THIS WEEK, our country Nigeria reached the veritable old age of 65, but the consensus in the land is that we are yet to mature. Essentially, we have wasted our youth and adult life so there is no surprise that at sixty-five, we find very little to celebrate.
In his Independence Day address to the nation, President Bola Tinubu acknowledged that we do not have enough electricity to power our industries and homes today, or the resources to repair our deteriorating roads, build seaports, railroads, and international airports comparable to the best in the world, because we failed to make the necessary investments decades ago.
Nigerian politics today is about trying to substitute those in office rather than trying to change the nature of the political game. In this context, it is not surprising that insurgency has been growing and more social actors are joining the fray of using the instruments of violence to achieve their objectives at the cost of thousands of lives. As for the economy, the government is determined to tax Nigerians into more poverty while we suffer the most severe cost of living crisis in our history.
Almost immediately however, he slipped out of frank talk to claim that his administration is setting things right and that we have finally turned the corner. The worst is over, he said: “Under our leadership, our economy is recovering fast, and the reforms we started over two years ago are delivering tangible results. The second quarter 2025 Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.23% — Nigeria’s fastest pace in four years — and outpaced the 3.4 per cent projected by the International Monetary Fund. Inflation declined to 20.12% in August 2025, the lowest level in three years.”
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The problem is that Nigerians have not seen the change. Indeed, the overwhelming mood in the country is one of despondency. The most visceral problems Nigerians face is the overwhelming sense of insecurity. No one and nowhere is safe in the country as terrorists, bandits, insurrectionists and kidnappers ply their trade of death and destruction all over the country.
For years, we have lived in a country where the military have been deployed in virtually every State in the Federation trying to restore law and order and failing in their mission. Our children are being killed regularly for daring to go to school and so many farmers can no longer go to their farms. Millions have abandoned their homes and camp as internally displaced persons living without homes, livelihoods or dignity.
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Our health system has collapsed and a significant part of savings are used to send the sick abroad in search of medical treatment. The incidence of poverty in our society today affects sixty-three per cent of our people, 133 million Nigerians who are multidimensionally poor. Daily life is a perpetual struggle for the masses that live without electricity and potable water. Today the challenge for too many of our people is to get enough food to eat. Certainly, we Nigerians do not deserve this.
The greatest threat to finding a path towards mending Nigeria is the lack of inspirational leadership. People are able to compete for power because they have had access to state power and have stolen billions and indeed, trillions of naira. This is the reality that makes people lose confidence in the future. This problem creates a situation in which people who are honest and sincere keep out of the political fray. This creates a bandwagon effect that makes every political generation worse than the previous one.
The key problem affecting the nation is known to all – hydra-headed corruption. The direction of development for corruption is perpetual growth and the Tinubu Administration has shown neither the will, nor the capacity to slow it down. The scale of corruption has been so massive that it has made nonsense of our efforts to practice the democratic mode of governance. Essentially, the key narrative of the Fourth Republic has been about corruption. Elections themselves have become narratives about corruption as vote buying and selling become the route to power.
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The combination of mega-corruption and poor governance has created a situation in which the state is imploding. The Nigerian state is no longer able to play its legitimate role of imposing law and order. Those in power use security agencies for private purposes thus privatising state power. As the efficacy of violence as a tool for achieving one’s purpose increase, many who are not in the corridors of power are also learning how to use it for their own agendas.
The police exist only to supply privatised security to the rich and senior government officials. Many young and frustrated persons now devote their energy and inventiveness to acquire weapons to kidnap people and get ransom as their slice of the pie. Our Constitution defines the purpose of the state as promoting the welfare and security of the people. Today, the people’s welfare and security are at their most compromised in the country’s history.
Nigerian politics today is about trying to substitute those in office rather than trying to change the nature of the political game. In this context, it is not surprising that insurgency has been growing and more social actors are joining the fray of using the instruments of violence to achieve their objectives at the cost of thousands of lives. As for the economy, the government is determined to tax Nigerians into more poverty while we suffer the most severe cost of living crisis in our history.
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The greatest threat to finding a path towards mending Nigeria is the lack of inspirational leadership. People are able to compete for power because they have had access to state power and have stolen billions and indeed, trillions of naira. This is the reality that makes people lose confidence in the future. This problem creates a situation in which people who are honest and sincere keep out of the political fray. This creates a bandwagon effect that makes every political generation worse than the previous one.
As we mark our 65th anniversary, we must remind ourselves that although we have been playing ethnic politics since the colonial era, any government that seeks the path of ethnic supremacy cannot hold sway in our country. The path to cohesion is equity not domination. We should always remind ourselves that at the epicentre of the current crisis that confronts the Nigerian state is bad governance and not bad tribes and religions.
The political challenge facing the country is to reverse this trend. Nigeria has a large number of talented and well-trained people who can provide good leadership. We must start the process of identifying such people in our communities and convincing them to engage the political process. As these people would not have amassed huge war chests composed of billions and indeed trillions of naira, we must find ways of supporting them so that we can begin to change the nature of the political game. As we recall the great nationalists that fought for our independence, let us begin the process of producing and reproducing a political class that works for the Nigerian people.
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Let our resolve be that we cannot allow those who want Nigeria to continue along the path of self-destruction to be the winners in Nigeria. Today, opponents of Nigeria are using fake news and photos to deepen our divisions and fan the embers of sectarian strife. They are succeeding because President Tinudu’s Government that came in with such great expectations has not lived up to what it could and should deliver.
The President spends a lot of time travelling all over the world but we do not see benefits accruing to the people. He is not addressing the crisis around insecurity nor is he responding to the deep identity divides that are growing deeper and subverting national unity and cohesion.
As we mark our 65th anniversary, we must remind ourselves that although we have been playing ethnic politics since the colonial era, any government that seeks the path of ethnic supremacy cannot hold sway in our country. The path to cohesion is equity not domination. We should always remind ourselves that at the epicentre of the current crisis that confronts the Nigerian state is bad governance and not bad tribes and religions.
Over time, bad governance has manifested itself in the form of corruption, exclusion and state capture by successive political elites of all ethnic and religious groups. The result has been increased poverty, unemployment and deprivation of citizens, thereby creating conditions and incentives for violence in the country. What we need is a new approach to governance based on integrity and fair play.
Ibrahim is a professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, and Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development. He is also the Chair of the Editorial Board of Abuja-based online newspaper, PREMIUM TIMES.
