Tinubu Is Nigeria’s Problem: A Mastermind of the Rot, Not Just Its Symptom

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

When Femi Oyewale argues that Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not Nigeria’s problem but merely a symptom of a rotting system, he severely underestimates the decades-long influence Tinubu has wielded in entrenching the very rot he now appears to embody. Tinubu is not a passive outcome of systemic failure, he is an active architect of it. From the 1970s to the present day, his strategic political maneuvers, shadowy alliances and godfather-style control have played a central role in shaping Nigeria’s broken political landscape. To excuse him as merely a byproduct is to erase history and absolve responsibility.

1. Tinubu’s Political Genesis Dates Back to the 1980s

Tinubu’s political journey didn’t start in 1999. By the late 1980s, he was already networking among Nigeria’s elite and leveraging his connections within the finance sector. By 1992, he became a Senator representing Lagos West under the Social Democratic Party (SDP). His time in the Senate may have been short-lived due to the Abacha coup, but it placed him firmly within the corridors of power. Following Abacha’s death, Tinubu emerged as one of the most influential members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). While this earned him some democratic credibility, it also provided the perfect springboard for his political dominance.

2. The Lagos Empire: A Laboratory for Corruption and Control

Tinubu became Lagos State Governor in 1999 and quickly turned Nigeria’s commercial capital into his personal fiefdom. For eight years, he entrenched a political machinery so strong that Lagos politics became synonymous with Tinubu. Upon leaving office in 2007, he didn’t relinquish power, he merely changed seats. His handpicked successors, Babatunde Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode, and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, all served at his pleasure. When Ambode dared show some independence, Tinubu crushed his re-election bid with swift vengeance.

Through Alpha Beta Consulting (a tax collection firm with opaque ownership linked to him) Tinubu reportedly controlled massive revenues flowing from Lagos State. According to a 2020 court filing by Dapo Apara, a whistleblower and former Managing Director of Alpha Beta, the firm was allegedly used for money laundering and tax fraud, enriching the Tinubu empire under the guise of “consultancy.” These accusations have never been credibly denied, only buried under political influence.

3. The Architect of Political Godfatherism
If godfatherism is one of Nigeria’s greatest political ills, Tinubu is its grandmaster. He didn’t just play politics, he industrialized it. By controlling party primaries, deciding who runs for office, and weaponizing loyalty, he ensured that no one could ascend in the political hierarchy without paying homage to him. This system of fealty over merit has undermined Nigerian governance, especially in the southwest.

His role in building the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, through a merger of several opposition parties, was not motivated by altruism or reform but by raw ambition. He handed Buhari the 2015 presidential ticket not because Buhari had a new vision for Nigeria, but because he saw a route to national influence. Nigeria got the short end of the stick — an inept presidency and a growing Tinubu empire.

4. Tinubu Enabled and Benefited from Buhari’s Failures
Tinubu didn’t just support Buhari in 2015 and 2019 — he marketed him as the savior of Nigeria. He dismissed warnings about Buhari’s incompetence and dictatorial past. When fuel prices surged, the economy tanked, and insecurity skyrocketed under Buhari, Tinubu remained silent. He was not just complicit; he was a stakeholder in the disaster. He protected the system that allowed Buhari to rule with impunity because he wanted to inherit it.

When the #EndSARS protests erupted in 2020, implicating state-backed repression and calling out Tinubu’s political network in Lagos, he downplayed the movement, branding it anarchic. Rather than stand for justice, he chose self-preservation. Can someone who actively shields tyranny and corruption be called merely a “symptom”?

5. 2023 Elections: Rigging, Violence, and Ethnic Division
The 2023 elections were among the most controversial in Nigeria’s recent democratic history. Tinubu’s emergence as President was mired in widespread reports of vote suppression, intimidation and electoral fraud — particularly in Lagos and Rivers states. Despite glaring irregularities, Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) bulldozed through public outrage. His infamous “emi lokan” (“it’s my turn”) declaration in Ogun was not a rallying cry for reform but an arrogant assertion of entitlement. This entitlement is not symptomatic, it is pathological.

He ran on a platform devoid of coherent policy and has since offered Nigerians nothing but hardship. Under his leadership, fuel subsidy removal was carried out with zero planning, leading to astronomical transportation and food prices. The naira was floated into chaos, sparking inflation and economic suffering across the board. Rather than act swiftly, Tinubu flew overseas (often) while Nigerians were told to “tighten their belts.”

