National Patriots Challenge Jonas Odocha’s Historical Claims and Examine Tinubu’s Economic Reforms, Infrastructure and Social Protection
By Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
Jonas Odocha’s October 31 essay, We Who Are About to Die Have Come to Vote, compares Nigerians experiencing economic hardship to condemned Roman gladiators and portrays President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as an indifferent emperor presiding over their suffering.
Hardship is undeniable. However, legitimate criticism must rest upon historical accuracy, economic evidence and an objective examination of government policies.
THE ROMAN STORY THAT HISTORY DOES NOT SUPPORT
Odocha recounts how a young gladiator supposedly confronted a Roman emperor, declaring Morituri te salutamus—“We who are about to die salute you”—thereby shaming the empire into ending gladiatorial entertainment.
That account is historically incorrect.
The documented incident occurred in AD 52 under Emperor Claudius. Suetonius, in The Life of Claudius, Chapter 21, records that condemned participants in a staged naval battle on Lake Fucinus addressed the emperor with those words. Cassius Dio also described the incident.
There was no young gladiator whose protest ended the spectacles. Gladiatorial contests continued long afterwards.
Historical inaccuracies cannot provide a credible foundation for political judgment.
REBUILDING NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC BRIDGE
Imagine a bridge connecting millions of Nigerians to their livelihoods. Successive administrations neglect its foundations until deterioration threatens its survival.
A new administration begins reconstruction. Traffic is disrupted, businesses suffer inconvenience and families experience hardship.
Should reconstruction be abandoned because the repairs are difficult?
Nigeria inherited expensive petrol subsidies, foreign-exchange distortions, fiscal pressures and serious infrastructure deficits.
President Tinubu’s reforms seek to address these structural weaknesses. Their social costs are real, making protection for vulnerable citizens essential. However, postponing necessary adjustments cannot eliminate underlying economic problems.
WHERE DID THE ₦15.8 TRILLION SUBSIDY SAVINGS GO?
Odocha questions the whereabouts of petrol-subsidy savings.
The Federal Ministry of Finance’s August 2026 scorecard estimated approximately ₦15.8 trillion in savings between June 2023 and December 2025.
The Federal Government’s estimated share was ₦5.43 trillion, state governments received approximately ₦6.52 trillion, and local governments ₦3.88 trillion.
Consequently, approximately two-thirds was allocated to states and local governments.
The Ministry also identified substantial expenditure pressures involving wages, foreign-currency debt servicing, infrastructure and electricity support. These broader expenditures were financed through several sources, not subsidy savings alone.
The distribution has been explained repeatedly by Minister Taiwo Oyedele, the National Patriots and by me personally through several publications and public commentaries.
It is therefore misleading to portray the entire amount as money retained by the Presidency. Nevertheless, transparent accounting for actual expenditure remains necessary.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
The Tinubu administration initiated the legal proceedings culminating in the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of July 11, 2024, affirming local government financial autonomy.
Although implementation remains incomplete, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede has confirmed presidential approval for enhanced monitoring of Federation Account allocations to states and local governments.
The EFCC’s monitoring arrangements strengthen opportunities to investigate and prosecute officials implicated in unlawful diversion of public resources.
These measures deserve recognition alongside continued demands for full implementation.
HISTORIC HIGHWAYS: NOT TINUBU’S ORIGINAL INITIATIVE
Odocha criticises the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway as an expensive project benefiting wealthy Nigerians.
Yet its origins substantially predate this administration. According to Works Minister David Umahi, the highway was conceived in 1955, with its corridor subsequently gazetted in 2006.
The 1,068-kilometre Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway similarly traces its origins back approximately five decades, spanning the military administrations of General Murtala Muhammed and General Olusegun Obasanjo and the subsequent civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari. The Federal Ministry of Works specifically associated its early proposal with the Shagari administration.
Neither highway was originally conceived by President Tinubu. These longstanding national development proposals were intended to strengthen transportation, commerce and economic integration for Nigerians’ benefit.
It is therefore unfair to criticise Tinubu as though he originated these projects without acknowledging their historical foundations. His administration commenced their present construction programmes in 2024, seeking to translate decades-old proposals into functioning infrastructure.
The economic question should concern their financing, implementation and eventual benefits.
The Sokoto–Badagry corridor is intended to connect seven states, agricultural production centres and commercial markets.
At its groundbreaking, Senator Adamu Aliero projected that the completed highway could reduce the Sokoto–Lagos journey by approximately 48 hours.
Kebbi Deputy Governor Umar Abubakar Tafida highlighted its agricultural potential:
“Perishable goods like tomatoes can now reach markets in good time without losses associated with bad roads.”
Faster transportation could reduce spoilage, improve market access and lower distribution costs.
Farmers, petty traders and commercial transporters depend heavily upon roads, while wealthy travellers often have alternative transportation options.
These highways could stimulate markets, workshops, restaurants, accommodation and employment along their corridors.
LESSONS FROM JAPAN, AMERICA AND INDIA
Japan’s Meiji industrialisation was supported by investment in railways, ports and modern transportation infrastructure.
