Tinubu’s Fuel Price Contradiction: Economic Injustice Must End, Nigerians Must Defend Their 2027 Votes

President Bola Tinubu’s 30-day petrol price intervention has reopened a fundamental debate about economic consistency, the burden of fuel pricing on ordinary Nigerians and the government’s responsibility to protect citizens from worsening hardship.

The Federal Government’s decision to have NNPC Retail forgo its retail profit margin and sell petrol at cost raises questions about the relationship between the administration’s commitment to deregulation and its willingness to intervene when prices become politically and economically difficult to sustain.

During a televised interview, Tinubu responded to a question from Babajide Kolade Otitoju about controlling petrol prices by declaring that he did not believe in price control. The publicly available interview provides a basis for examining the consistency of the administration’s current approach.

Although the Presidency has clarified that the 30-day measure is not a restoration of blanket fuel subsidy, Nigerians deserve a clear explanation of its scope, implementation and likely consequences when it expires.

The central question is straightforward: why should citizens bear the full weight of harsh economic adjustments only to receive temporary relief when the consequences become increasingly difficult to ignore?Economic policies must serve the people

The removal of longstanding petroleum price support and the adoption of market oriented policies have significantly altered the economic conditions confronting Nigerian households. Rising transport expenses affect food prices, workers’ disposable incomes, small businesses and the cost of accessing essential services.

For millions of Nigerians, the debate is not simply about whether petrol prices are determined by market forces. It is about whether wages, public services and social protection can sustain a decent standard of living under prevailing economic conditions.

Government must therefore be judged by the practical consequences of its policies. Economic reform cannot be considered successful merely because it changes pricing arrangements or satisfies a particular economic doctrine. It must also demonstrate measurable improvements in livelihoods, productivity, employment and public welfare.

Nigerians must not be impoverished by government policies only to be offered short-term relief as an instrument of electoral persuasion. Poverty must never become a weapon for trading away the people's economic dignity or democratic choices.

Nigeria’s foreign economic agreements require transparency

The Nigeria–France tax cooperation memorandum and the September 2026 Nigeria–United States mineral investment pact also deserve public scrutiny.

The tax cooperation arrangement involves collaboration between Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service and France’s tax authority. The mineral investment pact establishes a framework for American investment in Nigeria’s mineral sector, whose resources the Federal Government values at $700 billion.

International cooperation and foreign investment can offer opportunities for economic development. However, the public has a legitimate interest in understanding the terms of agreements that may affect national revenue, mineral wealth, regulatory authority and the distribution of economic benefits.

The government should explain how these arrangements protect Nigeria’s interests, strengthen domestic capacity, improve revenue generation and create tangible benefits for citizens and host communities.

Economic sovereignty is not necessarily incompatible with international partnerships. Rather, it requires that such partnerships be negotiated transparently, administered responsibly and structured to advance national development.

The temporary petrol price intervention raises another pressing question: what happens when the 30 days end?

The possibility of petrol prices reaching ₦2,200–₦2,500 per litre by December has been raised as a concern. Such figures should not be treated as confirmed future prices without reliable supporting evidence. Nevertheless, Nigerians deserve transparent information about the factors driving petroleum prices and the government’s plans for preventing further deterioration in living standards.

Comparisons with petrol prices in other countries are also insufficient when they ignore differences in wages, purchasing power, taxation, public transport, social protection and living standards.

The real measure of affordability is not the price displayed at a filling station alone. It is the proportion of a worker’s income required to purchase fuel and meet other essential needs.

A responsible economic policy must account for food, transportation, housing, healthcare, education and employment. The market cannot be treated as an abstract mechanism detached from the people whose daily lives depend on it.

2027: NIGERIANS MUST DEFEND THEIR DEMOCRATIC CHOICES 

Economic hardship and democratic accountability are closely connected. Citizens must be able to evaluate the performance of those in power and determine, through credible elections, whether they deserve another mandate.

As Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, voters must organise to protect the integrity of the electoral process. Political parties, civil society organisations, election observers and citizens should monitor polling activities, document irregularities, report violations and pursue lawful remedies.

The responsibility to protect the ballot extends beyond election day. It includes defending the transparency of the entire process, demanding accountability from electoral institutions and insisting that every legitimate vote counts.

Governor Babagana Zulum and other political figures whose public statements have raised concerns about electoral manipulation must understand that Nigerians will not accept the subversion of their democratic rights.

No politician owns Nigeria’s democracy. No political party has the right to impose an electoral outcome contrary to the lawful choices of voters.

Our response to electoral fraud, intimidation and the denial of legitimate mandates must be organised, peaceful, lawful and resolute.

Our call to action

Mẹkunnu Kọya calls on Nigerians to demand:

* Transparent petrol pricing: Clear information about the 30-day intervention, its implementation and the arrangements that will follow its expiration.

* Economic accountability: Public explanations of policies and agreements affecting national revenue, mineral resources and citizens’ welfare.

* People centred economic reforms: Policies that address purchasing power, employment, the cost of living and the protection of vulnerable households.

* Credible elections: Effective monitoring, transparent procedures and lawful action against electoral fraud and intimidation.

- Protection of the people’s mandate: A collective commitment to ensuring that every legitimate vote is counted and respected.

Nigeria cannot build a just society by asking its citizens to endure indefinite hardship while denying them meaningful accountability. Nor can democracy flourish when voters fear that their choices may be manipulated.

