Mr Chisom

On the bus from Aba to Port Harcourt, I found myself listening to a conversation among some of the passengers. One man said one of his suppliers used to be able to buy and transport a trailer load of foodstuff from Adamawa to Aba with just ₦1 million or ₦2 million. He is no longer in the business. According to him, the cost has now risen to several millions of naira. A bag of egusi alone is around ₦300,000, while a cup sells for about ₦1,500. Then the conversation turned to politics. “Wike and Umahi said that instead of Tinubu not to win, they would rather die,” one passenger said. “What we are experiencing now does not concern them.” Another spoke about David Umahi’s son, saying that at just 28, he had become a local government chairman in Ebonyi State and was probably one of the wealthiest young men of his age in the state. As we drove along the expressway, attention shifted to the road construction itself. One passenger claimed that the company handling the project belonged to President Tinubu’s son. Another quickly disagreed, insisting that it was David Umahi’s son’s company. A third offered an entirely different version: that the company was linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law and that Seyi Tinubu was being used as a board member. Nobody seemed completely sure, but everyone had a version. Then came Abia politics. “Alex Otti is the best thing that has happened to Abia State,” one passenger said. “I wonder why the other parties are even contesting and making noise. Don’t they feel ashamed?” Then he added a proverb: “What you can lie to a blind man about is whether there is palm oil in the soup, not whether there is salt. He can taste the salt himself.”