Angel Neyo

Political analyst

[Oby Ezekwesili @obyezeks]

I frankly did not realize that so much celebration was going on among the officials of @NigeriaGov @OfficialAPCNg and their allies pushing a narrative that “Oby Ezekwesili has agreed that @officialABAT is doing wonderfully on the economy”. The @OfficialAPCNg spokesman @Morka2Felix was triumphantly bursting through the screens on @seunokin’s @channelstv Politics Today program distorting what I said during my interview with @KayodeAkintemi of @NewsCentralTV.

Like, really? I am actually bemused by it all.😃

To keep public discourse accurate, I will over the next few days serialize the transcript of the interview which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Here we go!

Interviewer: It’s good to have you back here. So on that note, let’s begin with the state of the nation. More than three years into President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. How would you assess the state of the nation? It’s gonna be a long thing because we’re discussing the state of the nation but if you were to summarize the state of the nation today in as few words as possible, where would you say we are?

Dr. Ezekwesili:

I think you would basically take the most important indicator that tells you where society is headed, and that is what’s the dignity or the lack of it of life? What’s the state of the dignity of life? Every other thing hangs on people being alive. And when people are not alive, then you can’t even talk about, you wouldn’t care about education or health or the economy. You need people to be alive.

And what we have seen has been a degradation of that dignity of life quotient. Because when you look at the kind of serial abuse of life whether in terms of the killings, mass killings that have happened in the country between 2023 and 2026 or the amount of kidnaps especially of children, you would see that you have sufficient data on the basis of which to say that the already bad situation got worse over this period of 2023 to date.

You take a typical indicator that is a catch‑all for what I’m saying about the state of insecurity that has declined the quotient of dignity of life. It would be the Global Terrorism Ranking. So Nigeria was at around 6th sixth most terrorised country. By the last ranking it had become the 4th fourth most terrorised country. Come on. In the world. That’s such an indicator that tells you where things are.

And so when we then look at all the other aspects that have to do with quality of institutions, Nigeria degenerated. When you look at the state of the economy especially in terms of the cost of living index, especially for the poor, Nigeria deteriorated.

When you look at what has happened with poverty, it’s about 145 million Nigerians now trapped in poverty, from a number that was about 133 million as of the time that the previous administration which is this government did tell us that they continue, that it is a continuation. Even if they didn’t tell us we do know that this particular, the actors in this administration were praising the previous administration and lauding the policies of that administration so, and it’s the same party. So it’s a knock‑on effect of basically the same kind of people thinking of economic management maybe slightly differently because what you can say about this particular one is that some market principles have entered into the equation.

But the thing to ask is, while you can say macroeconomic stability is gradually becoming a thing, it is insufficient a thing to address the poverty that you see. And when you start looking at this kind of massive state of poverty, it means that quality of life has degraded especially for the ones who are poor and vulnerable.

So in all, I am not one that would score, because I’m driven by evidence not by any other thing. So when we look at the indicators your summary is that we’ve been the worse for it than anything anyone can say. ……../1

[OurFaveOnlineDoc 🇬🇧 🇳🇬 @OurFavOnlineDoc]

"The law doesn't allow anybody to pay for bail at any police station. If you go to any police station and you're asked to pay for bail, just quietly walk outside and call the IGP" — Nigerian Police

[Angel Neyo @angel_neyo]

@dammiedammie35 If you make $3k a month, you won’t stay in an $1500 apartment, there are good $1k apartments in Houston TX

[Peter Akah @Peter4Nigeria]

Our dear Pastor wife of president ma @SenRemiTinubu thank u for the advice ma, i have started my Akara business, I added a few Ogi, Yam dindin and some potatoes, by next week i should be adding Ogiri and Okpehi ma🙏🏽

2027 = tinubu MUST GO ❗️🎤🇳🇬

[Arábìnrin Sola @YOLICOM6]

"Police released Armed Fulani Militia, we arrested & gave them their AK-47's back to them"

Gov. Udom - *"We arrested persons with fake army uniforms carrying 18 AK-47's rifles and handed them over to the police"*

However, the police hierarchy gave express orders that those persons should be released and their guns handed back to them.

We want to let the world know that if there is a breakdown of law and order tomorrow, the police should be held responsible.

All attempts to speak with the top hierarchy of the police in the zone and at Abuja were rebuffed.

- Gov. Emmanuel Udom. Akwa Ibom State.

🙇🏾‍♂️ 🙇🏾‍♂️

[BUCOS @TENIBEGILOJU202]

BREAKING!!! ONE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARIES ON PETER OBI IS OUT... As an Obidient, you should be proud of your choice in Peter Obi. Retweet massively pls.

[Channels Television @channelstv]

Troops Rescue 360 Abducted Women, Children From Terrorist Enclave In Borno

[Gossip Mill Nigeria @GossipMillNaija]

Breaking News: President Tinubu was Asked Today, What is your message to Nigerians about the Issue of Insecurity, he responded : “Issue of insecurity, that is the lawf, that is the obedience of law” 😭😭😭😭

[NEFERTITI @firstladyship]

Wike scattered the PDP because of you. We have a weak opposition because of you. You have no sense of equity. No sense of probity.

[TheCable @thecableng]

THE INSIDER: How Wale Edun lost out to the Chagourys and finally bit the dust

President Bola Tinubu publicly wished several Nigerians a happy birthday this week — including Stella Okotete, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Shola Oshunkeye, and Orji Uzor Kalu. Conspicuously missing from his list was Wale Edun, his minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy who clocked the landmark 70 on April 20.

A day later, he fired Edun from his cabinet.

But many Aso Rock insiders were not surprised by the turn of events — it was always coming.

“The president asked Edun to leave honourably in October last year but he lobbied to keep his position,” an insider told TheCable. “Although he stayed back, the president told his aides: ‘As far as I am concerned, I have done send-off for Wale already.’ But for some reason, Edun managed to hang on.”

[OurFaveOnlineDoc 🇬🇧 🇳🇬 @OurFavOnlineDoc]

“It’s a very stupid statement to say I’m going to vote for someone I know will be a disaster but I think he would win. ‘I don’t want to waste my vote’. People who think this way are very stupid and deserve what they get”.

Don’t say anything. Just share.

[IFE♏ @Ausrien]

@TrendingEx This here

[Rinu Oduala 🔥🔫 @SavvyRinu]

"Tinubu's promise to provide constant electricity could also mean solar power." - A deranged APC supporter.

[OurFaveOnlineDoc 🇬🇧 🇳🇬 @OurFavOnlineDoc]

Just pass this on. Don’t say anything.
Make sure you keep passing it on.

[OurFaveOnlineDoc 🇬🇧 🇳🇬 @OurFavOnlineDoc]

“You people are now supporting Army”.
ACTUALLY NO.

To be clear:
Nobody is “jubilating” that the military took control of a property to prevent the rightful agency do its job of inspection/regulation.
That’s NOT the point. Let’s not twist facts.

People are happy because a well known power-crazed drunken lunatic politician tried to humiliate a young military officer (who has done him no wrong) and in the end, it was the politician himself who got humiliated and disgraced.

This politician could have left the scene calmly and approached the courts to report the alleged illegality by the military brass but instead he chose to reduce himself to a street thug shouting obscenities at a fine well-behaved military officer.

This politician was wrong in this case.
He was a thoughtless power-drunk moron who deserved the televised humiliation he got. And no amount of gaslighting will retell the story or rewrite the facts.

[Angel Neyo @angel_neyo]

https://t.co/5GEn0zeRdl