The struggle for economic dignity and the defence of the ballot are inseparable. Nigerians must neither surrender their economic future to policies that impoverish them nor surrender their democratic mandates to those who seek to subvert them.

Our message is clear:

ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE!

NO RIGGING, NO STOLEN MANDATE!

PROTECT THE VOTE, DEFEND THE PEOPLE’S WILL!

Comrade Wale Balogun is the Convener of Mẹkunnu Kọya. He writes from Lagos.

9 October 2026.

Rhodes-Vivour to APC: Stop Majoring on My Yoruba, Face Lagos’ Problems

 ADC candidate accuses ruling party of using Yoruba controversy to divert attention from roads, flooding, housing, traffic and waste crisis

By Our Correspondent

African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deliberately turning the controversy over his Yoruba proficiency into a political distraction from the worsening challenges confronting Lagos residents.

Rhodes-Vivour, reacting to the mockery directed at his Yoruba language ability, said those attacking him should instead explain how more than two decades of APC administration had improved the lives of ordinary Lagosians.

He said the APC's focus on his Yoruba was an attempt to make Lagosians “major on the minor” rather than confront the realities of life in the state.

“As usual, the APC has resorted to its familiar strategy of distraction. Its loudest voices are not talking about the impact of their government on the people of Lagos.”

According to him, the issues demanding urgent attention include deteriorating roads, worsening flooding, a housing crisis, unreliable public water supply, crippling traffic and growing environmental degradation.

“They are not telling Lagosians how they have made their lives better. They are not talking about the state of our roads, the worsening flooding, the housing crisis, the lack of reliable public water, the traffic crisis or the growing filth across our city.”

Rhodes-Vivour said the same pattern of distraction was deployed during the 2023 election, when, according to him, political thuggery, intimidation and violence were used to force the APC's way into office.

He accused the ruling party of maintaining a political culture in which violence and intimidation are used to compensate for the inability to win public confidence through governance and performance.

“Why won’t the APC confront this problem? Because they depend on the same thugs and the same culture of political violence to force their way into power.”

He argued that a government confident in its record should be willing to defend that record before the people rather than shift public attention to peripheral controversies.

‘Lagos Traffic Is Not a Lifestyle’

Rhodes-Vivour also criticised the government's handling of transportation, housing, infrastructure and water supply.

He said roads have deteriorated, flooding has become more widespread, rents have continued to rise and affordable housing remains grossly inadequate.

On traffic, he accused the government of abandoning the search for lasting solutions and attempting instead to normalise congestion as an inevitable feature of Lagos.

“They have effectively given up on solving the traffic crisis. Now, instead of admitting failure and fixing the problem, they tell us that traffic is a ‘lifestyle.’”

He also questioned the state of public water supply, saying many Lagos communities continue to live without dependable access to government-provided water.

‘That Is Why Lagos Stinks’

The ADC candidate reserved some of his strongest criticism for waste management.

Rhodes-Vivour said Lagos operated more than 1,000 Private Sector Participation (PSP) waste trucks under former Governor Babatunde Fashola, but that the number has fallen to roughly 200 despite more than 12 years of APC administration.

He questioned how a rapidly expanding megacity could experience such a drastic reduction in waste collection capacity.

According to him, the problem is not simply the number of trucks but a waste management system undermined by corruption, poor management and what he described as racketeering around diesel, truck leasing and waste collection.

“The problem is not simply a lack of trucks. It is a system that has been weakened by corruption, poor management and alleged racketeering around diesel, truck leasing and waste collection.”

Rhodes-Vivour said the consequence is increasingly visible in communities across Lagos.

“That is why Lagos stinks.”

For him, the waste crisis is a governance failure, not merely a question of residents keeping their immediate surroundings clean.

‘We Must Stop Allowing Them to Change the Subject’

Rhodes-Vivour said his criticism of the APC does not diminish the importance he attaches to Yoruba language, culture and heritage.

Rather, he argued that cultural identity should not be weaponised to distract Lagosians from demanding accountability on governance.

He challenged the APC to stop changing the subject and answer the fundamental question confronting the state after years in power.

“The question is not who can shout the loudest. The question is, after all these years in power, have they made Lagos better for the ordinary Lagosian?”

He urged Lagosians to keep their attention on the issues that directly affect their lives.

“That is the conversation we should be having. That is the conversation they want us to avoid. And that is exactly the conversation we must continue to have.”

For Rhodes-Vivour, the central issue is therefore not whether he can satisfy his political opponents in a Yoruba language exchange, but whether those who have governed Lagos for years can demonstrate that their policies have delivered a better, cleaner, safer and more affordable city for ordinary Lagosians.

The message from the ADC candidate is unmistakable: Lagosians should not allow a debate over language to displace the bigger debate over governance, accountability and the quality of life in Lagos.

CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND THE HYPOCRISY OF ETHNIC POLITICS IN LAGOS

 

Culture is the total way of life of a people. It encompasses our folklore, songs, dances, dressing, food, religion, traditions and, most importantly, our language. Through language, a people communicate, preserve their history, transmit knowledge and values, and pass their collective worldview from one generation to another.

Language is therefore not merely a means of communication; it is a repository of identity and collective memory. A people who lose their language risk losing an important part of their cultural consciousness. This is why the countries generally regarded as developed have preserved and promoted their indigenous languages in governance, education, social interaction and knowledge production, despite the historical exploitation of Africa's human and material resources by many of those same powers.

