Talking Before Thinking: Tinubu Has Raised Lots Of Demons Against Nigeria—Dele

<h4>Talking Before Thinking<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reproduces a piece by Dele Sobowale who argues that Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mode of talking before thinking has unleashed lots of demons against Nigeria’s need democratic progress<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The worst thing that can happen to a leader is to look back&semi; and find that nobody is following” – US President Lyndon B Johnson&comma; 1908-1973&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Talk is cheap&period; Nigeria is not Lagos&period; Presidents don’t talk first and think later&period; Those are three pieces of advice President Bola Tinubu should bear in mind whenever making announcements&period; Nigeria has recorded another first in national history&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong> Tinubu has become the first Commander-In- Chief&comma; who declared war – without the troops to carry out his instructions&period; The &OpenCurlyQuote;Emperor of ECOWAS’ has been disrobed by his own Senate and many other Nigerians&period; That is what you get when you take decisions before thinking of the consequences&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Certainly&comma; he has achieved some of what he set out to do&period; Officially&comma; Nigerian-Niger borders have been closed&period; In reality&comma; only the big trucks&comma; trailers and tankers have been caught temporarily stranded&period; The border with Niger is the most porous in Nigeria – with more than 100 illegal entry points&period; In fact&comma; life in most border communities will come to a halt if very effective border closing occurs&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>So&comma; to some extent&comma; the order to close the border is an exercise in futility&period; People living in the communities nearest Niger will not cooperate with the Federal Government&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>There are too many Nigerians whose means of livelihood depend on Niger more than Nigeria&period; This is only one of several issues that should have been considered before hastily making the very important decisions&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Mistake Cutting Power Supply To Niger<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A little knowledge is a dangerous thing…” But&comma; total ignorance is fatal if a statesman is making a vital decision&period; The decision to cut off power supply to Niger might appear to him as the sort of tough action expected of the leader of the nations opposed to Niger’s junta&period; But&comma; it might turn out to be the biggest blunder a Nigerian President ever committed&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The repercussions are so frightening as to make one shudder and pray that Niger does not react as it might be forced to&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong> Nigeria’s electricity supply to Niger was based on bi-lateral agreement between the two countries during the Gowon administration – when the Kainji Dam was to be built on River Niger which passes through Niger before entering Nigeria&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>It is a fact that if Niger builds a dam on the Niger&comma; then Kainji Dam would be virtually useless&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;"><em><strong>Everything — hydro-electric power generation&comma; irrigation for agriculture&comma; fisheries and potable water etc — depending on river water along the path of the Niger would be negatively affected&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Nigeria agreed to provide Niger with power in order to prevent our northern neighbour from damming the Niger before it enters our country&period; Without that delicate agreement in place Nigeria will be a far worse place for all of us to live in&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Unfortunately&comma; that bi-lateral agreement has been unilaterally repudiated by Tinubu without going through all the processes stipulated in that vital agreement&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Niger will suffer immediately and in the short term&period; But&comma; Nigeria stands to lose more in the long term – if Niger now embarks on building its own dam to generate its own power&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Once bitten&semi; twice shy”&period; That is an old adage&period; Tinubu has woken up a lot of demons with one decision whose ramifications he least understood&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;