My favourite trick question is “Which is the correct thing to say? The yolk of an egg are white, or the yolk of an egg is white?” Almost everyone — after a bit of hesitation — picks the latter.

However, the answer is neither. The yolk of an egg is yellow. The trick comes from our understanding of the word “correct.” We often see things from one angle and fail to consider other contexts.

The lesson here is that something can be true in fact, yet contextually false.

Source: Zikoko Memes

Last week, the Northern States Christian Elders Forum called on Nigerians to reject the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s same-faith presidential ticket of Bola Tinubu (BAT) and his running mate, Kashim Shettima. They argued that it was disrespectful to a large section of the country that is Christian.

They’re the latest in a long line of Nigerians opposed to the ticket, including former Nigerian speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and the former Secretary to the Government, Babachir Lawal, who notably, are members of the APC.

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss them and say that religion doesn’t matter in picking candidates. Factually, this is true. Anyone can aspire to the highest political office in Nigeria regardless of their faith. Yet, in the context of Nigerian politics, this doesn’t fly.

Source: Zikoko Memes

The unwritten rule about the choice of candidates and their running mates speaks broadly to inclusion across religious and ethnic lines, for a country as diverse as Nigeria.

There have only been two notable exceptions in which leading candidates bucked this trend. In 1979, Obafemi Awolowo, a Southern Christian running on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria, chose Philip Emeadi, another Southern Christian, as his running mate. Ultimately, that ticket was a loser.

1979 Presidential Election Result

In 1993, Moshood Abiola, a Southern Muslim from the Social Democratic Party, picked Babagana Kingibe, a Northern Muslim, a move the BAT eerily echoes 30 years after. While BAT’s supporters point to this as proof that it doesn’t matter, they seem to conveniently forget that this was a transition era — from military to democratic rule. Public sentiment then swayed in support of anyone but the military, with Abiola being the popular choice.

For all our supposed sophistication, history suggests that we tend to vote along religious and tribal lines. While the same-faith ticket might appear strategic now, it reignites fears of exclusion for a country as polarised as Nigeria.

So while the same-faith ticket doesn’t seem to matter on the surface, in Nigeria’s context, it matters more than you think.

If you’ve logged in to Twitter recently, you may have seen that a trending keyword is “forfeiture”. In the same way that a housefly is drawn to dirt, allegations of wrongdoing are never too far away from the BAT. The latest is based on the release of court-certified documents investigating his alleged involvement in narcotics and money laundering 30 years ago.

To be fair, this isn’t really news because the allegations have been there for some time. However, the timing and availability of actual documents have done more public image damage to his campaign.

His campaign spokesman, Festus Keyamo, was on TV recently and described the controversy as a “storm in a teacup.” He claimed that of the 10 accounts linked to the BAT, the $460,000 deducted from one of his accounts was simply tax on investments domiciled in US banks.

The key piece of contention came from a term in the document, titled as a “verified complaint of forfeiture.” The TV host noted that the dictionary definition of forfeiture is the giving up of something as the penalty for wrongdoing, to which Keyamo responded in a charged manner and accused the host of “imposing his opinion”, while adding that the dictionary definition of the term is different from the legal definition.

So, I decided to check out what forfeiture really means, according to Illinois laws, where the forfeiture took place.

Here’s what I found: “Asset forfeiture is the permanent confiscation of private property by law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. Illinois and federal law both permit law enforcement agencies to take cash, land, vehicles and other property they suspect is involved in or derived from illegal activity.”

Source: Zikoko Memes

It is no news that Elon Musk has acquired Twitter and has since been giving shocking updates back-to-back. Seeing as the Nigerian government has a history with social media regulation and banned Twitter at some point, how do you think it would respond?

Click here to tweet your answer to @ZikokoCitizen on Twitter.

In September 2022, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced that the 2023 census would cost ₦‎198 billion. On November 9, 2022, the Nigerian Population Commission told the Senate that the census would gulp ₦532.7 billion. The math is no longer mathing.

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