Colonialism deliberately disrupted this cultural continuity in Africa. Colonial languages were imposed on African societies and became official or dominant languages, while indigenous religions, traditions and systems of knowledge were systematically undermined. Christianity and Islam subsequently became dominant religious traditions across much of Africa.

The consequences of this cultural dislocation remain evident today. Yet cultural identity cannot be reduced to the ability to speak a particular language. Speaking Yoruba fluently does not automatically make someone a better Yoruba person, just as not speaking Yoruba fluently does not make someone less Yoruba. Commitment to a people's history, culture, traditions, values and collective advancement must also be taken into consideration.

It is against this background that I find the current campaign of blackmail and propaganda against the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, simply because he does not speak Yoruba fluently, both appalling and intellectually dishonest.

The APC propaganda machinery and its political data boys are making a spectacle of Gbadebo's language proficiency, as though fluency in Yoruba were the ultimate measure of Yoruba identity, political legitimacy or commitment to Lagos.

It is not.

On several fronts, Gbadebo has demonstrated a strong commitment to Yoruba culture and tradition. From close observation, his cultural identification is more visible than that of many of those now attacking him.

Gbadebo hardly wears English or other foreign modes of dressing and attire. He is frequently seen in Yoruba traditional clothing, including fitting caps, as part of his normal public appearance. This is significant because cultural identity should not be something politicians remember only when elections are approaching.

His public identification with Ìṣẹ̀ṣe, the indigenous Yoruba religious and cultural system, is another important dimension of his cultural outlook.

The argument about Gbadebo's Yoruba identity is further strengthened by the fact that Yoruba traditionalists have publicly defended his Yoruba lineage and explained the basis for his Obalefun title.

At the same time, some of those presenting themselves as the ultimate defenders of Yoruba identity have historically shown little interest in preserving indigenous African spirituality and traditional institutions, even while promoting Christianity and Islam.

Again, there is nothing wrong with Nigerians practising Christianity or Islam. Freedom of religion is fundamental.

The issue is consistency. It is difficult to accept the argument that a person's Yoruba identity should be questioned because he cannot speak Yoruba fluently while the same political environment routinely celebrates foreign religious and cultural influences and, in some instances, commits public resources to religious pilgrimages.

Culture should not become an electoral costume, and language should not become a weapon of ethnic exclusion.

THE SAME OLD "ỌMỌ ÌGBÒ" PROPAGANDA

We saw this same politics during the 2023 governorship election, when the campaign of calumny portrayed Gbadebo as Ọmọ Ìgbò, suggesting that his allegiance would be to the Igbo people simply because his mother is Igbo.

This was primitive ethnic politics.

The hypocrisy becomes even clearer when we consider the extensive inter-ethnic relationships within Nigeria's political class itself.

The late Rotimi Akeredolu, a prominent Yoruba politician and APC governor of Ondo State, was married to Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, an Igbo woman from Imo State. Their marriage was publicly known, and Betty herself spoke about the ethnic prejudices surrounding their relationship.

So why should Gbadebo's Igbo maternal heritage suddenly become evidence that he cannot be trusted with the affairs of Lagos?

Why should marriage or maternal ancestry determine political loyalty?

Lagos itself is a product of centuries of interaction among different peoples. It is a cosmopolitan city with a deep Yoruba historical and cultural foundation. Being Yoruba does not require Lagos to become an ethnic prison.

The renewed campaign against Gbadebo is therefore empty. Lagosians are wiser.

And I ask a simple question: how many times did Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his predecessors, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was governor of Lagos, address Lagosians in Yoruba during major public engagements?

If language proficiency is to become the ultimate test of Yoruba identity and political legitimacy, the APC should apply its own standard consistently.

Let us stop pretending.

The real question before Lagos voters is not whether Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour speaks Yoruba with the fluency of someone born and raised in a Yoruba-speaking household.

The real questions are:

What does he have to offer Lagos?

Can he provide better governance?

Can he tackle flooding?

Can he address the housing crisis?

Can he improve transportation?

Can he create opportunities for young Lagosians?

Can he protect public resources?

Can he promote accountability and transparency?

Can he preserve Lagos's history, culture and heritage?

Can he offer Lagosians a credible alternative to the political dynasty that has dominated the state for the last 27 years?

These are the questions that should determine the future of Lagos—not whether a candidate's mother is Igbo or whether he previously struggled to speak Yoruba fluently.

Gbadebo has also taken steps to improve his Yoruba and has said publicly that he engaged a Yoruba teacher and intends to campaign in the language. That effort should be encouraged, not ridiculed. A person who recognises a weakness and takes deliberate steps to correct it should be commended.

The Yoruba electorate should therefore see beyond the shenanigans, ethnic rhetoric and propaganda surrounding Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.

We should judge political candidates by their competence, integrity, commitment, vision and what they intend to do for the people.

The politics of saying "Gbadebo is Ọmọ Ìgbò" because his mother is Igbo is as mischievous as saying that somebody is automatically a better Yoruba because he can speak Yoruba fluently.

Yoruba identity is bigger than language alone. Yoruba civilisation is bigger than political propaganda. And the Yoruba people are bigger than politicians who exploit their identity for electoral advantage.

Our strong appeal to the Lagos electorate is therefore to vote for a credible alternative to the mischievous propaganda of the ruling party in Lagos.

Let Lagosians reject ethnic blackmail.

Let Lagosians reject political manipulation.

Let Lagosians demand competence, accountability and development.

