved for transcendence, as a force of nature, as helper to man, a guide, a seer. Night itself becomes the visionary from history.”
The question Is: What is night for the president. When he moves about at night, what does he see?
As for all the self-appointed messengers of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the current administration, it is important to remember that Nigeria does not want to be in a situation that can only be described as night with its attendant nightmare.
Nigerians want a president who operates during day in an open, transparent and accountable manner. They do not want their fate and future to be determined by nocturnal overtures made in the dead of night, with all its macabre implications.
Nigerians want a country where disputes over general elections do not have to courts that have to sit and work at night. They want a country where it is impossible for entire communities to be attacked and annihilated at night. They want a country where the night is as safe as day.
As Rilke says in “Nocturnal walk,” one of the poems in his book, nothing is comparable. The hardship in Nigeria at present cannot be compared to anything seen in the last couple of years. Even prices of common household items have surged beyond the reach of many Nigerians, plunging households into poverty.
As Nigerians scramble to adjust to this new and excruciating reality, constructive criticism of the government is valid, even crucial.
Criticism of the current administration is neither uncharitable nor destructive. If president Tinubu is keen on bringing daylight back to Nigeria, he needs all the help he can get, especially from people who unlike Orji Uzor Kalu are not bound to sing from any song sheet because of party affiliations.
If President Tinubu wants to succeed in office and leave a lasting legacy, he should be wary of nocturnal advisors and their nebulous advice. Having ruined the states where they were governors, they have nothing to offer but drudgery and darkness.
While the discussion remains on night excursions, it is worth recalling that the rumor mill was once awash with how some politically exposed individuals imprisoned in Kuje for money laundering used to sneak out of their cells at night and go home for some swell time all with the collusion of prison officials.
It appears that anything is possible at night in Abuja after all.
Kene Obiezu,
