Why Nigerians have abandoned Tinubu’s signature cap – Atiku’s Aide

Phrank Shaibu, an aide to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, says most supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu no longer wear his signature cap due to the current hardship in the land. President Tinubu’s cap, a constant in his political wardrobe since the 1980s, has evolved from a personal trademark to a symbol of political […]

Phrank Shaibu, an aide to former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, says most supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu no longer wear his signature cap due to the current hardship in the land.

President Tinubu’s cap, a constant in his political wardrobe since the 1980s, has evolved from a personal trademark to a symbol of political filial allegiance.

In an opinion piece on Sunday, titled, ‘De-cap-itated’, Shaibu claimed Nigerians have abandoned the symbolic cap, arguing that it had become a source of embarrassment.

“During the 2023 presidential campaign and up till the early days of the Tinubu administration, his supporters were proud of adorning the broken shackle symbol on their caps in avid imitation of President Tinubu – a fad that soon became known as the Emilokan caps.

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“But today, the reality is that no one goes about wearing the Emilokan caps again for the simple reason that it has become the symbols of oppression and a sore source of embarrassment to the supporters of President Tinubu.

“But now, it is clear to all that the broken shackles personality symbol of Bola Tinubu is not about freedom from oppression but about a fascist style control of state powers. Everyone now knows that Emilokan is not about shared prosperity for all but about a rabid appropriation of state assets to personal ownership.

“Everyone now knows that Tinubu didn’t build Lagos. It is also clear for everyone to see that Tinubu is not Awolowo and that all the years of imagining himself as a progressive has ended up as an iconic political impersonation fraud of grand proportions.

The defeat of the German army led to the swastika becoming an item never to be displayed anymore in the public space. So, too, has the Emilokan caps become relics of political deception and disappointment in the wardrobes of those who used to wear it. Even the once-eager vendors who proudly displayed the Emilokan caps at bustling traffic lights and strategic street corners now find themselves burdened by them. What was once a prized symbol of political fervor has become an unwanted relic, gathering dust as no one bothers to ask for them anymore. The caps, once seen as a beacon of hope and power, have now turned into silent reminders of promises unfulfilled, leaving these sellers with a product that has lost its allure and meaning.,” the piece read in part.