Let Lagosians choose a government that belongs to the people rather than a political dynasty.

And let the Akotileta government understand one thing:

Yorùbá ò pọnú — Yoruba people are not stupid.

Comrade Wale Balogun
National Coordinator, Yoruba Revolutionary Movement (YOREM)
Convener, Mẹkunnu Kọya
Writes from Lagos
4 October 2026

Osun Floods: A Peer Review of Four Administrations and the Aregbesola Environmental Legacy

 

From Oyinlola to Aregbesola, Oyetola and Adeleke; what happened to Osun's drains, canals, waterways and waste management?

By Comrade Wale Balogun, Convener, Mẹkunnu Kọya

The serious flooding now affecting parts of Osun State is more than a seasonal inconvenience. Homes, shops, businesses and personal belongings are being destroyed, while families are again being exposed to hardship and uncertainty.

For many residents, the situation inevitably brings back memories of an earlier period when the state government embarked on a deliberate programme of dredging rivers, opening waterways, expanding drainage channels, removing obstructions and deploying O'YES cadets to keep public spaces and drainage corridors clean.

A peer review of the four administrations of Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Rauf Aregbesola, Gboyega Oyetola and Ademola Adeleke therefore provides useful lessons.

Oyinlola: when flooding became a recurring crisis

The later Oyinlola years were marked by serious flooding, culminating in the devastating 2010 experience that preceded the change of government. Gbonmi became one of the symbolic examples.

The name itself became part of the political folklore of Osogbo because of the area's repeated flooding. In a 2016 report, Punch recalled that a former governor had jokingly told residents during a television programme that they should either be prepared to continue bailing water from their houses or relocate because, having chosen to live there, they had “met the water.” The former governor referred to was Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

Whatever the humour intended, the statement is revealing of an older philosophy of governance: treating a flood prone community as though its residents, rather than government, bore the primary responsibility for the environmental danger.

Good governance should take the opposite approach, identify the danger, intervene before disaster and protect citizens and their property.

Aregbesola: from reaction to prevention

Aregbesola fundamentally changed the approach. His administration introduced O'Clean, expanded waste management, deployed O'YES cadets for sanitation and environmental work, cleared vegetation, desilted waterways and embarked on major channelisation projects.

The important distinction was that the government did not wait for flood victims to start bailing water before acting. It attempted to remove the conditions that produced the flooding.

The scale was considerable. Contemporary reporting recorded extensive desilting of rivers, streams and canals across Osun, including major interventions in Osogbo. By 2018, The Guardian reported that approximately 861 kilometres of waterways, canals and streams had been desilted over seven years.

Gbonmi: the clearest test case

The most compelling evidence is Gbonmi itself. The administration implemented the Gbonmi–Obaate, Okooko River channelisation project. The Guardian reported that Gbonmi, previously known for frequent flooding, had remained flood free for seven years following the intervention. Similar channelisation works were undertaken around Rasco, Alekunwodo and Old Nitel, Alekunwodo.

A 2016 letter published by The Nation provides an even more personal account. A resident described how his parents' home in Gbonmi had flooded every year before 2011, forcing the family to consider relocating. After Aregbesola's desilting and waterway clearing programme, the family reported that they no longer had to abandon the house during the rains.

This is the practical meaning of preventive governance. The government did not tell Gbonmi residents to learn how to bail water. It attacked the cause of the problem.

Oyetola: some continuity, but not the same momentum

Oyetola inherited both the environmental infrastructure and the institutional machinery established under Aregbesola, under whom he had served as Chief of Staff.

To his credit, he did not completely abandon the environmental programme.

His administration continued dredging. In 2019 and 2020, it cleared and dredged several rivers and waterways, including the Osun River, Opopo River, Rasco Stream and other channels. It also strengthened enforcement against indiscriminate refuse disposal.

Oyetola also retained and later expanded O'YES. His administration increased cadet allowances and described the scheme as a legacy programme that should be sustained.

But the critical question is continuity of intensity and strategic purpose.

Aregbesola's environmental programme had been conceived as a broad, visible and continuous intervention involving sanitation, waste collection, drainage, canalisation, river dredging, vegetation control and youth mobilisation.

Under Oyetola, some of these components continued, but the momentum and comprehensive character of the earlier intervention were less evident. The result was that recurring flooding remained a problem in places such as Gbonmi, Gbodofon, Rasco, Alekunwodo and other Osogbo communities.

The 2019 flooding itself demonstrated that the earlier gains required much more systematic maintenance and expansion. More than 100 houses were reported submerged in Osogbo, with Gbonmi, Gbodofon, Awosuru and other areas affected.

Thus, the fairest criticism of Oyetola is not that he did nothing, but that he did not build sufficiently on the scale and integrated preventive approach of the administration he had served.

Adeleke: renewed intervention, but the problem remains

The Adeleke administration inherited the same environmental challenge. It has undertaken renewed dredging and drainage clearance, including work on the Osun River in Osogbo, and has warned residents against dumping refuse into waterways.

The administration has also responded to recent flooding by ordering emergency clearance of waterways and proposing a more comprehensive flood management framework.

These are necessary interventions. But the recurrence of serious flooding demonstrates that emergency response cannot substitute for permanent environmental management.

The state needs a system in which rivers and canals are routinely inspected and desilted before the rainy season, drainage channels are kept open throughout the year, illegal structures on waterways are removed and waste disposal is effectively regulated.

