By Sam Omatseye

Pitobi amused me during Ramadan. First as a feeder of the poor. Second, as a praying mantis. Was he trying to show that he is now a Muslim or that he has sympathy for Muslims? So, when he sat among the small boys to break his fast, two things struck me. First, he was not eating the quality of rice the poor often eat. He tempted the poor with his upscale cuisine.

The jollof rice was rich. Its colour could tickle a palate. I don’t know where it came from, but those boys must have been very titillated that evening when they broke their fast. They must invite him again as a good customer. Or he invited them. It was probably from Kitchen Republic or specially prepared by some happy chef. In the next Ramadan, Pitobi should wake up at 5:30 am and join them. Not his evening version of Iftar when no one can verify whether he had ofe nsala for lunch. Two, he did not communicate with the little guys. He was just eating and looking. How could he. He had not long ago showed contempt for them when he rallied his Christian elite in the name of election. He had too much contempt to relate to them. He was just smiling to himself. He was making love to himself.

I say praying mantis, because this was the same Pitobi who rallied Christians against Muslims, a pilgrim and crusader, not long ago. He ran as a saviour of the kingdom. He does not have to pray, but show interest. Maybe he would go to Mecca next. But if he must pray, let us know if he will apologise to those Muslims he threw dirt at during the 2023 presidential campaign.

He is beginning to pray down our democracy though with ignorance. He says democracy is collapsing because he lost the election. He says no one should be elected unless they have over 50 percent of the votes. If we were to follow that, we can have only two parties. His Labour Party would not be in the running last time. This man needs to go and read history and political systems. There is a reason we have parliamentary systems and presidential systems and hybrids, from the United States to France to the United Kingdom to India.

If he has a humility to learn, he can go to any university in Nigeria, especially now that he has a lot of idle time to cross religious line in journeys of hypocrisy. If he cannot go, I can recommend some books for him to read. He needs light.

Culled from The Nation