We’ll fight Tinubu if he fails, Odia Ofeimun warns

Renowned Nigerian poet, Odia Ofeimun, has warned that if President Bola Tinubu fails to deliver on his promises, the people will turn against him.

Speaking at the January Reading and Writers Dialogue put together by the Abuja chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Ofeimun claimed there were forces, especially from the West, working against the President’s drive to do what is right for his people.

He, however, stressed that if for fear of the threats posed by foreign forces, the President fails to put things in order within the country, then it would be the turn of Nigerians to fight him.

He said: “If today, Tinubu tries to do it right, they will fight him; but if because they will fight him, he refuses to do it right, it will be our turn to fight him.”

Focusing on education, which he argued must be made free in Nigeria, Ofeimun said every President should subscribe to the free education idea for the benefit of the Nigerian child.

“In my study of human development, whether in economy or political science classes, I have come to agree that the societies, that give free education, are more likely to be developed society than others.
“Chinese today are outstripping Americans because America is making it difficult; you need to be dripping blood from your body to get something good, even in education.”

He said China had made progress by providing equal opportunities, where “every child is in a position to contribute to what can wipe out whatever difficulties in the society. They do not have to be supported by the state to think. As long as they can think, they can outstrip whatever any state affair might put in their way.”

Ofeimun said that in Nigeria of about 250 million people, if citizens were enabled to produce as they should, Nigeria would take care of Africa.”

On the role of the poet as the conscience of society, Ofeimun said activism is an integral part of the poet’s calling.