The O'YES lesson

The environmental dimension of O'YES deserves special attention. The cadets were not merely unemployed young people receiving stipends. Through cadres such as the Green Gang, Public Sanitation and Public Works Brigade, they provided visible manpower for keeping communities clean, cutting weeds and assisting with environmental maintenance.

Oyetola continued the scheme and, by 2022, announced another recruitment exercise after a period of reduced activity.

Adeleke subsequently replaced O'YES with the Imole Youth Corps. Whatever the political arguments surrounding the different schemes, the environmental lesson is straightforward: Osun needs a permanent community based environmental workforce.

Young people can be trained and deployed to clear vegetation, maintain drainage corridors, monitor blocked waterways, support waste collection and report emerging flood risks.

This should not be treated as a temporary political programme. It should be part of the state's environmental infrastructure.

The verdict

The peer review produces a reasonably clear picture.

Oyinlola: inherited and presided over a period in which recurrent flooding exposed the weakness of the state's preventive drainage system. The insensitive joke attributed to him about Gbonmi residents “meeting the water” became an unfortunate symbol of that era.

Aregbesola: introduced the most comprehensive and visibly preventive environmental intervention of the four administrations — O'Clean, O'YES environmental manpower, waste management, drainage expansion, river dredging and major channelisation. The transformation reported in Gbonmi is the strongest practical evidence of its effectiveness.

Oyetola: continued some of the inherited programmes, including dredging, waste enforcement and O'YES, but failed to sustain the environmental intervention with the same breadth and momentum required to consolidate Aregbesola's gains. The recurring floods showed the cost of insufficient continuity.

Adeleke: has renewed dredging, drainage clearance and environmental enforcement, but the recurrence of serious flooding demonstrates that the state still needs a permanent, integrated flood prevention system rather than periodic emergency interventions.

What Osun should do now

The immediate priority should be prevention. Government should urgently deploy the appropriate heavy equipment, including swamp bulldozers, excavators and dredging equipment where technically necessary, to clear blocked rivers, canals and drainage channels throughout Osun and adjoining affected communities.

But equipment alone is not enough.

Osun needs:

• routine pre rainy season dredging and desilting;
• continuous clearing of drainage channels;
• strict enforcement against dumping refuse into waterways;
• removal of structures obstructing natural waterways;
• restoration and protection of flood plains;
• properly funded waste collection;
• a permanent community environmental workforce;
• flood risk mapping and early warning systems; and
• transparent annual environmental performance reports.

The Gbonmi experience has already demonstrated what preventive investment can accomplish. The lesson should not be forgotten.

When government clears the waterways before the rain comes, people do not have to spend the rainy season bailing water out of their homes.

Good governance is not simply arriving after disaster with relief materials. It is anticipating danger, preventing avoidable damage, protecting lives and safeguarding the homes, businesses and livelihoods of citizens.

Osun deserves nothing less.

GAFAMORG Backs Labour Strike, Demands Living Wage, Purchasing Power Protection

The Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organization has thrown its weight behind the three day warning strike embarked upon by organised labour, saying the current economic crisis requires Nigerians to move beyond the traditional struggle for wage increases to a broader campaign for living dignity and national prosperity.

GAFAMORG, in a statement issued on Friday, said the strike reflected genuine concerns over declining purchasing power, soaring food and transport costs, unpaid wage related obligations and the need for a new minimum wage that would reflect the realities of Nigerian households.

The organisation, however, warned that simply increasing salaries without addressing inflation and the rising cost of essential goods and services could leave workers no better off.

“The question is no longer how much more should workers be paid, but what Nigerians must earn, and what government must provide, for people to live with dignity and build prosperity,” GAFAMORG stated.

The organisation said the current wage debate should therefore be reframed around purchasing power, arguing that the real value of a salary should be measured by what it can buy rather than by the nominal amount paid to workers.

It said, “A wage increase alone is not enough. A nominal increase can be wiped out by inflation tomorrow. What matters is not merely what a worker earns, but what that income can actually buy.”

Seven point agenda

GAFAMORG proposed a seven point framework which includes an emergency relief package for workers and pensioners, a new national living wage process, wage and pension indexation, a sustainable petrol price and transport solution, a social wage framework, inclusion of informal workers in wage institutions and the establishment of a National Living Wage and Purchasing-Power Council.

The organisation called on the Federal and state governments, in collaboration with organised labour, to negotiate and publish an emergency relief package within 14 days.

The proposed package would include wage awards, transport support and payment of arrears, with clear eligibility criteria, funding sources, payment schedules and periodic reviews based on changes in food, transport and energy prices.

It also proposed the adoption, by January 2027, of a national cost of living basket covering food, housing, transportation, energy, healthcare, education, water and communications.

According to the organisation, the methodology and data used in determining the basket must be publicly available and reflect regional differences in the cost of living.

GAFAMORG further called for legally enforceable quarterly reviews of wages and pensions, with adjustments triggered when the cost of essential goods or inflation rises by five per cent from the previous adjustment.

Fuel price not enough

On petrol pricing, GAFAMORG said the reduction of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit alone should not be presented as evidence that Nigerians have achieved economic relief.

It called for a 90 day energy and transport stabilisation plan focused on domestic refining, reliable supply, transparent petrol pricing and affordable mass transportation.

The group also demanded regular publication of refining, importation and price components, alongside targeted and audited support for vulnerable households and public transport users.

Informal sector

GAFAMORG said millions of Nigerians working outside the formal economy must not be excluded from the national conversation on wages and economic wellbeing.

It called for a national informal work forum within 60 days, with consultations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Farmers, traders, artisans, transport workers, market women, pensioners, women, youths, self employed persons and civil society organisations, it said, should have a permanent voice in institutions responsible for determining national living standards.

“Informal workers cannot be invisible. They also pay rent, transport fares, fuel costs, school fees and medical bills,” the organisation said.

Proposed council

GAFAMORG also proposed the establishment of an independent National Living Wage and Purchasing Power Council within 90 days.

The council, according to the organisation, should comprise representatives of government, labour, employers, informal workers, farmers, pensioners, women, youths, civil society and experts.

It would publish monthly cost-of-living data and quarterly purchasing-power reports, recommend wage adjustments, monitor wage erosion and assess the delivery of social services.

The council would also be empowered to trigger a policy response when purchasing power falls below an agreed national threshold.

GAFAMORG said the proposed framework should introduce a new relationship between living wage, social wage and purchasing-power protection.

It said economic reforms should ultimately be judged by their impact on ordinary households.

“There should be no economic reform without purchasing power protection, no wage negotiation without a living-wage test, no pension policy without inflation protection and no prosperity agenda that excludes informal workers,” the organisation said.

GAFAMORG urged organised labour, civil society, farmers, traders, artisans, pensioners, professionals, women, youths and communities to participate in its People's Living Dignity Test 2026, saying household experiences should form part of the evidence used to assess the country's economic condition.

The organisation said the central question Nigerians should ask in the current wage debate is simple: “What will the wage actually buy?”

It added that the answer to that question should form the basis of any credible national prosperity programme.

FROM RESISTANCE TO EXILE: My 17 Months Underground

*A Cadre's Historical Account of the Struggle Against Military Tyranny*

*By Comrade Taiwo Omoniyi OTITOLAYE*

*I. June 12: The Mandate and The Betrayal*

History has moments when a people discover themselves. June 12, 1993 was such a moment.

It was not an election. It was a plebiscite against hunger and against military messianism. The Nigerian masses - from all regions, from all walks of life, including Army Barracks formation across the country- voted as a conscious class for democracy. 

Nigeria is a multiethnic, multilingual and multi-religious Nation-state. That day, Nigerians transcended region and every primordial division to speak with one voice.

The mandate of Chief M.K.O. Abiola was therefore a pan-Nigerian mandate.

That mandate was betrayed.

General Ibrahim Babangida, the self-styled evil genius, annulled the freest and fairest election in our history. He annulled hope. In its place, he installed an illegal contraption called the Interim National Government. It was a stillbirth.

From that betrayal, tyranny did not just emerge; it erupted. On November 17, 1993, General Sani Abacha, the dark-goggled despot, pushed aside the interim charade and declared himself absolute ruler. Decrees became law. Fear became policy. Nigeria became a vast prison yard, and every home became a potential cell.

We had a choice: to submit or to resist. We chose resistance.

*II. The Vanguards of the People: The Architecture of Resistance*

Tyranny always creates its gravediggers.

The resistance was not spontaneous; it was organized and focused. It had architecture, ideology, direction, vanguards, and from phase to phase.

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) was the militant, mass-based engine of street confrontation. We believed that democracy is not negotiated in banquet halls; it is won on the streets.

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) was the ideological and legal backbone. It gave political defence to the defenceless and taught that human rights are not charity but class struggle.

When the need for a broader unity became urgent, the United Action for Democracy (UAD) emerged as the united front - welding CD, CDHR, student unions, labour, professional groups and market associations into a single fist.

And the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) became the broad historic bloc of the political class, elders and progressives, both inside and outside exile, demanding the restoration of June 12.

We were not civil society in the donor sense. We were the combatants of civil society. We were the Vanguards of the People.

*III. The Chain of Comradeship: From Saro-Wiwa to Iyayi*

A movement is only as strong as the continuity of its cadres.

Comrade Ken Saro-Wiwa was not just an Ogoni leader. He was our National Vice Chairman (South-South) in the Campaign for Democracy. A poet who weaponized the pen. He linked the oil spill in the Niger Delta to the moral spill in Dodan Barracks. He internationalized our local struggle.

When the junta, using a compromised judiciary and a kangaroo tribunal led by Justice Ibrahim Auta primitively convicted and later hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8 on November 10, 1995, they thought they were killing a man. They were killing their own legitimacy before the world.

The mantle fell, and it did not fall. It was lifted by a giant - Professor Festus Iyayi. Former President of ASUU. National President of CDHR. Marxist, novelist, organizer. Prof. Iyayi proved that the intellectual who does not join the street has betrayed his books. He succeeded Comrade Saro-Wiwa as the South Zone of the Campaign for Democracy and brought theoretical depth and uncompromising courage to the leadership.

From Saro-Wiwa to Iyayi, the line was clear: the struggle for democracy and the struggle for social justice are one and the same.

*IV. The Mass Resistance: How Nigerians Were Conscientized*

This is the chapter bourgeois writers erase.

They write about leaders, but not about the masses. Yet without the masses, we were nothing.

We went from community to community. From town hall to town hall. From student campus to campus. We did sensitization. We did conscientization in the Freirean sense - we made people see that their personal hunger was political.

And Nigerians listened. Oh, they listened!

*V. The Barricades and Trenches: The Battles Were Tough*

The battle was fought on the streets, in the markets, at the motor parks, and at midnight with a printing machine that could cost us our lives.

