Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with his claims to knowledge of many things, knows nothing about the Egypt he has been deriding in his rudderless journey to the unattainable promised land he waves before Nigerians.

Egypt in Exodus, and subsequent books in the Bible, is alluded to as a land of slavery, incomparable, excruciating suffering that the Almighty was leading the Israelites out of, to a land he promised them was flowing with milk and honey.

Tinubu’s poor understanding of the context of Egypt, his threat that Nigerians will not go back to Egypt, was a full display of his ill-digested ideas on many spheres that question how he runs Nigeria.

He deserves pity. Where will the pity come from? Will it be from the very people he has dedicated his presidency to pushing into penury? Or those who keep deceiving him that the North is with him?

Which North? The North where Tinubu’s campaign billboards will not last a day without being destroyed? The North’s rejection of Tinubu is so outright that they need to provide security for Tinubu’s billboards.

Did you hear that the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, accorded Team Tinubu a warm reception with the truth when Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the campaign, went to the palace to solicit royal blessings?

Alhaji Usman challenged his guests on:

• Insecurity, which has adversely affected farming and schooling. He asked the government to arrest bandit leader Turji if it wanted to campaign in Katsina.

• Economic hardship was another point the Emir raised. He remarked that the administration’s “Renewed Hope” slogan was “renewed hunger”.

• Rejection of campaign handouts of rice, cash and temporary gifts was expected from the people. Acceptance of the gifts will not guarantee votes.

• Accountability before God. The Emir reminded the delegation that judgement awaited leaders who deceive the public for political power.

The Emir spoke for Katsina and all who Tinubu’s policies have afflicted.

A return to Egypt in Tinubu’s analogy is a frightening picture of a chaotic Nigeria Tinubu paints that would result from a loosening of his economic strangulation of Nigeria while he makes no efforts to halt the slide of the country into more poverty and possible bankruptcy.

Tinubu, with the guile he guided his party to snatch leadership of the country, will need to address his “return to Egypt” to the epochal junctures of the country’s political and economic journey since 2015.

When he speaks of the Egypt of President Goodluck Jonathan, does he know how Nigerians long for those days?

Tinubu and company accused the administration of corruption and mismanagement of security and the economy, citing fuel subsidy as an example.

How did Muhammadu Buhari’s fare? Multiple times worse than Jonathan’s, in facts and figures. Costs of living, insecurity and corruption soared.

One of the few truths that Tinubu repeatedly regurgitates with unmissable pride is how he made Buhari president for eight years. He is proud of imposing that affliction on Nigerians.

The embarrassing levels of corruption among Buhari’s ministers that Tinubu is making feeble attempts to prosecute show an administration, a political party and its leadership steeped in corruption.

Renewed corruption appears to be the new order under Tinubu.

Some Tinubu men and women find it disgusting enough to speak.

Spokesman for Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council, Alwan Hassan, stated Thursday night on Arise TV what had been speculation — that ministerial appointees in Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration bought their positions with billions of naira.

“A lot of ministers paid billions to be appointed. The first thing they think of is how to recoup that money after being appointed.

“The most criminal elements in government are ministers,” Hassan said.

Who collected the billions of naira? Were appropriate taxes paid?

And talking of taxes, a fuel tax will be added next year to Nigerians’ burdens if Tinubu wins.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied saying a fuel tax was coming, though he was recorded saying so.

In an interview with Rotus Odiri, Arise News Business Correspondent, at the 2026 International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Oyedele said the tax would come when income levels improve enough for Nigerians to accommodate it.

“At the appropriate time, when the economy has stabilised and income levels will be able to accommodate it, those taxes will come. Not because we want to impose taxes,” the famed tax man said.

Oyedele alluded to taxes of between 20 and 80 per cent of pump prices in some countries.

It is a major policy leak that adds to Tinubu’s duplicity. While he claims he has a 90-day economic policy to lower prices — essentially to deceive voters that the economy has improved — he has another tax planned on fuel, whose price is a major cause of turbulence in the economy.

Even Buhari’s Egypt remains better in terms of how his non-economic policies affected our people than what our Chicago-trained economist is offering.

Corruption is so permissive that it sinks whatever pretence Tinubu makes about fixing Nigeria.

Obviously, his eyes are on the election and further deceits and blames on Egypt for the closet Tinubu and his party have led Nigerians into in just 11 years.

Tinubu is continuing his experiments with the lives of Nigerians. For him, Nigerians are nothing — almost less than nothing.

Finally…

The passing of Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, former Governor of Delta State, on 19 October, three days to his 72nd birthday, left many who knew him in shock. He was a great administrator who left indelible marks across infrastructure, sports and education. My condolences to his families, friends and associates. May the Almighty rest him.

Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues.