Edo Governor Flew to London, Personally Went to Buy Fuel Just to Compare Prices, Then Told Nigerians They're "Enjoying"

Governor Monday Okpebholo went to London last week, and instead of just, you know, being in London, he specifically went and bought petrol there. On purpose. With a friend. Just to compare the price to Nigeria. That's not a normal tourist activity, that's a man doing field research for an argument he already knew he wanted to make.

The verdict he came back with: UK petrol costs about ₦3,000-something a litre after conversion, while Nigerians are paying around ₦1,400. His conclusion: "We are doing very well here... Nigerians are enjoying." Said at an infrastructure event, defending the Federal Government's economic reforms, presumably to a crowd that does not have the frequent-flyer miles to go fact-check him personally.

He didn't stop at petrol either. He compared Nigeria's economy to an airplane that hasn't reached cruising altitude, promising things would improve "very soon," and then added, almost as a throwaway detail, that cruising altitude is "when they start serving food." Sir, nobody asked about the meal service. We were talking about petrol prices, and somehow we're now discussing airline catering standards mid-flight.

Naturally, this didn't sit well with everyone. One Edo resident, Ibeh, called the whole comparison "daftness," pointing out, correctly, that you cannot compare raw petrol prices between two countries without also comparing minimum wage, cost of living, and purchasing power. A UK minimum wage worker and a Nigerian minimum wage worker are not buying that same litre of fuel with the same effort, and pretending otherwise isn't an economic argument, it's just vibes with a currency converter.

Okpebholo also found room to endorse the Oba of Benin's line that "you don't change a working President," which is a whole separate opinion casually dropped into what was supposed to be a fuel price comparison.

Very well done, Governor. Safe travels next time, and maybe just enjoy London without the price-checking homework.