Any sitting and reformative leader is supposed to be comfortable with the progress of governance he is making and the impact on the people. He ought naturally to derive unflinching loyalty and support from the subjects he leads as a result of his reform successes.
However, that is not the case with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria. His controversial reforms are the source of his continued worries for the next election. They are the remote causes of his renewed fear of the 2027 elections. While he holds the weak conviction of renewing our hope, his overwhelming fear of the next elections is also renewed. The cost of Tinubu’s reforms is very cheap to him in terms of personal fulfillment but too costly to the masses in terms of economic woes.
For more than three years, he has lost grip of loyalty and support of most Nigerians. The reasons for this are absolutely unambiguous. Most importantly, because he has inflicted economic hardships on Nigerians while he and his associates are living extravagantly. The masses are cajoled to offer sacrifices when the political leaders behave lackadaisically to make sacrifices.
Tinubu hurriedly launched economic reforms which were not properly prepared to alleviate the suffering of the masses. They have turned out to be unsmiling and unfriendly policies that have completely deformed many Nigerians. The very day of his oath of office marked the journey of economic dislocation for the majority of Nigerians. The same naira that was 300 to a dollar is now 1400 to a dollar. Fuel subsidy removal is not working for most Nigerians because Tinubu is still arbitrarily borrowing, and Nigerians are not seeing where the money is going. Accountability is not there to check the collection of loans. Everyday, Nigerians are lamenting the miseries which are visible, yet Tinubu and his gang of sycophants are mischievously looking at the other side of the coin.
But we can applaud him for the reforms in his private and lavish style of living. We can appreciate him for the transformations on lucrative appointments bordering on ethnicity. There are outstanding reforms in the way and manner Tinubu’s family members are displaying power and arrogance. His reforms to make the judiciary and the legislature an extension of the executive arm is another laudable achievement. These amendments are beyond comments and are entrenched into national consciousness. The Jagaba programs are yielding results in this respect
It is just amazing having reforms that are renewing our hope but not renewing our confidence. There is a missing link here. Reforms are not just about rhetoric; they are about better living and happiness. But collective anger is crossing all parts of the country. The real reforms are the reforms of ‘go-givers’ and not ‘go-getters’. The society of ‘go-getters’ reform is not functioning in our interest. A stunning philosophy has it that if you want to change a people, you must change yourself first.
The awful news is that Tinubu wants to retain and accumulate more power in 2027 despite his woeful failure. For what and for whom? Power has two distinct purposes: to be used or misused for the generality of the people. If we choose the latter, power is not meant for Tinubu again. Tinubu is not meant for power anymore. His bad performance records are not hidden but ubiquitous for all to see. The economic pains are not just there but are the dangerous campaigners against him. They are both the symptoms and the diseases of his bad government. The ghost of the 2024 End Bad Government protest will definitely follow Tinubu to 2027.
Part of his memorable pledge is providing adequate electricity or we vote him out. I believe Nigerians will not forget this statement on the election day. It is 2023 Tinubu challenging 2027 Tinubu regarding power supply. When his apologists defended him on the deteriorating insecurity, stressing that he inherited it, they had forgotten that he was elected to improve the security situation. After pocketing almost all Nigeria’s governors to destroy his emerging fear, it is becoming clear that the governors are holding the flag of false attraction. Already, the mood of national disenchantment is a living threat to Tinubu’s ambition.
By and large, history will not forget that Mr. President is still haunted by the crisis of integrity. The issues of certificate forgery, falsification of age, and other related cases are making Nigeria a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. But Tinubu and his club members do not care. He is their everlasting hero and will continue selling him as our best political product. But even lesser offences attracted voluntary resignation of government officials in other countries. Nevertheless, this is Nigeria! Some of us do not want morality to exist here. And the same people ask us to pray for peace during religious and national celebrations!
Meanwhile, the fear of 2027 is still mounting on Tinubu and his power team. While Tinubu has been trying to renew our hope, the 2027 has started renewing his fear. The fear is real, mounting forces like an artillery. The opposition actors say that Tinubu wants to kill the opposition, but Tinubu responds that he does not have a ‘gun’ to kill it. But there is good news for the opposition. The northerners are now wiser and will use their powerful votes to kill Tinubu’s ambition.
Though my North was vulnerable to political machinations in 2023 because of the manipulation of religion in favour of Tinubu, I can count many northerners who voted for him but will reject him in 2027. It is on that decisive day he will realize that he has destroyed their hopes and dreams. On that day, he will understand that he has betrayed the confidence reposed on him.
The skillful players of this power game and, of course, the captain of the game are aware that the religious capacity of the Muslim-Muslim ticket is now archaic and no longer valid to the Muslim North. The prominent apostles of that politics of religion have truly abandoned the Tinubu -Shettima house. They are actually working for the fall of this house. For the Muslim North, the damage done is irreparable. We are the most economically backward region. That is why Tinubu’s economic policies are hitting us more than any other region.
Next year’s election is mostly tilted towards the advent of a new leadership. For now, Tinubu’s leadership and its harsh reforms have incurred the wrath of the majority of Nigerians, and nothing can reverse this negative trend until the next elections. The master strategist may appear to have exhausted all his political scheming for 2027. Even the members of his media team are in a communication disarray and discomfort, struggling to sell him, invoking the god of risk, going into the election with a high rate of political poverty.
As you make your bed, so you must lie on it. This is a waiting reality for Tinubu and his campaign team ahead of the 2027 elections.
Abdu Abdullahi
07036207998