6. Unresolved Drug Trafficking Allegations
Tinubu’s defenders routinely downplay or deflect the long-standing allegations of drug trafficking from his past. However, U.S. court records from the 1990s show that the U.S. government confiscated $460,000 from Tinubu’s account due to suspicious narcotics-related activities linked to a Chicago heroin ring. While he was never criminally convicted, the forfeiture is a stain that no amount of political spin can wash away. For someone who would later become President of Africa’s largest democracy, this kind of baggage is not symptomatic, it is toxic.

7. Tinubu Is the System
To say Tinubu is not the problem is to misunderstand the scale of his political footprint. Nigeria’s systemic rot — corruption, cronyism, ethno-regional division and elite capture, has not just enabled Tinubu; Tinubu has, in turn, enabled and fortified that rot. He is not a passive result of the system. He has redesigned, monopolize and weaponized that system for personal gain.

He didn’t find Nigeria broken, he helped break it. He didn’t inherit dysfunction, he orchestrated it. He didn’t stumble into power, he built the path with manipulation, deception and ruthless calculation.

8. A New Narrative Must Begin with Accountability
If Nigeria is to be rescued from its current nightmare, we must reject the narrative that those who have led us into the abyss are mere victims of circumstance. Leadership is responsibility. History demands accountability. Tinubu is not a victim of the system. He is a prime beneficiary and chief engineer of its worst aspects.

To absolve Tinubu is to excuse the decades of deceit, exploitation, and anti-democratic tendencies he has propagated. It is to silence the voices of millions of Nigerians whose lives have been destroyed by decisions made in his boardrooms and war rooms.

Final note
Let’s be clear: Tinubu is not just the face of Nigeria’s political decay; he is one of its principal architects. Unlike many who stumbled into power or inherited broken structures, Tinubu actively built his political empire through transactional politics, godfatherism, suppression of dissent, and the manipulation of public institutions. He is not a mere symptom, he is both the disease and the enabler.

Blaming “the system” without naming and confronting its engineers only ensures that Nigeria remains a nation circling the drain. Until Nigeria confronts Tinubu and all he represents, no true progress can be made.

Political Terrorism in Disguise: How Tinubu and the APC Regime Are Destroying Nigeria (OPINION) 

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

In every functioning democracy, political parties are expected to act as agents of progress, social development and economic upliftment. However, what we have witnessed in Nigeria since the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over in 2015, and particularly under the current presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is nothing short of calculated political and economic terrorism against the Nigerian people. It is time to call a spade a spade: supporters and defenders of the APC and Tinubu are enabling a regime that is choking the life out of the Nigerian state, destroying livelihoods and plunging millions into multidimensional poverty.

This is not an exaggeration. It is a fact-based analysis of a devastating political reality.

The Legacy of Ruin Since 2015
Under the APC, Nigeria has experienced a historic economic collapse. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 133 million Nigerians are now living in multidimensional poverty as of 2022, a staggering increase from roughly 70 million in 2015. This includes not only income poverty, but also lack of access to healthcare, education and clean water/basic human rights.

The inflation rate stood at 33.69% in April 2025, the highest in over two decades and food inflation reached an unbearable 40.53%. Even staple foods like rice, garri, yam and bread are becoming luxuries. The naira has collapsed to ₦1,500/$ in the parallel market, despite multiple promises to stabilize the economy. These are not random economic mishaps. They are the results of deliberate and reckless policies that benefit a corrupt elite while ordinary Nigerians are strangled by hunger, joblessness and despair.

Political and Economic Terrorism Defined
Terrorism is commonly defined as the use of violence or coercion to instill fear for political ends. When a political party or regime consistently impoverishes its citizens, muzzles dissent, manipulates the judiciary, rigs elections, loots public funds and weaponizes institutions against the people, what else can we call it if not state-sponsored terrorism?

Economic terrorism occurs when those in power deliberately sabotage the economic well-being of their people for personal or political gain. APC policies from the arbitrary fuel subsidy removal without any safety net, to the disastrous naira redesign policy that paralyzed the informal economy; fit this definition perfectly.

Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, once said:

“What is happening in Nigeria is not normal governance. It is a form of political and economic warfare against the Nigerian people.”

Supporters of this regime are therefore not innocent bystanders. They are collaborators in the oppression of over 200 million people.

Tinubu’s Travesty of Leadership
President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023 under a cloud of controversy and allegations. His electoral victory was contested nationwide and criticized by international observers. Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, noted that the 2023 election was “deeply flawed” and “failed to meet the expectations of a democratic process.”