Leafleteering and grafty was our artillery.

We did not have NTA or Radio Nigeria. Abacha had them. We had paper. We had ink. We had courage.

We produced leaflets, bulletins, and communiques - sometimes handwritten, sometimes cyclostyled in hidden rooms - all across the country. We called it conscientization material. The junta called it sedition.

How did it move?

We partnered with the Newspapers Distributors Association of Nigeria (NDAN). Those comrades were heroes. They knew every vendor, every route. Our leaflets entered inside newspapers. A citizen buying Daily Times would find our call to action inside. That was our internet.

The Market Associations were our distribution centres. The Iyaloja and Babaloja who believed in June 12 opened their stalls to us.

The Student Union Governments (SUGs) were our ready Field Commanders. From Unilorin to ABU Zaria, from UNILAG to UNN, they took the bundles and spread them from hostel to hostel. They were fearless.

The Labour and factory cadres carried them into the factories, into the industrial estates in Ilorin, Kano and Lagos.

The Akara (bean cake) sellers - yes, our mothers - wrapped akara with our leaflets. Who would suspect an akara seller?

The Drivers' Unions - NURTW, RTEAN - were our logistics corps. They transported our materials from town to town, and village to village, inside engine compartments, under seats, inside spare tyres. A driver could be our cadre without ever shouting Aluta.

And I must record this for history: The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria were consistent allies. While others kept quiet, their communiques eased the tension in society. They were consistently progressive. Their pastoral letters gave moral legitimacy to what we were saying on the streets.

But the barricades had blood.

Many Nigerians lost their lives at the barricades due to police and military extrajudicial killings.

 We watched many fall by our sides through bullets.

We carried comrades who were shot for holding a leaflet. We saw market women beaten for shouting "June 12". We saw students gunned down for mounting a barricade.

The battles were tough. But every bullet that killed a comrade produced ten more.

 Every barricade they dismantled in the morning, we rebuilt in the night.

That was the spirit of the barricades.

*VI. The Plateau Zone and Our Unsung Heroes*

It is expedient and germane for me to pause here and express my sincere condolences and love for our late Comrades, Basil Chianson and Peter Ogaba of the Nigerian Airways.

History must record this: the duo played unquantifiable roles in the struggles and in my leadership team especially in the Benue and Plateau axis.

They were not just sympathizers. They were logistics commanders. Nigerian Airways staff at that time had access, had movement, had networks across the country. Basil and Peter used their positions to move our mobilisation materials, to give us cover, to provide safe passage and information. In the dangerous terrain of Benue and Plateau, they were our wings.

Their death is a monumental loss to the democratic struggle. Their names must be etched in gold whenever the story of June 12 is told in the Middle Belt. May their militant Souls continue to live.

I salute them.

*VII. Close Calls: The Makurdi Escape and The Mystic Shield*

In this kind of struggle, you live many lives in one day.

I remember one of my most dangerous escapes in Benue, Makurdi. I had made the usual trips across the Plateau Zone which I coordinated to strengthen the zone and deliver mobilisation materials. 

On that particular trip, my mission was to formally constitute a strong CD Branch in Benue.

In that historic meeting, Comrade Samuel Ortom (NOW FORMER GOVERNOR OF BENUE STATE):and Comrade Abubakar Borjov were elected Chairman and Secretary respectively. The zone was now solid.

It was time to go to Jos in continuation of my trip. Getting to the motor park in the morning, our vehicle was loaded. I thought we were heading to Jos unhindered.

To my surprise, our vehicle parked just outside the garage and the driver said, "Please everybody come down for police check."

The previous day, the State Security Service (SSS) had traced me to the office of NULGE for my arrest. They had gotten wind that I was in Makurdi. Comrade Sanni of NULGE and others were hosting me. I had escaped that arrest by whiskers.

Now this checkpoint. When I saw plain clothed policemen, hot blood ran through my spine, and all over my body. 

I composed myself for another arrest. I became determined that no matter what happened, I was ready to pay the price.

What happened next, I owe to the ECK Masters of the Order of Vairagi. 

Three ECK Masters stepped in at that garage. For the Spiritual Law of Silence, I keep that part of the story sealed.

I had many similar escapes in that era. Each one reminded me that the struggle is both physical and spiritual.

Baraka Bashad.

*VIII. Five Minutes Away From The Phantom Coup: Patrick Aziza's Panel*

The junta was not just hunting us; it was framing us.

My escrow account campaign - demanding that Nigeria's crude oil revenue be DEPOSITED IN AN ESCROW ACCOUNT for the Nigerian people - had penetrated into the junta's fabrics. I had touched their loot. I was therefore to be either eliminated or given life imprisonment.

Their plan was to rope me into General Patrick Aziza's Phantom Coup Panel.

This was premeditated. The junta's excuse for wanting to rope me into a coup was linked to the junta's self-styled violence across the country. Ilorin, Kwara State was one of the first places the junta's dark agents planted and detonated bombs. They were negatively portraying activists as people behind the violence, to justify crushing us.

Our Chairman, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Comrade Shehu Sani who was coordinating Kaduna Zone were already arrested and in prison to be linked to this phantom coup.

I was next.

Again, to the credit of my INNER MASTER, I was STERNLY WARNED to vacate the Safe House I was staying at the time.

I had to open up to my host because he had provided cover to me when it mattered most. I told him,

 "Look, my Inner Master whispered to me to leave your house within 5 minutes or I will be arrested to a point of no return."