America’s nineteenth-century industrial expansion benefited from canals, roads and railways connecting agricultural and manufacturing centres.
India similarly invested in railways, highways, ports and electricity to strengthen industrial production and national connectivity.
These experiences demonstrate that infrastructure is an important foundation for industrial development, alongside technology, investment and effective institutions.
PORT MODERNISATION: CONNECTING NIGERIA TO GLOBAL TRADE
Tinubu’s infrastructure programme also encompasses maritime transportation.
A £746 million British-backed financing agreement supports the rehabilitation of Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos.
Separately, the Federal Government has approved modernisation initiatives covering Onne, Rivers, Delta and Calabar ports.
Improved highways and ports could connect agricultural producers, manufacturers, commercial centres and international markets, reducing cargo delays and strengthening Nigeria’s competitiveness.
The administration’s broader infrastructure strategy can therefore be understood as an effort to create economic opportunities through better national connectivity.
FROM ECONOMIC STABILISATION TO SOCIAL PROTECTION
Odocha’s criticism overlooks the administration’s stated progression from economic stabilisation towards social protection and human development.
The first phase involves subsidy reform, foreign-exchange adjustments, revenue mobilisation and fiscal restructuring.
The second seeks to expand support for vulnerable households, education, vocational training, enterprise development and public services.
In August 2026, the Federal Government launched the $1 billion Household Prosperity and Economic Social Protection Project, HOPE-SP, intended to strengthen assistance to vulnerable households and economic inclusion.
NELFUND student loans, technical and vocational education initiatives and targeted cash transfers form part of the broader social-intervention programme.
Their effectiveness must ultimately be measured by implementation and tangible improvements in household welfare.
Economic stabilisation and social protection must reinforce each other. Sustainable public finances are necessary for lasting social investment, while ordinary Nigerians must experience meaningful benefits from reform.
NATIONAL PATRIOTS POSITION
The National Patriots maintain that informed criticism must recognise both the hardship Nigerians face and the structural problems the administration is attempting to address.
Subsidy-savings distribution has been repeatedly explained, local government autonomy has received judicial reinforcement, accountability measures are being strengthened, and longstanding infrastructure projects are being undertaken.
These developments deserve objective assessment rather than historical distortion or unsupported allegations.
Reforms must ultimately deliver improved living standards, employment opportunities, food affordability and accessible public services.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Jonas Odocha portrays Nigerians as condemned gladiators. We see a nation confronting the difficult reconstruction of its economic foundations.
A damaged bridge cannot be made safe by abandoning repairs. Equally, those undertaking reconstruction must protect the people who depend upon it.
Nigeria’s future requires both the courage to reform and the responsibility to deliver.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR, MBA, MIoD, FIPMD
President, National Patriots
Member, APC-PCC Strategic Communications Team 2027
WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE HAVE COME TO VOTE!!!
Jonas Odocha
This morning something struck me, during our Saturday early morning walk, as I reminisced on the current situation in our country, and I remembered a story from my high school Latin class, in Government Secondary School Owerri, [1959-1965]. In ancient Rome, young boys were kept as gladiators- trained to kill each other for the entertainment of the Emperor and the elite. The crowd cheered while blood flowed. It was fun for the palace, but death for the arena.
One day, a small Roman boy, too young to fight, too tired to run, stood before the Emperor and shouted: “MORITURI TE SALUTAMUS- We who are about to die, salute you!!!” That single sentence shamed the empire. The Emperor could no longer pretend he didn’t see the suffering he created. And history says that was how the gladiator entertainment began to end.
NIGERIA TODAY IS THAT ARENA.
We who cannot afford to buy fuel at N1,200 have come to salute.
We who cannot afford drugs in hospitals have come to salute.
We who cannot feed our children have come to salute.
We who push Keke with B.Sc. degree in our pockets have come to salute.
The government said that subsidy removal has saved us N15 trillion. Where is the money? Yes, state governors have received quadruple funds allocation, but what of the LG autonomy, despite LG funding constitution interpretation request and the Supreme Court ruling? Grassroots development via LGs has remained a mirage, because governors as emperors have defied the Supreme Court ruling. But why the silence over such a constitutional issue? Where is the National Assembly [NASS]? Take a look at the bigger picture! Schools still have no roof. Hospitals still have no light. We are building N15trn coastal road for the rich, while roads to our farms are death traps.
And now our votes are wanted again, come January 2027.
We have no dollars to offer. We have no thugs to harass perceived political opponents. But we, the poor masses, have only one weapon left for January 2027- OUR VOTE.
We will come to the polling booth hungry, tired, angry. And we will say: WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE HAVE COME TO VOTE.
We will vote our conscience. We will vote for the DESERVING candidate. Not tribe. Not religion. But to vote for LIFE.
So, Nigerians, do not sell your vote for N5k or any amount whatsoever. If we get it wrong, there may be no Nigeria left for us to be proud of, or no Nigeria left to vote for.
MORITURI TE SALUTAMUS!!!
Jonas Odocha.
Abuja. 31 October 2026.
