By Destiny O. Enabulele, MA
Edo state Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo is at it again. Where are Okpebholo’s friends? Someone needs to save Edo State Governor from himself and his embarrassing outbursts.
Nigerians are groaning under the crushing cost of petrol, from N195 to over N1,430 per litre, yet Governor Monday Okpebholo thinks this is enjoyment. His latest gaffe? “I was in London, UK, last week, where I visited a filling station just to compare the fuel price difference between Nigeria and the UK. After conversion, a litre costs over N3,000 over there. We are enjoying here.”
Enjoying? In a country where workers trek to work because transport fares have tripled? In a country where food inflation is over 40 percent and families can barely feed?
Governor Okpebholo refuses to compare the standard of living in the UK to Nigeria. He fails to mention that the UK minimum wage is £12.21 per hour, roughly N24,000 per hour, while Nigeria’s minimum wage is N70,000 per month. A UK worker can buy over 300 litres of fuel with a day’s wage; a Nigerian worker cannot buy 70 litres with a month’s wage.
He also fails to mention that the UK has functional rail, NHS healthcare, stable electricity, and social security. Nigeria has none of these.
This is not leadership; this is mockery of the poor. Governors should feel the pain of their people, not jet to London to justify hardship. Edo deserves better than comparison without context and governance by gaffe.
Okpebholo can’t stop amusing me, walahi.
Destiny Enabulele
Public Affairs Analyst
Lead Director, Cradle of Black Civilization Initiative