I have always packed my bag ready for any emergency.

Sadly, my host insisted on taking his bath before leaving the house.

Within that 5 minutes window, they struck.

 He was arrested and spent about three weeks at the State Security Service (SSS) detention center. He paid the price for his solidarity.

I escaped by 5 minutes. Five minutes between freedom and a phantom coup tribunal that would have ended my life.

*IX. May 6, 1994 and the Triumph of Collective Leadership*

I and Late Dr. Frederick Fasheun were the first casualties of Abacha's terror on the 6th of May 1994. While preparing for the mass street protests and burn fires slated for Monday 9th May, we were arrested. Abacha was in Ilorin for the All Military Games, and his security apparatus wanted to preempt us.

They thought if they cut the head, the body would die.

But IVhad been schooled by the Legendary, Comrade Baba Omojola, in the COMMITTEE SYSTEM OF LEADERSHIP.

The struggle was not built around me. It was decentralized. Every cell had its own autonomy.

So inside detention, I was jubilating. My esteemed comrades carried out the protests and the burn fires effectively without me. That is the beauty of collective structures. Individuals may be detained, but an idea organized cannot be imprisoned.

I Was charged "Security Risk against the Head of Srate and Commander-In-Chief (C-in-C).

*X. The VOA Campaign and Becoming WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE*

The judicial murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa radicalized me further.

I was being interviewed regularly by William Eagle of the Voice of America (VOA). I decided to escalate the ideological warfare. I used that global platform to campaign for Nigeria's crude oil revenue to be DEPOSITED IN AN ESCROW ACCOUNT - to be held in trust for the Nigerian people, outside the thieving reach of the Abacha junta.

That single campaign touched the jugular of the regime. They could tolerate political abuse; they could not tolerate a threat to their loot.

I was declared wanted. A combined team of military intelligence and MOPOL was dispatched from Abuja with a clear order: bring him DEAD OR ALIVE.

*XI. 17 Grueling Months: The Tramp With No Home*

I permanently left my home for 17 grueling months. Until Abacha transited to a higher realm of existence.

I became a tramp with nowhere to lay my head. A nomad in my own country. From ONE SAFE HOUSE TO ANOTHER.

I became persona non grata to many friends and relatives. Fear made them distance themselves. I do not blame them; tyranny makes cowards of many.

But VERY FEW STOOD SOLIDLY FOR ME.

 They opened their doors when the state had marked my me. They are the true HEROINES AND HEROES OF OUR COLLECTIVE STRUCTURES.

The cost was not mine alone. My own sister was arrested 26 times between 1994 and 1998 in lieu of me. Twenty-six times!

 We had to organize to smuggle her out of Kwara State into safety until the tyrant fell.

They risked everything for the struggle.

*CODWA: Why We Still Struggle*

I tell this story not for pity. I tell it for continuity.

From the struggle against military tyranny to the struggle against economic tyranny today, it is the same fight.

We moved from the barricades to the ballot, from burn fires to budgets, but the weapon remains the same: ORGANIZED COLLECTIVE STRUCTURES OF THE PEOPLE.

We remain unbowed. We remain unconquered.

It is not yet UHURU

Vigilance is the Price for Eternal Liberty 

VICTORIA AETERNA 

COMRADE TAIWO OMONIYI OTITOLAYE is the Executive Director of Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA)

GAFAMORG Seeks Nigerians’ Voices on Wages, Living Standards and Economic Dignity

 LAGOS — The Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organization (GAFAMORG) has launched the People’s Living Dignity Test 2026, a nationwide public evidence gathering exercise aimed at documenting the real life economic conditions and cost of living experiences of Nigerians.

The initiative, launched on September 29, 2026, seeks responses from Nigerians across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory on their everyday economic circumstances and what it takes to maintain a basic standard of living with dignity.

According to GAFAMORG, the exercise is intended to bring citizens’ direct experiences into public discussions about wages, living standards and the rising cost of living.

The organisation said the questionnaire provides a structured platform through which Nigerians can share evidence of their present economic circumstances, adding that the information gathered would contribute to continuing public interest documentation on wages, living standards, economic dignity and social justice.

Nigerians urged to participate

GAFAMORG has urged Nigerians to complete the questionnaire honestly and base their responses on their current personal circumstances.

The organisation is also calling on individuals and organisations to circulate the questionnaire widely through communities, workplaces, trade union and workers’ networks, churches, mosques, youth organisations, student groups, community associations and social-media platforms.

It specifically appealed to journalists, civil-society organisations, community leaders and other public interest institutions to help bring the exercise to Nigerians who might otherwise have limited opportunities to participate.

GAFAMORG said the objective is to generate people centred evidence rather than merely opinions on the economic realities confronting citizens.

The organisation said relevant findings would be communicated to the public as responses are compiled and analysed.

Explaining the philosophy behind the initiative, GAFAMORG said: “The people should not merely be discussed. The people should also be heard.”

The organisation described the exercise as part of its continuing public interest work under the banner: “Remembering Gani by Continuing His Struggle.”

The statement was signed by the Chairman, Comrade Babatunde Agunbiade, and the Public Relations Officer, Comrade Ade Adeoye Adewunmi, on behalf of GAFAMORG.

How to participate

Members of the public can take the People’s Living Dignity Test 2026 through the GAFAMORG questionnaire:

Take the People's Living Dignity Test 2026

The exercise is open to Nigerians across the country.