Since assuming power, Tinubu has spent more time abroad than at home, squandering millions of dollars on foreign trips while Nigerians sleep hungry. A staggering ₦10 billion was spent on solar panels for the Aso Rock Villa amid epileptic national grid supply. How do we reconcile this with the fact that over 70% of Nigerians live without steady electricity?

In March 2024, it was revealed that the federal government allocated ₦15 billion for the renovation of the Vice President’s residence. Yet, universities remain underfunded, healthcare is in shambles and ASUU strikes loom.

Is this not economic sabotage at the highest level?

Defenders of Tyranny: The New Faces of Terrorism
Those who continue to support and defend this administration, despite the glaring evidence of its failure, are not simply partisan loyalists but they are enablers of oppression, agents of poverty and defenders of a system that is hostile to human dignity. They are no different from accomplices to armed robbers.

Professor Chidi Odinkalu, former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, once remarked:

“The worst kind of oppression is when those who are suffering become the cheerleaders of their own oppressors.”

Defenders of Tinubu and the APC fall squarely into this tragic category. They demonize critics, rationalize incompetence and gaslight an entire population suffering under a failed state.

Corruption as a Weapon of Control
Nigeria’s Auditor-General reports over ₦20 trillion unaccounted for in government spending between 2015 and 2023. Tinubu’s government continues the tradition of unbridled corruption. Ministers live like monarchs while civil servants are owed months of salaries. Oil theft has become institutionalized and subsidy scams remain unpunished.

Meanwhile, whistleblowers are silenced, opposition figures are harassed and the media is under attack. The EFCC, DSS, and police have become tools of intimidation. This is not democracy. It is an authoritarian kleptocracy wearing democratic makeup.

The International Community Watches in Disbelief
The international community has not been silent. The U.S. District Court ruling in 2024 compelled the FBI and DEA to release documents linking Bola Tinubu to alleged drug trafficking operations in the 1990s. While the government continues to deny and dismiss these allegations, the implications for Nigeria’s image are catastrophic.

Renowned African intellectual, Professor Patrick Lumumba, warned:

“Any nation that allows criminals to govern its affairs must prepare for the funeral of its democracy.”

Indeed, under Tinubu and the APC, Nigeria is attending its own political funeral, dressed in the garb of poverty, injustice and widespread hopelessness.

Final Note: The Time to Speak Is Now
Nigeria cannot afford the luxury of silence anymore. Every day spent under APC rule is another day closer to total collapse. Defenders of this regime are not just misguided, they are collaborators in a grand national heist.

They are political and economic terrorists.

And just like Boko Haram and bandits who destroy with guns, these ones destroy with policies, silence, and complicity. Their weapons are not bullets, but budgets; not bombs, but lies; not grenades, but corruption. And the result is the same: pain, death and national ruin.

The words of Martin Luther King Jr. ring true:

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Let us not be silent. Let us name and shame. Let us call them what they are.

This is not opposition for opposition’s sake. This is a fight for Nigeria’s soul.

If Nigeria must live, the political terrorists killing it must be held accountable, one by one.

One Voice, One Future: Youth Power for a New Nigeria

By George Omagbemi Sylvester

In the history of nations, there always comes a defining moment when the youth must rise to rescue their future from the grip of complacency, corruption and systemic decay. That moment, for Nigeria, is now. The clarion call is no longer a whisper in the dark, it is a deafening roar echoing across the cities and villages, the streets and campuses and the diaspora. 2027 is not just another election year; it is a generation’s opportunity to reclaim its destiny.

Nigeria, once hailed as the Giant of Africa, is now crawling under the weight of failed leadership, nepotism, economic collapse and insecurity. Over 70% of Nigeria’s population is under the age of 35, this is not a mere statistic; it is a superpower waiting to be activated. Yet, for decades, the same recycled leadership has ruled the country like a private estate, while the youth are sidelined, patronized or pacified with empty slogans.

The Reality: A Nation Betrayed
The facts are brutal and undeniable. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as of the fourth quarter of 2024, youth unemployment stood at 42.5%, one of the highest rates globally. Thousands of graduates are turned out yearly into a job market that has nothing to offer them. Our educational institutions are underfunded, with lecturers going on endless strikes, while billions of naira are siphoned into the offshore accounts of corrupt politicians.

The World Bank states that over 40% of Nigerians live below the poverty line, with youth bearing the brunt of the economic despair. The same youth are used during elections as pawns, thugs, online propagandists and cheerleaders for politicians who have never and will never fight for their future.

We must say: “Enough is Enough.”

The Power of Youth: A Sleeping Giant
Across Africa, the story is changing. Youth-led movements are challenging old orders and shaking the foundations of outdated governance systems.

In Uganda, Bobi Wine, a musician turned politician, galvanized millions of youth to challenge President Museveni’s long-standing dictatorship. While he didn’t win the election, he ignited a flame of hope. In Sudan, youth were at the center of the 2019 revolution that ousted the 30-year regime of Omar al-Bashir.

As Nelson Mandela once said, “Youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.” But as things stand in Nigeria, tomorrow never seems to come, unless we seize it.

In 2020, during the #EndSARS movement, we saw a glimpse of what a united, tech savvy and courageous Nigerian youth can achieve. For once, the world stood still as Nigerian youth organized without a central leadership structure, crowd funded, coordinated logistics, engaged in civic education and peacefully demanded justice. Despite the violent crackdown at Lekki Tollgate, the spirit of resistance lives on.

2027: The Youth Mandate
If we are serious about change, then 2027 must be our electoral revolution. Not through violence, but through strategic mobilization, political education, voter registration and active participation in the democratic process.

Let us be clear: the days of apathy are over. As the African proverb goes, “He who is not part of the solution is part of the problem.”

Youth must no longer be mere spectators or online critics; we must become candidates, campaigners, policy drafters, party leaders, election monitors and political donors. Our demographic power must translate into voting power and our voting power must produce accountable leadership.

According to INEC, less than 35% of youth eligible to vote actually did so in the 2023 elections. This is a travesty. With over 90 million Nigerians under 40, if even 50% of us vote smartly and strategically in 2027, we can turn the tide.

Towards a National Youth Alliance
What we need now is not another party, we need a movement, a coalition, a National Youth Alliance that transcends ethnicity, religion and class.

A youth amalgamation that brings together student unions, tech entrepreneurs, young professionals, artisans, artists, athletes, activists and influencers. A youth vanguard that builds structures, fields candidates, protects votes and holds leaders accountable.

We must engage in issue based politics, not stomach infrastructure or tribal loyalties. The youth must demand answers to the questions that matter:

“Why are over 10 million Nigerian children out of school?”

“Why does Nigeria remain the poverty capital of the world, according to the Brookings Institution?”

“Why is our minimum wage ₦70,000 when a bag of rice is over ₦70,000?”

“Why are lawmakers earning ₦30 million monthly while civil servants are owed arrears?”

The late Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader, once said, “You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness.” We need a bit of that madness, the madness to challenge the status quo, to think differently and to act boldly.

From Hashtags to Ballot Boxes
It is not enough to trend on Twitter or rant on TikTok, social media is powerful, yes I agree, but it is not a substitute for civic engagement; we need to bridge the gap between online activism and offline results.

Youths must start at the grassroots to win local government seats, state assemblies and build a pipeline of leadership that is tested and accountable. The #NotTooYoungToRun Act must not be a symbolic victory; it must be a political weapon in our hands.

Let us support credible youth candidates with our time, resources and platforms. Let us organize town hall meetings, debates and policy hackathons. Let us raise funds, build apps to track campaign promises and expose corrupt leaders.

As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, “When we refuse to engage in politics, we end up being governed by our inferiors.”

Time for Tangible Action
It is time for each Nigerian youth to ask themselves: What am I doing today to secure my tomorrow? Are we registering to vote? Are we sensitizing our peers? Are we demanding better governance at the community level?

We must begin to think long term, beyond 2027. The goal is not just to elect a few fresh faces. The goal is to build a sustainable youth-driven democratic culture where excellence not ethnicity, becomes the metric of leadership.

Let us stop romanticizing suffering. Nigeria has the talent, the resources and the manpower to be great. What we lack is visionary leadership and that is what we must now provide.

Final Words: A Movement, not a Moment
This is a movement, not a moment. It will require sacrifice, unity and strategy. There will be obstacles, betrayals and frustrations. But we must remain focused.

As the Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah declared: “The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa.” Likewise, any victory in 2027 will be meaningless unless it sets off a chain reaction of liberation, innovation and transformation across all levels of Nigerian society.

So, dear patriotic Nigerian youth; RISE! This is your time… Your country needs you more than ever.

Don’t wait for change, be the change.

Together, we can make a difference.

#YouthFor2027 #NationalAllianceNow #SecureTheFuture #NigeriaDeservesBetter